SEACON : The Southeast Asian Council for Food Security and Fair Trade

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Food Security & Fair Trade

Every person has a right to food. Food that is safe and nutritious. Food that is adequate, accessible and affordable. Food that is culturally acceptable and produced in sustainable manner.

Food security at the household and national level refers to self reliance and self sufficiency in food production using sustainable food production systems and approaches.

Today however, uncontrolled trade liberalisation is threatening food security in many parts of the world. Free market policies of governments, financial and multilateral trade institutions have changed the nature of how food is produced and distributed. The rural farmers and fisher folks in Southeast Asia who traditionally decided what they generated, consumed and exchanged now have to sell what they yield and buy what they eat. This situation is compounded by an emerging regional water crisis.

Driven by large agro-food corporations which prioritise profits over local self-sufficiency, agriculture is increasingly unsustainable. Trade is free but not fair. Fair trade centrally allows the food produser to earn a decent livelihood without resorting to unethical means or plundering the soil and at the same time is acceptable by the consumer, supported by an efficient marketing system that will ensure the environment and socio-economic concerns are adhere to.

The result? Degraded environments. Destruction of rural livelihoods and endangered food security.

Who We Are

The Southeast Asian Council for Food Security and Fair Trade (SEACON) was created in 1996 to provide a coordinated approach to food security, agriculture and trade issues. In each of our member countries, we support people-centred national based on food security councils that enable government, private sector and civil society representatives to meet and dialog on agriculture and trade issues.

The establishment of the national food council is to ensure that whatever analysis and positions taken on at the regional level, would have the secure backing from the grassroots. Our role is thus to :

•	Monitor and keep in check the adverse effects of free trade
•	Monitor the development of relevant economic and social domestic policies in the region
•	Offer alternative agro-trade strategies based on the principle of fair trade and food security
•	Improve and lobby for policies related to food, agriculture and trade at regional and international levels

How We Began

Before the World Food Summit and NGO Forum in Rome, Italy in November 1996, a conference was held in Manila to discuss the impact of trade liberalisation and economic deregulation on food security and people's livelihoods. From this emerged the Balay Declaration, a document containing the collective aspirations and vision of NGOs for food security in this region. Our organisation is the mechanism to translate the spirit and objectives of this Declaration into reality.

The Balay Declaration calls on governments of South East Asia to respect, protect and fulfil the right of their citizens to food, and to make food security for all the cornerstone of their economic policy. It demands that:

•	Governnments provide adequate food supply through national and regional food self-sufficiency efforts
•	International instituions such as the WTO, APEC, WB, IMF acknowledge the inherent right of all countries to food security
•	Governments recognise the vital role of small farmers, fisher folk and women in ensuring food security, and see that these sectors have access to and control of resources
•	Governments guarantee long term food security through the adoption of sustainable agriculture, equitable access to resources, and improved governance

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