A Food in Health Security (FIHS) platform in the Asia-Pacific Region: the way forward.

The advent of multiple global crises, especially those of climate change, economics, energy, water, food and health evident in 2008, is of considerable moment to those who are suffering their consequences and for those with responsibility and interest in the systems affected. A coalition of parties in the Asia Pacific Region who work in the food and health systems met in August, 2009 in Taiwan and instigated a Food in Health Security (FIHS) Network which might join with other like-minded networks in and beyond the region. Sustainable health has many dimensions, among which food and nutrition is often neglected; there is a wide spectrum of nutritionally-related disorders.

Food crisis in the Asia-Pacific region.

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.