Southeast Asian Countries Worry Food Security amid Global Financial Storm

By JIM GOMEZ / AP WRITER

MANILA — Southeast Asian countries are concerned the global economic meltdown may lead to a drop in agricultural investment, sparking massive layoffs that could further hurt the poor's already tenuous access to food, diplomats said Tuesday.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has to study other potential food security-related problems that could be triggered by the financial turbulence so the region can deal with them effectively, said Asean official Somsak Pippopinyo.

Asean officials dealing with agriculture and food met their UN counterparts Monday for a two-day conference in Manila to discuss possible cooperation in ensuring the stability of Southeast Asia's food supply amid such problems as climate change, spiraling commodity prices and the global economic crunch.

"There are ... very few lingering doubts that the present global financial crisis ... will have dire consequences on the access to food of vulnerable groups in developing countries," said a paper issued to conference delegates.

As economies contract, many businesses will likely resort to layoffs and "access to food will be savage" for the unemployed, the document said.

"The financial crisis will diminish the purchasing power of consumers. That's the ultimate storm that consumers would not want," Philippine Agriculture Undersecretary Segfredo Serrano told reporters.

Somsak said some delegates raised the possibility of a reduction of private investment in the agriculture industry amid hard economic times, a prospect that could set back farming programs aimed at bolstering food production.

Asean heads of state will discuss the region's food security concerns when they meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at an annual summit in Thailand next month, diplomats said.

Southeast Asia was hit hard earlier this year by steep increases in the price of rice, the region's staple, triggered by growing demand, rising fuel prices at the time, cuts in agriculture funding, financial speculation and bad weather.

The problem, which has since eased after rice prices dropped, set off fresh concerns over food security in the region.

Somsak said Asean has been discussing a proposed regional stockpile of rice and the establishment of a database and information dissemination system to alert member countries to any emerging food security problems.

The 10-nation bloc comprises Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam—a region of more than half a billion people.