Interpreting the Australian-Phillipines food trade in the context of debates on food security

Since 1992, the Australian government has implemented a number of strategies designed to capitalize on the ostensibly natural market provided to Australian food exporters by the rapidly growing populations and economies of Asia (Pritchard 1999). On the surface, increased exports to the region appeared to offer a win-win solution to export-oriented Australian farmers faced with the need to secure new markets in order to arrest declining terms of trade, and to Asian governments and consumers faced with the prospect of procuring enough food of sufficient varierty to satisfy both the basic needs of growing populations and the changing tastes of the affluent middle classes.