Food Crisis in the Asia-Pacific Region

亞太地區的糧食危機

Katinka M Weinberger ； Warwick J Easdown ； Ray-Yu Yang ； John Donough H Keatinge

《Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition》 18卷4期 (2009/12) Pp. 507-515

https://doi.org/10.6133/apjcn.2009.18.4.07

摘要

根據聯合國千禧年的發展目標，亞太地區要在2015年之前減少一半的赤貧人口；但近年來稻米和其他糧食價格飆漲，使得上百萬已脫離赤貧的人口再度陷入飢餓困境。這顯示亞太地區的糧食供應系統比之前認定的更加脆弱及失衡。近期糧食價格飛漲主要歸究於經濟市場因素，例如糧食出口限制及石油價格攀升；但根本的原因是因為不適當的農業政策導致農業研究投資下滑及糧食緊急應變措施的投入不足。早在糧食價格上漲之前，亞太地區已有大量人口處於營養不足的狀態，僅依賴貧乏的主食種類和單調飲食維生。價格上升迫使飲食的選擇性更受限，有更多的人口正遭受飢餓和健康的惡化。亞太地區最基本的糧食危機是膳食品質低劣，這會導致人們營養不良，包括肥胖及過瘦。有效的改善糧食體系的根本方針在於開發均衡膳食、發展糧食安全生產體系、降低農業損失以增加糧食供應，並致力投資於上述方針的研究。改善糧食體系是社會的重大期待，並且攸關著政府的存亡，但是如果只著重提高糧食供應而無視於膳食的改善，長期將會嚴重影響國民的健康。因此結合國家前瞻政策、區域的反應及綜整的科學方法是必要的。

關鍵字

糧食價格 ； 營養不良 ； 研究投資 ； 糧食體系 ； 亞太地區

並列摘要

The Asia-Pacific region was on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the prevalence of extreme poverty by 2015, but recent dramatic rises in the price of rice and other staples have pushed millions of people back into hunger and poverty. This indicates that the region's food supply system is more fragile and imbalanced than what was previously believed. Proximate causes of the rise in staple prices can be found in market forces such as export restrictions and rising energy prices but the ultimate causes are policies that have led to under-investment in agricultural research and emergency mitigation. Large numbers of people in the Asia-Pacific were already undernourished prior to the recent price rises, relying on monotonous diets dominated by a few staples. Pushed into reducing their dietary diversity even further, many more millions are now suffering from hunger and deteriorating health. The most fundamental food crisis in the Asia-Pacific is one of poor diets, and this affects the obese just as much as the undernourished. The solution lies in a food system that focuses on producing balanced diets, developing safe production practices, increasing food supplies by reducing losses, and investing in the research that make it all happen. Improving food systems is a fundamental community expectation and can be a matter of government survival, but if the urgency to improve food supplies overrides improving diets, the long-term impact on national health will be severe. Proactive policies, regional responses, and more integrated scientific approaches are needed.

並列關鍵字

food prices ； malnutrition ； research investment ； food systems ； Asia-Pacific