The European Commission-FAO Food Security Project was part of a sequence of project-based support provided by FAO in the region. Since the 1990’s FAO has helped to develop national capacities to produce and analyze agriculture statistics, combined with supporting and operating early warning systems, with efforts spearheaded by the FAO Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS).
The project built on the experiences and achievements of the FAO/EC Food Security Programme - Phase II (GCP/GLO/162/EC) (in Cambodia and Lao PDR 2006 to 2009) and the Asia FIVIMS Project - Phase II (GCP/RAS/170/JPN, 1998 to 2009). It capitalized on and ensured continuity in the technical support provided by its direct predecessor projects. In addition, the food price crisis of 2007/08 and the growing attention to the consequences of climate change were important contextual factors that significantly influenced the project design.