AS I write this column, there are hopes that a peace agreement between the United States and Iran will hold as the global food system took a lot of beating from higher fertilizer and transport costs due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
And if peace prevails in the Middle East, the nations and regions whose food production systems absorb shocks should waste no time in making their agriculture sectors more resilient and sustainable.
This includes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) that, thankfully, already has the Asean Food Security Alliance (AFSA) created in 2024 through the Asean-Business Advisory Council (BAC) Philippines led by Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship-Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion. And yours truly was one of those who led in its conceptualization and currently its senior adviser.
Currently, we are working hard to transition AFSA from formal paper agreements into real-world market solutions.
AFSA enlists all the governments comprising Asean and the private sector, whose role in remodeling and innovating food production in the region has been so far invaluable.
A policy paper jointly led and formulated by Asean-BAC Philippines and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) in consultation with all stakeholders across Asean identified four pathways for engaging the private sector in building up Asean’s food security resilience.
These are, and let me quote them:
– Boost agricultural productivity and innovation through affordable inputs, modern technologies, and competitive supply chains;
– Expand market access by integrating smallholders into procurement systems and enhancing local processing;
– Strengthen value chains via infrastructure investments (cold chains, warehouse/storage, transport) to reduce post-harvest losses; and
– Mobilize technology adoption (through co-establishment of climate-smart/digitally geared up farms and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and investment (through blended finance and other modalities).
Currently, there are private firms sourcing their raw materials directly from agricultural communities and organized farmers, and transferring technologies and know-how to increase their productivity. Among the good examples in the Philippines are Nestle for coffee, Jollibee for various vegetables, and Universal Robina for potatoes.
These are among the growing number of Public-Private-Producer Partnerships (4Ps) being created across Asean.
When it comes to involving the food producers, 4Ps are institutionalizing inclusive business modalities (IBMs), ensuring smallholders are integrated or embedded into structured and resilient value chains.
However, to get the private sector more involved, the government or public sector should provide the environment for 4Ps to thrive.
Since the private sector will be making investments to jumpstart 4Ps, it is recommended that governments in Asean should provide fiscal relief mechanisms. Among these are tax holidays ranging from three to six years, and tariff exemptions on key inputs that, however, must be procured from diverse sources.
Co-management boards can be created to ensure stability of the supply chain, most particularly during price shocks and supply disruptions.
Also, we recommend the establishment of Smallholder Inclusive Accreditation (SIA) Certification, or streamlined frameworks that allow small-scale agricultural producers to access sustainability and social responsibility markets without being priced out by complex compliance rules.
SIA helps ensure farmers, including those lacking resources like their own land, can still participate in global supply chains.
To enable smallholder integration and to protect their rights, we need reforms to address the uneven enforcement of the Asean Guidelines on Promoting Responsible Investment in Food, Agriculture and Forestry (Asean-RAI) across the region.
Enacted by Asean Ministers in 2018, Asean-RAI is a framework designed to ensure that investments in the region's agricultural and forestry sectors are socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable.
Establishing resiliency
Among the major objectives of AFSA is to make the region’s food production system resilient to climate challenges.
One excellent proposal for that is the creation of the Climate Resilience Center for Agriculture (CRCA) to be led by Asean-BAC, in partnership with Searca and state universities and colleges through the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).
The CRCA will serve as the hub for climate-resilient innovation, insurance design, and technology deployment, and will coordinate with established 4Ps under the Grow Asia network.
While technology deployment will include digitalization and artificial intelligence (AI), priority should also be given to developing and providing quality seeds and biofertilizers, and farm machines to smallholder farmers.
The 4Ps can also be the launchpad for technology deployment, as the private sector also has its own access to technologies outside of those developed by the public sector and SUCs.
Asean-BAC can also mobilize private sector resources for the CRCA. As for the SUCs, they will be at the frontlines in training farmers and reaching out to the grassroots.
Overall, the CRCA will greatly benefit smallholder producers by accelerating technology adoption, and strengthening regional food system resilience.
Moving forward
Like what I said in the first part of this column-series, making AFSA a reality is not about grandiose projects, or billion-dollar initiatives. Rather, it is more about realizing the full potential of the Asean’s agriculture sector, and involving all stakeholders including the food producers themselves.
Hence, there is no need to build massive infrastructure that might end up as white elephants or draining public coffers for failing to attain viability.
I also believe that across Asean, there are various agricultural technologies, proven rural development frameworks, highly capable public institutions, willing private sector entities, among others, that can contribute significantly to the realization of AFSA, and the attainment of a more resilient food system for the region.
At this point, more work needs to be done. But it can be done as the ongoing discussions to make AFSA a reality show that the many of the actors and stakeholders possess the knowledge, personnel, expertise, and resources to participate in the historical effort to make Asean more food secure.
We also have learned our lessons on how extreme climate events, geopolitical tensions, among others, can shake the foundations of Asean’s food production system.
It is now time to move forward.
