Introduction

The ASEAN Eminent Persons Group (EPG), in June 1999, decided to draft the following proposals for the ASEAN Summit in 2000. They included the ASEAN Vision 2020, and proposals related to Post-Asian Crisis Economic Scenarios, Food Security, ASEAN Monetary Fund, and Civil Societies. Among these, the food security issue has been a top priority subject in ASEAN for some time. The ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) oversee the co-operative efforts in the area of food, agriculture, and forestry in the region. It has established several priority areas: to promote the food, agriculture, and forestry sectors. Among them, strengthening food security in the region has been given top priority. This is because the incidence of malnutrition in Asia, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates, accounts for nearly two-thirds of the chronically undernourished in the world. It further indicates that by the year 2010, Asia will account for one-half of the world's malnourished population (FAO 1998, p. 1).

This suggests that food security is an issue that needs to be addressed urgently, and it will continue to be an important issue in the future. For the purpose of this study, the definition of “food security” will be borrowed from the FAO. According to the FAO, “food security is generally understood as access to adequate food to all households at all times to enable them to lead a healthy and active life” (FAO 1998, p. 79).

Hence, the objective of this chapter is to review the food security situation in the region in the framework of the economic and social environment and to explore ways and means to ensure food security in the region in the short-term and long-term perspectives. The first section will analyse the economic and social performance of the region in general and the salient features of Southeast Asian agriculture in particular. The second section will address the status of food security in the region in terms of adequacy, stability, and the quality of food. The third section will discuss the software issues, such as macro policy reforms, agricultural development policies, and programmes related to food security. The impact of the regional crisis on food security will be discussed next. The conclusion will sum up the findings of the study and discuss the problems and challenges of the region with regard to food security.