On 19-20 February 2025, the AFSIS Secretariat attended the 13th Meeting of the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR) Council held in Tokyo, Japan. The meeting brought together key stakeholders from the APTERR Council, ASEAN Plus Three countries, ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN Food Security Reserve Board (AFSRB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the APTERR Secretariat, and the AFSIS Secretariat to discuss crucial topics related to food security and rice reserves.
The objectives of the meeting were to report the implementation of APTERR activities in 2023-2024, discuss and propose the work plan and budget proposal for the fiscal year 2025, and terminal report of the financial contribution to the APTERR Fund. Also, the Meeting was updated on the implementation under the Rice Discharge Mechanism, the Implementation of Tier 1 programme between the Philippines and Japan, which is now in its third phase (2024-2027), to strengthen food security amid the unforeseen calamities and Implementation of Tier 3 programme to ensure timely rice assistance during emergencies for immediate responses to the future disasters and also the Food Emergency Monitoring and Information (FEMI) that is the decision-support tool for a release of emergency rice reserves by monitoring and assessing food security situation in ASEAN Plus Three (APT) countries.
On this occasion, Mr.Charapon Chantorn, Deputy AFSIS Manager, had an opportunity to present the AFSIS Implementation in 2024, a future work plan in 2025, and works related to APTERR. AFSIS provides data on the demand and supply of rice for annual reports and the analysis of monitoring and evaluating food emergencies FEMI. This emphasizes the importance of AFSIS in collecting, analyzing, and disseminating ASEAN food security information.
Furthermore, this meeting provided all participants with the great opportunity to visit Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai and Sona Area Tokyo for the Disaster Prevention Experience Learning Facility
The successful exchange of ideas and cooperation during the meeting underscored the importance of regional collaboration in strengthening food security and ensuring a prompt and coordinated response to emergencies in the ASEAN Plus Three region.
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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.
