The ASEAN Food Security Information System (AFSIS) in cooperation with the Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan (RESTEC), the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), hosted the training course in SAKURA Exchange Program in Science (Sakura Science Plan) during 22-31 October 2019 in Tokyo and Saitama. The objective is to obtain the knowledge and skills in the Remote Sensing (RS) application of agriculture including crop production and distribution, statistic, irrigation, policy planning and smart agriculture.
The training course hosted 10 participants from ASEAN Member have Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore and Philippines. The participants learned about the remote sensing technologies in smart agriculture, using satellite in survey and collect data in real time in predicting analytics and use data in observation on natural disaster andmeteorology, how to use satellite data to analytics in Geographic Information System. And the participants had the facilities tour to learn about the their culture at Kawagoe, policy management such as irrigation management at Irrigation facilities (Yoshimi, Saitama), Earth observation center at Hatoyama Earth Observation Center, recycle process at Advanced recycle plant, Ishizaka Sangyo Co., Ltd. And learn how to analytics the satellite image at Interferometry of Synthetic Aperture Rader (SAR) (@TDU). The participants receive many valuable knowledge and experience and also shared the knowledge from their own country about their agricultural and agriculture management.
For more material regarding this training and others, please visit the link : http://www.aptfsis.org/knowledgebase/6
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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.
