Regional Food Security and Trade Policy in Southeast Asia

The report examines the conflict between national food security priorities and regional trade integration in Southeast Asia, particularly following the 2007/08 food price crisis. It argues that member states often prioritize national interests over regional solidarity, as seen when rice exporters like Thailand and Vietnam restricted supplies to neighbors to seek higher global prices. The document analyzes the differences between food self-sufficiency and self-reliance strategies and evaluates the effectiveness of ASEAN's food security mechanisms, such as the ASEAN Emergency Rice Reserve. It concludes with recommendations for aligning national policies with regionalism, improving existing food security frameworks, and implementing social safety nets to mitigate the impacts of trade liberalization.

• The 2007/08 global food crisis revealed a conflict between ASEAN's goal of an integrated economic community and the tendency of member states to prioritize national interests, which exacerbated food price volatility and harmed regional food security.
• During the 2007/08 crisis, major rice exporters Thailand and Vietnam prioritized global markets over the needs of fellow ASEAN members, specifically the Philippines, to maximize economic gains from rising prices.
• The proposal to create an Organization of Rice Exporting Countries (OREC) was viewed as a political threat to ASEAN cohesion and a potential agricultural cartel similar to OPEC.
• ASEAN's early food security mechanisms were largely ineffective during the 2007/08 crisis; the ASEAN Emergency Rice Reserve (AERR) held only 87,000 tons of rice, which was insufficient to feed the region's 550 million people for even half a day.
• There is a fundamental policy discrepancy in the region where ASEAN as a grouping supports 'open regionalism' and food self-reliance, but most individual member countries prefer a food self-sufficiency strategy.
• The report recommends that ASEAN implement national food security policies aligned with regionalism, expand holistic mechanisms like the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) framework, and establish social safety nets to protect vulnerable producers from trade liberalization.

APA

Chandra, A. C., & Lontoh, L. A. (2010). Regional Food Security and Trade Policy in Southeast Asia. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/regional_food_trade_asean.pdf

Chicago

Chandra, Alexander C., and Lucky A. Lontoh. Regional Food Security and Trade Policy in Southeast Asia. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2010. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/regional_food_trade_asean.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Chandra |first1=Alexander C. |last2=Lontoh |first2=Lucky A. |title=Regional Food Security and Trade Policy in Southeast Asia |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=June 2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/regional_food_trade_asean.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{chandra2010regional, author = {Chandra, Alexander C. and Lontoh, Lucky A.}, title = {{Regional Food Security and Trade Policy in Southeast Asia}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2010}, month = jun, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/regional_food_trade_asean.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }