Frontier Strategy Group Continues Food Security Partnership With Syngenta in Asia

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Aug 27, 2013) -  Frontier Strategy Group (FSG), a leading information and advisory partner to emerging market executives, continues its collaboration with Syngenta Asia Pacific on the Rice Bowl Index for a second year.

Launched concurrent to the World Economic Forum in Bangkok in May 2012, the Rice Bowl Index has been instrumental in advancing dialogue regarding food security in Asia. The 2012-2013 annual update expands on the concept of "system robustness": a country's ability to withstand disruptions to its food security system by having a balanced capacity in making food available, ensuring that production is sustainable, providing the necessary infrastructure and policies to support domestic production and promote trade, while managing food demand and affordability. 

Key findings and year-on-year trends include:

• The Index highlights that a focus on self-sufficiency may negatively impact the achievement of food security robustness 
• The region's Policy and Trade environment has become more volatile
• Since Index launch, 13 countries experienced an improvement in overall food security robustness and two declined

"We are pleased to continue our partnership with Syngenta on such a critical issue as food security in Asia," remarked Richard Leggett, RBI Advisory Board member and CEO of FSG. "In addition to the obvious humanitarian concerns, food insecurity in Asia and across emerging markets has the potential to disrupt global economic activity over the medium- to long-term. It is imperative that we take a proactive approach to improve food security capabilities at this time. The Rice Bowl Index contributes to this effort by focusing on possible solutions, instead of merely describing problems."

The Update shows that the Policy and Trade environment has become more volatile over the May 2012-May 2013 period, exerting a greater impact on food security robustness, in contrast to its generally benign effect over the past decade. This outcome highlights the importance of taking both short and long term views of a country's food security robustness, as in the longer term, other rubrics could also be critical to sustaining robustness.

"Given the increasing complexity of food security and the pressing challenges posed by an increasing population, rapid urbanization and climate change, there is a need to minimize volatility and ensure a balance between the four rubrics," said Andrew Guthrie, Regional Director, Syngenta Asia Pacific. "With balance comes stability, underpinning the need for a system-wide approach to food security."

Since the publication of the first white paper in May 2012, food security strength has generally improved across the Asia-Pacific Region, with 13 countries experiencing an improvement and two experiencing a decline. The Update highlights that in many countries, the shifts in overall robustness were marginal, with minor outliers. Over the past year the Index observed significant movement in three of the four variables -- Policy and Trade, Demand and Price, and Farm-Level Factors -- while the impact of Environmental Factors showed little change.

The Index is designed to facilitate dialogue, collaboration and action between governments, the private sector and other key stakeholders in the area of food security. It is managed by an advisory board whose members include: Bruce Blakeman, Vice President Corporate Affairs, Cargill; Marcel van Doremaele, CEO Rabobank Singapore & Representative Markets; Andrew Guthrie, Regional Director, Syngenta Asia Pacific; Hans Joehr, Head of Agriculture, Nestle; Richard Leggett, CEO, Frontier Strategy Group; Dr. Andrew Powell, CEO, Asia BioBusiness; David Shearer, Director, Corporate, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; and Prof. Paul Teng, Senior Fellow (Food Security), Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

About Frontier Strategy Group
Frontier Strategy Group is a leading information and advisory partner to senior executives responsible for emerging markets. Over 2,000 senior executives work with FSG for ongoing access to emerging market analytics, research, and our expert advisory community. FSG is headquartered in Washington D.C. with regional offices in Singapore, London, and Miami. For more information, visit http://frontierstrategygroup.com/