Practically all countries of Asia have pledged at the national as well as international level to reduce the number of hungry and food insecure. A concrete step in this direction was taken in the World Food Summit in Rome, in 1996, when the nations resolved to reach the goal of food security. It was further reiterated at the Millennium Summit held in New York in 2000 where the United Nations adopted the Millennium Declaration, which contains goals and targets in important areas of human development. One of these goals is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

This particular study aimed to examine the results of the efforts to achieve food security in Asian Countries in the context of Millennium Goals. Having adopted the basic premise that factors determining food security can be best understood at the country level, the study was based on country case studies: two least developed countries (Cambodia and Nepal), two medium-income countries undergoing fast structural changes (Indonesia and Thailand), and one large and fast developing country (India).

Despite differences in their initial conditions (society, economy, and polity), and the varying experiences in pursuing their respective goals and strategies for the attainment of food security, the five country case studies have yielded most valuable lessons, particularly in the form of initiatives that have wider if not universal applicability.

These lessons range from general to more specific situations that is, from augmenting agricultural production, eliminating seasonal hunger, and aiming for nutritional security, to provide for food security during and after natural calamities. Together these vast and varied lessons provide a basis for vital policy recommendations for food security. An emphasis was also given to the scope for regional cooperation. The country case studies demonstrate that certain measures have regional implications for know-ledge sharing, conservation and proper use of natural resources.

However, in identifying both the problems and prospects, this policy synthesis will serve both - to raise wider regional awareness of the issue and point to certain possible policy directions. With the commitment of the policy makers in all countries of the region and experience of working of a variety of programmes addressed to achieve food security, the countries of the region should not be satisfied only with the elimination of hunger. They should now strive to ensure a healthy and productive life for each citizen in the country. It is a difficult but not an impossible goal given all the favourable factors at the country and the regional level.

Vijay Shankar Vyas, Professor Emeritus, Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur is member of the Central Board of Directors of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), and a former member of the Economic Advi-sory Council to the Prime Minister of India.

Prof. Vyas, Ph.D. in Economics from Bombay University, taught in Bombay University, Sardar Patel University and Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He was a visiting scholar at the Boston University, U.S.A.

He has served as Chairman / Member of various Boards, Committees and Commissions at the International, National and State Levels. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Food Policy Research Institute (Washington, U.S.A), member of the Governing Board of the Institute of Development Studies of Sussex University (U.K), member of the National Commission on Integrated Water Plan-ning, member of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet, and Member Agricultural Prices Commission of the Government of India.

Prof. Vyas has written extensively on key issues of agricultural policies and rural development, and has been honoured by academic community in India and abroad.

He is an elected Honorary Life Member of the International Association of Agricultural Economists and is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences in India.