On 21 September 2022, Mr. Kimura Keitaro, Director, and Mr. Hosaka Masahiro, Deputy Director of Statistics Planning Division, Statistics Department from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of Japan visited AFSIS Secretariat office.
On the occasion, AFSIS Secretariat led by Dr. Waraporn Saelee, AFSIS Manager, Ms. Sumanya Ngandee, Deputy AFSIS Manager, and Mr. Niimi Tomohiro, AFSIS Japanese Expert had an opportunity to introduce Mr. Kimura Keitaro and Mr. Hosaka Masahiro to Mr. Vinit Atisook, Deputy Secretary General, Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) from the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC), Thailand during their visit. Furthermore, they also had an opportunity to visit Mr. Choomjet Karnjanakesorn, General Manager of APTERR Secretariat as well.
The highlight of conversation during the visit were mainly on the appreciation of Japanese government towards AFSIS Secretariat for the recent success of the Regional Workshop on SAS-PSA project, and to Thai Government for the kind support to AFSIS project. They also reiterated to continually support AFSIS activities and the continued cooperation between Japanese and Thai governments for strengthening food security in ASEAN Region.
For the next technical support from MAFF of Japan is the “Project of Strengthening ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) Function for Emergency” or SAFER project which is planned to start in October 2022 – September 2025 with the objective to strengthen the AFSIS function on immediate sharing of food security information in the case of emergency.
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On 23 April 2026, the AFSIS Secretariat participated in the Ad-Hoc Senior Officials Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF), held via a virtual platform, to discuss the implications of recent developments in the Middle East on regional food security and to identify coordinated measures to enhance ASEAN’s food resilience, in preparation for the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) Meeting.
The agricultural sector plays a vital role in supporting food security and livelihoods across ASEAN, where diverse production capacities shape the availability of major agricultural commodities such as rice, maize, sugarcane, soybean, and cassava. This report examines the SSR patterns across ASEAN to emphasize regional strengths, structural imbalances, and the implications for food security and agricultural policy in the region.
The self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) is a key indicator of food security. It shows how well Southeast Asian countries can meet rice demand through domestic production, with the region overall remaining increasingly self-sufficient despite ongoing challenges.
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On 19 March 2026, the AFSIS Secretariat participated in the Asia and the Pacific Food Systems Forum 2026 under the theme “Feeding the Future, Sustaining the Planet” in Manila, the Philippines, organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) . The forum aimed to promote food security policies, review ADB’s related initiatives, and support long-term food systems transformation.
