Like many other regional groups, the member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka—have taken steps toward forming a regional free trade area. Will the SAARC Preferential Trading Arrangement (SAPTA) offer the substantial economic benefits, including food security, that South Asian leaders expect? This quantitative analysis compares the economic results of SAPTAwith two other trade liberalization schemes, (1) more liberal trade between SAARCand the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries, and (2) more liberal trade between SAARC and the world.

This volume foregrounds the importance of regional cooperation in the context of food security challenges in South Asia. South Asia holds the key to global achievement of SDG targets of ending hunger and malnutrition – it accounts for nearly one-third of food-insecure people on the planet, with every third child suffering from stunting due to malnutrition. Similar food preferences, production systems, and the transboundary nature of agrarian ecosystems call for coordinated action by South Asian countries, complementing national actions dealing with food security challenges. In this volume, leading experts discuss the perspectives of key South Asian countries in leveraging regional cooperation for addressing food security challenges and reflect on the potential of cooperative actions in different areas. The book proposes a ten-point regional policy agenda covering cooperation for combatting climate change, regional trade liberalization, operationalization of regional food reserves, leveraging technology, sharing of good practices, regional institution building, coordinated positions in multilateral trade negotiations, addressing trans-boundary outbreak of livestock diseases, strengthening food safety standards, and the management of shared natural resources. A key volume on accomplishing SDGs in the South Asian context, this book will be of immense interest to policy makers, researchers, and development practitioners. It is also essential reading for scholars and researchers in the areas of development studies, South Asia studies, food security, environment and sustainability.

South Asian leaders have made it a priority to tackle key regional issues such as poverty, environment degradation, trade and investment barriers and food insecurity, among others.

Gain new insight on alleviating food insecurity in one of the poorest areas of the world! This book analyzes various facets of economic reforms in South Asia and their implications for attaining food security. It illuminates relevant issues regarding the constraints and challenges in achieving food security, focusing on South Asian countries where a large percentage of the world’s poor reside. This timely resource examines possible future courses of action involving trade and new technological advances to improve agriculture-led development in the region. Economic Reforms and Food Security: The Impact of Trade and Technology in South Asia focuses its attention on the economic reforms and experiences of six nations: Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Economic Reforms and Food Security: The Impact of Trade and Technology in South Asia includes the most relevant presentations made at the South Asia Regional Conference held in New Delhi in April of 2002. The book features experts who present lively, important debate on such significant issues as: current economic reforms—have they really enhanced food security? trade liberalization—can the WTO and new trade opportunities handle food security concerns? new technological options—how they contribute to agricultural production and food security the challenges of water—pricing, subsidies, and other issues in irrigation agricultural diversification and market reforms-how they increase food availability interventions in food and nutrition security—short-term solutions to reduce food insecurity and more! Economic Reforms and Food Security: The Impact of Trade and Technology in South Asia contains numerous tables and figures to demonstrate the current food situation in this area of the world and offers projections of where improvements can be made. Students and faculty of economics or South Asia will find this book extremely useful; it will also benefit development researchers, policymakers, and governmental officials who are searching for answers to poverty and starvation in developing countries. This text shows you how a concerted effort by governments, agencies, organizations, industries, and individuals—backed by adequate resources and changes in policies—can accelerate progress toward achieving sustainable food security for all.