Asian Food Safety Association Conference Tackles Strategies for Food Security

Various strategies on securing food were highlighted at the 4th International Conference on Food Safety and Food Security organized by the Asian Food Safety Association (AFSA). A range of conventional to modern methods of agriculture research and development were presented by 18 countries during the forum, with the goal of contributing to the achievement of the 2016-2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It was also the first-time for modern biotechnology to be tackled in the conference.

Dr. Rhodora R. Aldemita, Director of the ISAAA Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology, presented the highlights of the ISAAA report on the Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops: 2017 (ISAAA Brief 53), which stirred interests among the 260 participants. Copies of Brief 53 Executive Summary were distributed to the participants. Various issues on food and environmental safety raised during the open forum were addressed. A concurrent session on food security, which dealt mostly on conventional agriculture, will be improved in the next conference for participants to be informed on modern agriculture and new breeding innovations.

The conference held in Siem Reap, Cambodia from August 9 to 12 was organized by AFSA, in collaboration with Royal University of Cambodia, Mekong Institute Thailand, and supported by the Asia Pacific Institute of Food Professionals, the International Union of Microbiology Societies, and USAID-Horticulture Innovation Lab. National and international experts, entrepreneurs, scientific and technical personnel, policy makers, and civil society participated in the event.

For information, contact knowledge.center@isaaa.org or visit the AFSA website.