Attachments
By Paul P.S. Teng
Synopsis
Most countries depend on three “food taps” – imports, self-production, reserve stocks – to make food available.
All countries import some amount of food to meet their increasingly diverse dietary demands. Binding agreements and a regional view of food security are therefore critical.
Commentary
FOOD SECURITY has been generally defined by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in the broadest of terms. To the FAO, food security means “when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”
This “catch-all” description strongly suggests that food security is met only if there is sufficient food (available), physical access to it, economic access (it is affordable) and people eat nutritious and safe food. The FAO purposely developed this definition to mean that food security has to take into account many other dimensions beyond just producing food.