Brussels – 29 November 2022 – The talks between the EU and ASEAN were held online on 24-25 November 2022 as part of a series of workshops, which aim to support the EU Farm to Fork Strategy (F2F). The aim of F2F is to tackle environmental degradation caused by agriculture and farming as well issues of food security, healthy nutrition and food waste reduction. The workshop participants agreed that holistic and long-term actions must be put in place to rapidly tackle these issues

The COVID-19 pandemic, the Ukraine crisis and ongoing extreme weather conditions caused by climate change, have disrupted global food supply chains and communities around the world, causing a risk of food insecurity and food related health threats such as hunger or obesity. In addition, current food production, transport and processing methods are one of the largest contributors to global warming with 21-37% of GHG emissions attributed to food chains. As part of its Green Deal, the EU has put in place the Farm to Fork Strategy to tackle sustainability and environmental issues across the entire food chain. As climate and food production transcend borders, the efforts demands multinational cooperation.

According to Dr Koen van Dyck – Head of Unit A5 (Bilateral International Relations), in DG SANTE, EU Commission-, “the pandemic stressed the need for robust food systems that work in all circumstances, ensuring affordable food supplies for all. There are close links between food, health, consumption and the limits of the planet.”

Prof. Pham Quang Minh – Head of Food, Agriculture and Forestry Division, ASEAN Secretariat – also addressed this issue during the first Regional F2F EU-ASEAN online workshop held on 24 and 25 of November, in which some 170 policy makers, environment and agriculture experts, as well as other stakeholders, met to discuss strategies of coping with a looming food and climate crisis. He emphasized that “The pandemic was a trying time for all sectors. Lockdown restrictions created disruption to the food chain, income losses and rising food costs… We are ready to work with our partners in addressing the regional and global challenges facing food systems.”

This technical workshop provided an arena to find common grounds, principles and types of actions that would further develop and strengthen the cooperation between the EU and ASEAN on their respective policies regarding the “Farm to Fork Strategy”. The online event succeeded to provide a platform to experts from the EU and ASEAN to discuss and identify where and how their cooperation could be reinforced and coordinated, targeting sustainability and resilience of food systems. All participants of the online workshop agreed that continuous cooperation between ASEAN countries and the EU is needed and beneficial, as we are all walking towards a common goal.

Background information:

The adjustment of food systems, which were also documented and called upon in the UN Food Systems Summit in September 2021, needs to take into account the various contextual differences across the planet regarding cross cutting issues such as land degradation or food loss that ultimately affect how food is produced, processed, transported and consumed.

The question of sustainable food systems goes beyond the means of production and it is also subjected to several nutrition challenges such as undernutrition and hunger. These challenges remain while new and multiple forms of malnutrition rise. In particular, food-borne non-communicable diseases such as cancer, obesity, and cardiovascular conditions put pressure on people and health systems.

Although global awareness grows, commitments are made and some solutions are designed and implemented, there is still a need to rapidly and firmly put more actions in place and to foster a worldwide cooperation and coordination. Like the EU, the ASEAN is committed to resolving these challenges and is working on global and local responses.

These series of regional and country-focused workshops are funded by the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments to support the implementation of the Farm to Fork Strategy, where the EU plan is to contribute to solve food challenges, and, to this end, proposes pathways for change towards sustainability that provides environmental, health, social and economic benefits.

More details of the European Commission’s Farm to Fork Strategy are available here and on Social Media channels with the tags:

#EUFarm2Fork

#EUForeignPolicy

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For more information, please contact:

EU “Farm to Fork” Project Secretariat
Philippe van Maldeghem - farm2forkdialogue@candm.sk