Bangkok, 28 June 2024: ERIA has initiated a new study titled ‘Preliminary Study for Exploring Local Resource-Based Food Reserve (LRBFR) Mechanism in ASEAN Member States’ to develop a concept for a new food reserve mechanism. In the ‘ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition in Response to Crises’, adopted at the ASEAN Summit under Indonesia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2023, ASEAN leaders agreed to explore an LRBFR for ASEAN Member States. To follow up on this commitment, the Ministry of Agriculture of Indonesia requested ERIA to conduct this study.

The ERIA study team, consisting of Masanori Kozono, Senior Policy Fellow of ERIA; Siti Mustaqimatud Diyanah, Research Associate of ERIA; and the Lead Consultant of the study, Prof. Achmad Suryana, Senior Researcher of the Indonesian Agriculture Researchers Alliance, visited the secretariat of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) and the ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) in Bangkok on 28 June 2024. The visit aimed to discuss potential collaboration for exploring the LRBFR and to learn from their experiences over more than 10 years of operating the regional emergency rice reserve and the food security-related information sharing system. Representatives from the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) of Thailand also participated in the discussion.

After welcome remarks by Dr Choomjet Karnjanakesorn, General Manager of APTERR, Kozono provided a concise overview of the study's background, objectives, the team involved, and the expected outcomes. During his presentation, he emphasised the need for guidance and support from ASEAN Member States, and the APTERR and AFSIS secretariat. Following this, Prof. Achmad Suryana presented the outline of the country study, underscoring the importance of learning from national experiences with the APTERR Mechanism and food reserve systems at the country level.

Dr Karnjanakesorn then provided an overview of APTERR's activities, highlighting both the achievements and the challenges faced. He stressed the need to revise and update the definitions of emergencies to reflect current conditions, ensuring that the APTERR Mechanism remains effective and responsive in dealing with emergencies.

Dr Sumanya Ngandee, AFSIS Manager, explained that AFSIS has supported ASEAN on a project basis for over 20 years, contributing to the ASEAN Integrated Food Security Framework (AIFS) and the Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security in the ASEAN Region (SPA-FS) 2021–2025, by providing crucial data, information systems, and an early warning system for the region. She expressed her hope that the ERIA study would highlight this matter, underlining the necessity of a stable and institutionalised approach to food security information in ASEAN.

Pasinee Napombejra, an expert from the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives in Thailand, shared the Provincial Crops Calendar for Food Security and Nutrition. The presentation highlighted the OAE statistical database that was utilised for market information.

The fruitful discussion marks a significant step for the ERIA study. By gathering insights from APTERR, AFSIS, and the OAE of Thailand, along with analysing country-specific case studies, ERIA intends to formulate a comprehensive study that addresses the challenges and opportunities involved in establishing new mechanisms for local food reserves in ASEAN.