Migration to cities in Asia challenges food suppliers
Migration to cities in Asia challenges food suppliers
Elaine Kurtenbach, Associated Press, Bangkok
More than 590 million rural Asians will move to cities in the
next 20 years, taxing the ability of regional governments to
deliver food safely and efficiently to soaring urban populations,
a report released on Thursday said.
Though Asia's total population will grow by more than 400
million in that period, there should be ample food to go around.
The problem is getting it from farms to markets, reported the
Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, an independent advisory
group.
"We just don't see a shortfall. Our history has been one of
too much agricultural production rather than too little," said
William Armbruster, president of the U.S. Farm Federation and a
member of the council. The problem is getting it "to the people
who need it in an economically viable way."
Many Asian countries lack the infrastructure and resources to
get food from remote rural regions to the fast-growing urban
markets in a safe, timely and affordable way -- a situation that
could deteriorate with fast growth of cities, said the report,
released the on sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) Forum.
Urban populations are expected to grow by more than 70 percent
over the next two decades in Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and
the Philippines.
But in terms of size the greatest growth will be in China,
which has a population of 1.3 billion. More than 300 million
people will migrate to cities, increasing the urban population by
67 percent, said the report compiled by experts from 16 Pacific
Rim countries. As once self-sufficient farmers leave the land,
they become dependent on food supply chains spanning the globe.
"This complex system provides greater opportunities for
mishandling and spoilage," the report said.
Poultry farmers near the Philippine capital Manila can get
corn cheaper from Bangkok than from farms in the southern island
of Mindanao, it said. In China, it can take longer to get grapes
grown in the remote northwestern region of Xinjiang to the
southern city of Guangzhou than it can to ship grapes from
California -- more than three times the distance.
China lacks efficient refrigeration and transport systems, and
protectionist tariffs and quotas imposed by local authorities can
also disrupt food supplies, the report noted.
Meanwhile, there will be significant shifts in some other
regional farm markets. As Japan's population begins to decline in
2005, its status as the region's biggest food importer will
decline, it said.
"This should put officials and governments on notice that you
can't remain with the present structure," said David Parsons,
director-general of the council, a grouping of business, academic
and government experts. "There's a very dynamic process happening
here."