Adapting to Emerging Challenges of Food Insecurity Post-2015

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) defines food security as a “situation that exists 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 lifestyle”. In its annual “State of Food Insecurity”, the FAO noted that from 2004 to 2014, the number of chronically undernourished people had been reduced from about 905 million to 805 million. However, they also noted that there were great regional disparities in the achievement of this goal –meaning, the 805 million reside more in some regions than in others. ASEAN, in this regard, has been one of the biggest gainers over the past 20 years – a reduction from 30.7% undernourished to just 10.3%.