ADB’s Strategy 2030 calls for urgent attention to meet the challenges of poverty, food insecurity, and rural prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Rural Development and Food Security Forum aims to seek knowledge on enabling policies, technologies, and investments that will help DMCs/ADB generate rural prosperity and effective stewardship to land and water (fresh and marine) resources.

One of the issues highlighted in the 2016 Food Security Forum was the need to improve market linkages and supply chain through the development of wholesale markets. ADB has approved Technical Assistance (TA) 9218: Investment Assessment and Application of High-Level Technology for Food Security in Asia and the Pacific to develop customized wholesale market models in selected developing member countries (DMCs) and train the government officials on the development and operations of these markets.

Climate change imposes a dynamic challenge on the food system in Asia and has already started adversely impacting farming and food value chains in ADB’s DMCs. Climate change adaptation and mitigation investments, hence, are relevant to the food and nutrition security agenda of Asia and the Pacific, and ADB has set a steep target of $ 1 billion to increase climate finance (adaptation) in Agriculture and Natural Resources Sector by 2020.

Climate change imposes a dynamic challenge on the food system in Asia and has already started impacting farming and food value chains in ADB’s developing member countries (DMCs). Climate adaptation and mitigation investments, hence, are relevant to the food and nutrition security agenda of Asia and the Pacific. While the impacts of climate change on food production and distribution have been well discussed and understood in general, practical knowledge of specific measures and activities and how to finance those are still lacking.

Stephen Vincent, independent consultant, discussed how rural access can be measured and monitored to support progress in achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 9.1.

Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance's Ken Gohara and Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan's Tsugito Nagano presented how the Weather Index Insurance can pay out a contractually predetermined insurance amount when weather indices such as temperature, wind speed, and rainfall exceed specified thresholds.

From labor-intensive to knowledge-intensive agriculture. With new knowledge and technology, can a modernized agriculture sector end world hunger and achieve food security?