Leveraging Business in ASEAN for Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture (LAB)

Under LAB, we work to optimise the contribution of the ASEAN business community in support of the ASEAN Strategic Plan of Action on Food Security (SPA-FS). 

SPA-FS was motivated by ASEAN Ministers of Agricultre and Forestry (AMAF) as part of the ASEAN Integrated Food Security (AIFS) Framework as an urgent need to develop a policy framework for strategic measures and actions, including requiring common understanding among ASEAN Member States.

The strategy under SPA-FS is “to ensure long-term food security and to improve the livelihoods of farmers in the ASEAN region”.

Our work done

  • On 13 September 2013, in Singapore, the ASEAN CSR Network (ACN) convened the Consultation for Food and Agriculture Business Principles (FABs Principles) that commenced at Rio +20. The Consultation addressed business as critical partner for governments and other stakeholders in designing and delivering effective, scalable and practical solutions to make food systems secure and agriculture sustainable.

  • In collaboration with UNGC, we jointly submitted a proposal on LAB that focused on making real the goals articulated in the SPA-FS, specifically to: (a) increase food production; (b) reduce of post-harvest losses; (c) promote conducive market and trade; (d) ensure food stability; (e) promote availability and accessibility to agricultural inputs; (f) operationalise food emergency relief arrangements.  The proposal has been endorsed by AMAF in September 2014.

  • In the context of post-2015 and beyond, the ACN, with the support of the UNGC, took the opportunity to convene a Sustainable Agriculture Working Group Meeting on 6 February 2015, in Bali, Indonesia, to introduce the Integrated Sustainable Agriculture Programme (ISAP).  ISAP will create an evidence-based registry to measure the sustainable development of farmers and SME agribusinesses  Among others, ISAP is a tool to enable more actors in food and agriculture systems to adopt sustainable policies and evidence sustainable practices.

Our next steps

There is a need for greater education, capacity-building and harmonisation of efforts between businesses, policymakers and NGOs that will under LAB create the enabling environment, partnerships and business action.  To do so

  • We will continue to work with the UNGC and partners to engage, communicate and link the private sector, policymakers and other stakeholders so as to come to a common ground and understanding on the food security and sustainable agriculture agenda at the national level and as a component of regional intra-ASEAN food security agenda.

  • We will work with partners, through supply chains, to deliver training and capacity building services to enhance capacities in the planning and implementation of the interventions

  • We will provide a platform for coordination, cooperation and information exchange between businesses, policy makers and NGOs to implement and enforce more responsible and sustainable agribusiness practices