1st Edition

Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Food Security in South Asia

Edited By Nagesh Kumar, Joseph George Copyright 2020
    280 Pages 47 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge India

    280 Pages 47 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge India

    280 Pages 47 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge India

    This volume foregrounds the importance of regional cooperation in the context of food security challenges in South Asia. South Asia holds the key to global achievement of SDG targets of ending hunger and malnutrition – it accounts for nearly one-third of food-insecure people on the planet, with every third child suffering from stunting due to malnutrition. Similar food preferences, production systems, and the transboundary nature of agrarian ecosystems call for coordinated action by South Asian countries, complementing national actions dealing with food security challenges.

    In this volume, leading experts discuss the perspectives of key South Asian countries in leveraging regional cooperation for addressing food security challenges and reflect on the potential of cooperative actions in different areas. The book proposes a ten-point regional policy agenda covering cooperation for combatting climate change, regional trade liberalization, operationalization of regional food reserves, leveraging technology, sharing of good practices, regional institution building, coordinated positions in multilateral trade negotiations, addressing trans-boundary outbreak of livestock diseases, strengthening food safety standards, and the management of shared natural resources.

    A key volume on accomplishing SDGs in the South Asian context, this book will be of immense interest to policy makers, researchers, and development practitioners. It is also essential reading for scholars and researchers in the areas of development studies, South Asia studies, food security, environment and sustainability.

    1 Regional cooperation for sustainable food security in South Asia: an overview and policy lessons

    Nagesh Kumar and Joseph George

    PART I Regional perspectives on food security

    2 Realizing sustainable food security in South Asia: progress, challenges and opportunities

    Upali Wickramasinghe

    3 Potential for intraregional trade in food products in South Asia

    Indra Nath Mukherji

    4 Agricultural trade in South Asia: issues, challenges and the way forward

    Sachin Chaturvedi

    5 SAARC Food Bank: raising operational efficacy

    Mustafizur Rahman, Estiaque Bari and Sherajum Monira Farin

    PART II National food security strategies: leveraging regional cooperation

    6 Ensuring food security in Bangladesh: issues beyond production and challenges ahead

    Mustafizur Rahman and Towfiqul Islam Khan

    7 India’s national food security strategies and potential for regional cooperation

    S. Mahendra Dev

    8 State of food security in Nepal: addressing concerns of productivity and climate change

    Posh Raj Pandey

    9 National food security challenges and strategies in Pakistan: cooperation for technology and trade

    Abid Qaiyum Suleri and Mehreen Iqbal

    10 Food security policy framework in Sri Lanka: market reforms, diversifi cation and safety nets

    Saman Kelegama and Dilani Hirimuthugodage

    Biography

    Nagesh Kumar is Director and Head of the South and South-West Asia Office, New Delhi, of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). He has previously served as the UNESCAP Chief Economist and Director, Macroeconomic Policy and Development Division, and Director of Social Development Division at UNESCAP headquarters in Bangkok.

    Joseph George is a trade and development analyst with ten years of experience in the field of regional economic integration in South Asia. Currently serving as a Research Associate at the South and South-West Asia Office of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), he provides research support for implementation of UNESCAP’s programmes on regional cooperation for sustainable development in the South Asian region.