CISS Food Security in Asia Project

In 2010 the Centre for International Security Studies secured funding from The MacArthur Foundation Asia Security Initiative (ASI) for a two-year project on Food Security in Asia. The project (2011-2012), examines how political, economic, demographic and environmental pressures will impact food supply and demand in the region over the next few decades and assess the consequences for regional stability. It aims to illuminate the poorly understood and inadequately researched nexus between underlying issues shaping the dynamics of food demand and supply on the one hand, and political instability and human insecurity on the other.

LATEST NEWS

21st September 2011
CISS PhD candidate Ben Shepherd has had an article published by The Conversation on food security. Titled 'Food security should be about feeding the hungry, not making a profit', Ben argues that food security needs to be understood in a broader context than simply as an economic problem. To read Ben's article click here.

Ben was also recently interviewed by the ABC for The World Today program. To listen and read a transcript click here.

Ben is currently on fieldwork in Ethiopia and is part of the CISS Food Security in Asia project team.

29th August 2011
CISS PhD candidate and member of the Food Security project, Tim Siegenbeek van Heukelom, has attracted news coverage of his recent 6 month fieldwork conducted in Kenya.

While in Kenya Tim wrote a feature article for a national development newspaper, The Link, on Dominion Farms in Lake Victoria in West Kenya. The piece is available here.

The University of Sydney is also featuring Tim's experience in its news sections here.

17th August 2011
Dr Monika Barthwal-Datta has commented on the impact of the high cost of food on ABC Radio's PM program. To read a transcript or listen to the podcast click here.

25th July 2011
Leader of the CISS Food Security project, Dr Monika Barthwal-Datta, has spoken to The West Australian in regards to the global disparity in food consumption. Along with PhD candidate Chris Baker, Dr Barthwal-Datta will shortly be presenting a poster at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Issues (Asia) inaugural conference on food security in Singapore.

To read the article click here.

7th July 2011
CISS PhD candidate and member of the Food Security project team, Chris Baker has been awarded a prestigious fellowship by the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, based at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

The fellowship provides support for scholars in Asia to work on a wide range of non-traditional security issues in the region. Only 3 fellowships are awarded each year. In 2010 PhD candidate Ben Shepherd was awarded the fellowship and conducted fieldwork in the Philippines as a result.

Chris works on food security, climate change and migration issues with a particular focus on the Mekong in Laos. The fellowship will support his research and fieldwork to the region later in the year. To read more about Chris' research click here.

Monika Barthwal-Datta (CISS), Nigel Inkster (IISS), Alan Dupont (CISS) & Nicholas Redman (IISS)

24th June 2011
On June 6th the project team held the 'Food Security in Asia' workshop in Singapore, co-hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

The CISS-IISS workshop brought together key stakeholders in the region including policy-makers, analysts, academics and representatives from international institutions, NGOs, governments and private sector organisations. Presentations at the workshop and subsequent discussions focused on identifying and exploring in detail the most pressing food security concerns in Asia. Participants also discussed gaps in research and what policymakers require in order to better understand and deal with these challenges at the national and regional levels.

The workshop’s conclusions will help shape the ongoing research on Food Security at CISS. The event has also laid the foundations for a high-quality, multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral research network on Food Security, led by CISS. The growing network is a rich resource for academics and analysts, providing them with a range of avenues to explore for future collaborations on research and analysis in the area of Food security and related issues.

22nd June 2011
PhD candidate and project team member Tim Siegenbeek van Heukelom has had a peer reviewed article published in Journal of Human Security. The article, 'A Human Approach to Food Security: Land Grabs in the Limelight', examines the human dimension of food and focusses on how the limited quantity of agricultural land and its uneven geographical distribution has instigated a contemporary race for the world’s farmland. It uses a critical and realistic perspective to discuss the human security implicationsof so-called ‘land grabs’ and argues that investment in agricultural land should be based upon clear ethical norms aimed at emancipation and a reciprocity of rights.

Read the article here.

16th June 2011
PhD candidate and project team member Ben Shepherd has had a research paper released by the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. The paper, Redefining Food Security in the Face of Foreign Land Investors: The Philippine Case, examines food security from a human security perspective rather than simply an economic challenge using The Phillipines as a case study. Ben is currently in Cambodia conducting further fieldwork.

Read the paper here.

1st June 2011
CISS post-doctoral fellow Dr Monika Barthwal-Datta has spoken with the BBC on World News Today. Dr Barthwal-Datta, the leader of the CISS Food Security in Asiaproject, spoke in relation to a recently released Oxfam report indicating that food prices will double by 2030. To listen to the interview click here (interview at 26m40s).

May 2011
The project leaders, Professor Alan Dupont and Dr Monika Barthwal-Datta will be travelling to Singapore at the beginning of June for a high-level workshop co-hosted by CISS and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Asia with key stakeholders in the region. These include policy makers, representatives from international institutions, private organisations and other academics. The workshop is a unique opportunity for stakeholders to come together and identify the most pressing food security concerns in Asia and what governments and other relevant actors require in order to be able to deal with these challenges adequately. It will help to build a regional network for food security with the aim of further collaboration.

PROJECT TEAM

The project team is a collaboration of key academics, postdoctoral and doctoral candidates and professional staff located at the Centre for International Security Studies.