Trusting Trade and the Private Sector for Food Security in Southeast Asia

Trusting Trade and the Private Sector for Food Security in Southeast Asia challenges policymakers who oversee the rice sector in Southeast Asia and reexamines deep-rooted preceptsabout their responsibilities. The authors argue that fixating on national self-sufficiency hasbeen costly and counterproductive, and cooperation can both improve rice productionat home and expand regional trade. Trusting Trade specifically examines private sectorparticipation in the rice and (yellow) maize markets in five countries in the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, andVietnam. The study identifies both the private sector’s potential role in providing greaterregional food security and feasible ways to strengthen public and private sector cooperationin managing regional food supply chains. Trusting Trade also examines actionable ways todeepen and strengthen regional markets that support trade in food staples.The study’s recommendations are meant to be implemented primarily through new formsof partnerships between the public and private sectors. Trusting Trade will be of interest topolicy makers in the ASEAN member states and its development partners as well as othersinterested in food security, supply chains, and trade in Southeast Asia.