Food crisis in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Asia-Pacific region was on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the prevalence of extreme poverty by 2015, but recent dramatic rises in the price of rice and other staples have pushed millions of people back into hunger and poverty. This indicates that the region's food supply system is more fragile and imbalanced than what was previously believed. Proximate causes of the rise in staple prices can be found in market forces such as export restrictions and rising energy prices but the ultimate causes are policies that have led to under-investment in agricultural research and emergency mitigation. Large numbers of people in the Asia-Pacific were already undernourished prior to the recent price rises, relying on monotonous diets dominated by a few staples. Pushed into reducing their dietary diversity even further, many more millions are now suffering from hunger and deteriorating health. The most fundamental food crisis in the Asia-Pacific is one of poor diets, and this affects the obese just as much as the undernourished. The solution lies in a food system that focuses on producing balanced diets, developing safe production practices, increasing food supplies by reducing losses, and investing in the research that make it all happen. Improving food systems is a fundamental community expectation and can be a matter of government survival, but if the urgency to improve food supplies overrides improving diets, the long-term impact on national health will be severe. Proactive policies, regional responses, and more integrated scientific approaches are needed.

A Food in Health Security (FIHS) platform in the Asia-Pacific Region: the way forward.

The advent of multiple global crises, especially those of climate change, economics, energy, water, food and health evident in 2008, is of considerable moment to those who are suffering their consequences and for those with responsibility and interest in the systems affected. A coalition of parties in the Asia Pacific Region who work in the food and health systems met in August, 2009 in Taiwan and instigated a Food in Health Security (FIHS) Network which might join with other like-minded networks in and beyond the region. Sustainable health has many dimensions, among which food and nutrition is often neglected; there is a wide spectrum of nutritionally-related disorders. Malnutrition remains the global concern for agricultural research and development scientists and linkage with the health sector is key to progress. The disconnect between agricultural and health sectors negatively impacts consumer nutrition and health. Ethical and equity affect food and health systems. Food and health security is attainable only when the underlying social inequities are addressed; it is an ethical issue as reflected in the UN Universal declaration of Human Rights which includes the right to food for health and well-being. Food and health security are part of the larger security agenda and merit corresponding attention. Policy recommendations with immediacy are greater investment in combined food and health research; an Asia Pacific security agenda which emphasizes planetary, human, health and food security as relevant to traditional defence security; and community and household security measures which include maternal literacy, communication technology and entrepreneurial opportunity.