Trading Food: Food Security Policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and Their Implications for Trade and Regional Integration

The document examines the tension between short-term food security measures and long-term economic sustainability in three developing regions. It contrasts strategies of food self-sufficiency with food self-reliance and argues that regional integration mechanisms failed to provide collective security during the 2006–08 crisis. The author advocates for a 'new agricultural deal' at the global level to reconcile trade liberalization with the vulnerability of developing countries.

• Many countries responded to the 2006–08 food prices crisis with short-term policies to lower food prices, which often increased trade barriers and negatively impacted intraregional trade.
• Short-term interventions to mitigate price rises can undermine long-term food security by reducing the net income of food sellers and removing incentives for increased production.
• There is a fundamental distinction between food self-sufficiency, which prioritizes domestic production within national borders, and food self-reliance, which emphasizes food availability through all means, including international trade.
• Regional integration failed to provide a collective response to the food crisis in the analyzed regions; in Southeast Asia, the crisis damaged ASEAN solidarity, evidenced by an attempt by rice-exporting countries to form a cartel.
• In Latin America, regional and subregional integration initiatives, such as the Southern Common Market and the Andean Community, played no role in the policy responses to food security concerns.
• The document argues for a 'new agricultural deal' at the global level to promote fair trade rules and lower price volatility, suggesting that 'food security' terminology should be limited to the vulnerability of developing countries rather than used by developed countries to justify protectionism.

APA

Veiga, P. D. M. (2010). Trading Food: Food Security Policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and Their Implications for Trade and Regional Integration. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trading_food_brief.pdf

Chicago

Veiga, Pedro da Motta. Trading Food: Food Security Policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and Their Implications for Trade and Regional Integration. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2010. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trading_food_brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Veiga |first1=Pedro da Motta |title=Trading Food: Food Security Policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and Their Implications for Trade and Regional Integration |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=August 2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trading_food_brief.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{veiga2010trading, author = {Veiga, Pedro da Motta}, title = {{Trading Food: Food Security Policies in Latin America, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa and Their Implications for Trade and Regional Integration}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2010}, month = aug, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trading_food_brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }