SEARCA studies impact of AEC on regional food security

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – The Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research on Agriculture (SEARCA) has provided seed funding for the implementation of a five-year program to evaluate the initial impacts of the ASEAN Economic Community among ASEAN countries.

Titled “Implications of AEC and Trade and Investments on Regional Food Security”, the five-year research will be undertaken until May 2020.

For phase 1, the study will initially cover the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Succeeding phases will include countries in the Greater Mekong Subregion particularly that of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

SEARCA is one of the regional centers of SEAMEO, an inter-government treaty organization founded in 1965 to promote cooperation in science, education, and culture among Southeast Asian countries.

Headed by director Gil Saguiguit Jr., the center is mandated to provide capacity-building interventions to promote agricultural and rural development in Southeast Asia through its core programs of graduate scholarships (doctoral and master’s degrees), research and development, knowledge management, and nondegree specialist training.

SEARCA’s five founding members are UP Los Baños, Kasetsart University in Thailand, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Institut Pertanian Bogor and Universitas Gadjah Mada, both in Indonesia.

Affiliate members are the University of British Columbia in Canada and Georg-August University of Gottingen in Germany.

Tokyo University of Agriculture is an associate member. The University of Queensland in Australia was also an associate member from 1993 to 2012.

The research project aims to assess how the ASEAN Economic Community can affect the trade agreements and related commitments made by ASEAN with its regional partners, and its implications on food security in Southeast Asia.

Over the years, the ASEAN – partly in response to the food crisis and financial turmoil in recent times has put in place specific trade agreements with new and emerging markets and with already strong economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

The study covers the five main commodities based on the ASEAN Food Security Information System namely rice, maize, sugarcane, soybeans and cassava.

In its second year, the project will identify the implications of the AEC on trade facilitation issues, especially on regional trade and investments.

On the third year, it will focus on the effects of nontariff barriers being imposed to counter domestic pressures to food availability and access, and on food utilization.

The AEC’s implications to regional food security will be identified on the fourth year.

During the last year, supply and demand surplus for main food commodities will be the main focus.