Food Security in Asia

Economics and Policies

Academia Studies in Asian Economies series

Edited by Wen S. Chern, Professor and Graduate Studies Chair, Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, Ohio State University, US, Colin A. Carter, Professor and Chair, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California, Davis, US and Shun-Yi Shei, formerly Research Fellow, Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

Food security can be defined as the perceived availability of a high-quality, domestically-produced staple food supply which will maintain the existing standard of living. This book provides a forum for a panel of distinguished authors to debate such issues as whether or not many developed countries in Asia – such as Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Singapore – have legitimate concerns about their food security. They find, controversially, that this issue is of importance to all countries, not just to developing countries lacking the income to acquire an adequate food supply.

‘A brief review such as this cannot touch on all the important issues addressed in this volume, which offers a rich, varied and interesting collection of papers on important aspects of Asian food security. The broad focus of some of the chapters deservedly lend themselves to a wide audience; others that are more narrowly focused have more of a specialist appeal, but will be no less interesting, especially to specialists on a particular country or region or on a particular nutritional issue. . . Whether from an academic or policy perspective, this is a book that will repay careful study.’
– Robert Ash, Journal of Agrarian Change

‘. . . there is much in this book which should be of considerable relevance to anyone interested in the development of food supply, demand and trade in the countries of East and South East Asia. . . it should also be relevant and accessible to advanced undergraduate and to graduate students pursuing courses in the areas of agricultural development, trade or policy.’
– John Davis, Journal of Agricultural Economics