Linking Climate Change Adaptation and Food Security in ASEAN

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) food security can be comprehensively governed by the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the ASEAN Social and Cultural Community (ASCC). This paper reviews the ASCC Blueprint and argues that, within the ASEAN framework, it is imperative for the ASCC to address food security in relation to climate change and disaster risks. There are three main reasons for this: the larger scope of environment security, climate change, and disaster risks under the ASCC; food security from beyond an economic standpoint under the flagship of the AEC; and climate change that alters regional food systems, agriculture, and fisheries, which contribute significantly to the livelihoods and well-being of all people in the region. Although the distribution of impacts and risks of climate change will be different from place to place and household to household, marginal farmers, fisherfolk, and poor urban consumers are likely to be impacted disproportionately. Thus the need for a shared governance of food security and climate change under the ASCC and AEC to comprehensively consider the availability, accessibility, utility, and stability of food for populations from both an economic and socio-cultural perspective.