BANGKOK, May 11 (PNA/Bernama) — The move towards a computerised implementation and monitoring system to accurately track food security in the ASEAN region will help countries offset the shock caused by price and supply-demand fluctuations, an FAO-convened workshop here heard today.
The workshop aims to train country focal points and members of a Coordinating Monitoring Team, the key elements of a computer-based system for monitoring and evaluating progress of the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework and Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security (SPA-FS).
It was co-organised by Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific and the ASEAN Secretariat.
“Through a technical cooperation programme, country focal points will learn how to enter the required data, and ASEAN Secretariat staff will discover how to use this computerised information to monitor progress of the AIFS and SPA-FS,” said Hiroyuki Konuma, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative.
He also said the FAO had been assisting ASEAN with the development and implementation of its AIFS and SPA-FS since 2009.
“We are honoured to continue being involved in the development of the second phase of ASEAN’s AIFS Framework and SPA-FS for 2015-2020,” he added.
Konuma pointed out that the data collection and computerisation of the AIFS and SPA-FS implementation and monitoring is an important step forward in the joint work of FAO and the ASEAN Secretariat in matters of ensuring food security.
“Although most food commodities are presently in plentiful supply in our region, and prices are at a five-year low for the most part, it hasn’t always been that way.
“The food shocks and price hikes of the last decade have taught us we need to be better prepared and this new system will go some way to ensuring that.
“As we go forward, a generation from now, our cities would have grown enormously. By 2050, the world population would have increased to more than nine billion people, and our ability to ensure there is enough food will be seriously challenged,” he said.
He said FAO estimates at least 60 per cent more food will need to be produced to meet future demand.
“That’s why, the more we do now to prepare, the better off we’ll be in facing those challenges we know are coming,” he added.
The two-day training workshop is themed, “Strengthening the capacity of ASEAN in coordination and monitoring of the implementation of ASEAN Integrated Food Security Framework and the Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security”. (PNA/Bernama)