It is irrefutable that the world has failed to stop the march of hunger and equally irrefutable is the fact that the facets of hunger and food security are continuously changing, underscoring the importance of staying ahead of the curve.

To achieve that, the world needs to take full cognizance of the evolving nature of the problem  even more so for Asia and the Pacific, which now accounts for about 61% of the world’s population and is expected to be home to 5.2 billion people by 2050.

Asia’s demographic structure is projected to change to an inverse pyramid shape  with relatively more old people and fewer young people, including in the farming community.

This, coupled with out migration from the farming to the non-farming sector, will make it difficult to produce enough food to feed the region’s current population.

Stimulated by strong economic growth, the urban and middle class population in Asia and the Pacific is rapidly rising.