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."