Agri-food tech emerges as a big win for the ASEAN-Australia relationship

Food security and sustainable food production, including managing food waste, packaging and supply chains have been top global policy priorities over the past decade, but the impact of climate change on food production was a neglected aspect of debate.

That changed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Thailand in 2022, COP27, when discussion of climate-resilient food systems occurred for the first time, highlighting the link between food-water security and climate change.  The subsequent COP28 in the United Arab Emirates in 2023 pushed this agenda further, adding a Food Systems Pavilion dedicated to solutions for tackling the food and climate crisis.

The Australia-ASEAN partnership has a crucial role to play in regional food security and building reliance of food supplies as leaders declared in their joint statement in September 2023 “on strengthening food security and nutrition in response to crises”.

The statement confirmed Australia’s role as a key partner in supporting ASEAN efforts to safeguard its food security needs. Australia has been a reliable source of agricultural produce to the ASEAN market for many decades. But the leaders’ statement also recognised Australia’s long record of supporting food security in Southeast Asia via “agricultural research partnerships, development assistance, and the transfer of Australian agronomic knowledge and expertise”.

The statement singled out the threat posed by climate change and natural disasters to food security and the value the Australia-ASEAN partnership can bring to the long-term resilience and sustainability of agri-food systems. 

The use of technology in food production and agriculture (ag-tech) will undoubtedly continue to grow – and Australia is a leader in using ag-tech solutions to increase yield, produce climate-resilient crops and minimise environmental harm from farming. These solutions are being shared with ASEAN to benefit the wider region. However, it is necessary to keep in mind that some of the agricultural problems facing Australia might be vastly different to those facing ASEAN and vice versa. And so will the efficiency of, and need for, solutions. That is where open dialogue between the two regions is crucial. 

But agricultural trade could accelerate and further solidify via import of high-quality meat, vegetables, dairy products and wine from Australia and export of manufactured goods to Australia. Australia has always placed importance on developing bilateral trade and investment links, even though it is not a member of ASEAN. Rising incomes, increased purchasing power and growing affluence in the region are leading to increased demand for Australian agri-food produce. Australian-made products are believed to be high quality and receive the stamp of approval in ASEAN.

As reported by the Australian government, a record 23% ($19 billion) of Australian agriculture, fisheries and forestry (AFF) exports went to the ASEAN region in 2022-2023. In return, ASEAN members supplied 19% of Australia’s total AFF imports, and were our second largest supplier, after the European Union. These numbers are predicted to increase in the coming years.

But along with the increase in trade, comes an increase in negative side effects. The world’s food systems are responsible for one-third of greenhouse gas emissions and ASEAN and Australia are among the major contributors. Indonesia alone contributes to about 9% of the global total. However, research has found that the share of emissions from food in developing countries decreased from around 68% in 1990 to 38% in 2015. The reasons for this are “very high increases in non-food emissions” and “significant reduction in land-based emissions”. 

The Australian government has put in place policies and programs to reduce emissions, such as upgrading the electricity grid to support renewable power, reducing the price of electric vehicles, supporting businesses to innovate and adopt smarter tech, regulating and reporting on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and partnering with Indo-Pacific neighbours to reduce emissions, to name a few. ASEAN also has a strategy in place for a carbon-neutral future – which includes accelerating green value chain integration, strengthening regional circular economy supply chains, connecting green infrastructure and markets, attracting and deploying green capital, developing carbon markets, green talent development and green best practices sharing. Accountability and regular reporting of the progress of these policies and strategies will be key to their success.

Most ASEAN members will increase their food imports not just to feed their populations but to continue to drive related secondary industries, such as food processing and retail, in turn boosting employment locally. Having said that, the need for food imports needs to be balanced against the livelihoods of small farmers in the region. Despite the growth in food demand, many small farmers struggle to make a living in relatively challenging conditions and uncertain climatic conditions. For small-holder farmers, sustainability and the GHG problem would probably be the last thing on their minds. However, we are seeing an increasing number of start-ups with innovative technologies addressing the needs of small-holder farmers, without further increasing their burden.

The key to striking a balance between the conflicting pressures of climate change and food trade is to diversify the sources of food. For example, innovation in plant-based and cultivated (cell-based) meat and seafood offers promising solutions to reduce the burden on farmers and the climate. But these technologies take time to achieve scale and require huge funding to be successful. The risk appetite in the agri-food industry is not as high as that of other technology sectors – but this is slowly changing for the better. 

Overall, the path forward designed by Australia and ASEAN is well laid out. Now it is time to accelerate strategies to ensure agri-food tech is one of the win-win outcomes from the ASEAN-Australia relationship.

Dr Sandhya Sriram is CEO co-founder of Shiok Meats, Singapore.

This article is part of a series of op-eds published in conjunction with the Emerging Leaders' Dialogue of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit convened in Melbourne between 4 and 6 March in a partnership between the Australian Government and Asialink.