Agro-food trade, GVCs and agricultural development in ASEAN

The countries that compromise the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have expanded their involvement in global agro-food trade through strong regional production growth and increasing consumer demands from population growth and higher incomes. Regional and international agro-food markets have thus become an important source of income and food for the regions producers and consumers. However, growth in trade has lessened in recent years with projections suggesting a further slowing over the medium term. This study explores the role that agro-food trade and participation in agro-food global value chains (GVC) has had on regional agro-food sectors and current barriers that are holding the region back from unlocking the full benefits of further integration into regional and global agro-food markets. It finds that although GVC engagement has increased regional agro-food growth between 2004 and 2014, gaps remain in the level of regional integration. Results from the analysis suggest that reducing the remaining tariff and non tariff barriers, and creating an enabling environment to allow agricultural producers to better access service inputs, will help spur sector growth and agricultural incomes.