SEARCA puts Southeast Asia’s changing food systems in focus

Insider Spotlight

• SEARCA wants a visual record of changing food systems
• Climate resilience, technology and food access are key themes
• Southeast Asian photographers have until Sept. 30 to enter
  
  
  
  

Southeast Asia’s food systems are being reshaped by climate risks, new technology and changing supply chains, creating a need to document how communities are adapting from farms and fishing grounds to markets and cities.

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is tapping photographers across the region for that visual record through the 20th SEARCA Photo Contest, themed “Food for All, Food for the Future.”

Why it matters

The initiative looks beyond traditional images of farms and agricultural landscapes to capture the people, infrastructure and systems that determine whether food remains safe, nutritious and accessible.

Filipino photographers can document farmers adapting to heat, drought, floods and storms, fishers protecting the quality of their catch, women running food enterprises, cooperatives packing produce and vendors keeping food safe.

Young people using drones, sensors, mobile applications and other agricultural technologies are also among the potential subjects.

The bigger picture

 Southeast Asia faces the challenge of strengthening food security while making agricultural systems more resilient to climate pressures and capable of adopting technologies that can improve productivity and distribution.

The contest has six categories:

• Nourishing Families and Communities
• Markets, Movement, and Access
• Safe Food, Healthy Lives
• Innovation for Future Food Security
• Climate-Ready Food Systems
• Women in Food and Agriculture
  
  

SEARCA is seeking photographs with “journalistic force” that can communicate why a particular food-system moment matters, according to a company release.

Authenticity is also a central requirement. AI-generated and AI-composited images, misleading staged photographs and heavily manipulated photos are prohibited, with only basic cropping and minor adjustments allowed.

By the numbers

Entries will be judged 40 percent on relevance, 30 percent on technical quality and 30 percent on impact, storytelling, authenticity and public communication value.

The first-prize winner will receive $1,000, while second and third place will receive $800 and $500, respectively. The SEARCA Center Director’s Choice carries another $500 prize.

Photographers may submit an unlimited number of eligible entries through the official SEARCA Photo Contest website at photocontest.searca.org/2026 until 11:59 p.m. on Sept. 30. —Princess Daisy C. Ominga | Ed: Corrie S. Narisma