From the desk of ASOSAI Secretary General
Advancing Sustainable Agricultural Development and Food Security in Asia with Audits
Agriculture represents the cornerstone of human civilization, and its development history reflects the development history of human civilization. As one of the major origins of the global agricultural civilization, Asia’s history of agricultural development dates back to 10,000 years ago. As a major advance in human history, the widespread cultivation and production of crops, and the massive domestication of livestock and poultry, not only provided a stable and sustainable food source for humans, but also transited human society from a primitive stage dominated by hunting and gathering towards an era of farming civilization based on agricultural production.
In the 20th Century, accompanied by the development of industrialization, developed countries embraced modern agriculture characterized by machinery, chemicals and energy, achieving significant benefits. However, the heavy utilization of chemical products covering fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides led to a series of negative consequences. Such problems as environmental pollution, soil erosion, and ecological destruction jeopardize the Earth’s environment on which humans rely for survival, and affect human health. In 1991, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) introduced the concept of sustainable agriculture, advocating for countries worldwide to establish a new pattern of agricultural development that is resource-saving, environment-friendly, industrially efficient, and income-generating for farmers, and can meet the needs of human at present and the future.
Currently, there are uncertainties in the global agricultural sustainable development and food security. According to the 2023 UN Report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI), the COVID-19 pandemic has been recurring since 2019, and conflicts such as climate shocks and local wars have occurred frequently. The global population facing hunger has increased by 122 million. Asia, as the most populous region in the world, faces critical challenges in eliminating hunger and poverty, safeguarding the interests of farmers, as well as advancing sustainable agricultural development and food security.
Countries worldwide have maintained a high attention on agriculture and food security. The Goal 2 in the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) is to eliminate hunger and achieve food security. Audit institutions should also make due contributions towards this goal. By sharing the best practices of SAIs in various countries on auditing agriculture and food security, this issue of ASOSAI Journal aims to evoke the attention of SAIs in Asian countries to agriculture and its audit work, and facilitate the exchanges of audit experience, knowledge sharing and competency enhancement in this field.
Through our concerted efforts to conduct audit projects in agriculture and food security, we believe that SAIs in Asia will contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, safeguarding global food security and pursuing shared development.