Draft Report ICA/JA ZENCHU Field Study on Food Security Issues Vis-a Vis Farmers' Organisations and Agricultural Cooperatives in Asia

Abstract

The importance of agricultural development in Asia and the Pacific is irrefutable. Food and agricultural production generate supplies, income, and solid basis for overall economic growth. Many countries, however, and regions within other countries, have little potential to produce food required for the needs of their growing population. Concern with the state of environment and the dwindling amount of per capita of land and water resources as well as their degradation raises questions about the extent to which resource and environmental constraints may impinge on the prospects of increasing food supplies and assuring access to food by all. The issue of food security requires an honest look into inter dependencies within the Region of Asia and the Pacific, especially at a time when the apex of the World Trading System - the World Trading Organisation/WTO - has come into being and increasingly subdivided into many regional tradixig blocks. Therefore, countries facing food security problems could hardly be complacent about the global food situation.