Bangkok, Oct 16: More than 590 million rural Asians will move to cities in the next 20 years, taxing the ability of regional governments to deliver food safely and efficiently to soaring urban populations, a report released today said. Though Asia's total population will grow by more than 400 million in that period, there should be ample food to go around. The problem is getting it from farms to markets, reported the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, an independent advisory group.

``We just don't see a shortfall. Our history has been one of too much agricultural production rather than too little,'' said William Armbruster, president of the US Farm Federation and a member of the council. The problem is getting it ``to the people who need it in an economically viable way.''
Many Asian countries lack the infrastructure and resources to get food from remote rural regions to the fast-growing urban markets in a safe, timely and affordable way - a situation that could deteriorate with fast growth of cities, said the report, released the on sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum.
Urban populations are expected to grow by more than 70 percent over the next two decades in Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines. Bureau Report