Credit Suisse has released a report on Asian food and rural income suggesting that the theme will present a challenge to governments, but offers opportunities for investors.

The report, written by Credit Suisse analysts across the region, argues that Asia’s desire for food self-sufficiency could rival the developed world’s drive towards energy self-sufficiency over the next 10 years and that incomes for the 1.7 billion Asians dependent on agriculture could double by 2015, giving rise to a new kind of consumption wave.

Credit Suisse expects food demand to grow at 3.7%-3.8% annually over the next 10 years as food consumption patterns shift and calorie intakes increase. As food accounts for a third of Asian personal expenditure, 15% of GDP and the livelihood of 55% of the region’s population, the importance of food economics cannot be underestimated, it maintains.

Currently, the 1.7 billion people in Asia who make their living from agriculture currently have per-capita income of US$328 – about 10% of the per-capita income of other Asians. Credit Suisse’s analysts argue that, if this begins to increase at 10% annually, a new kind of Asian consumption wave could begin.

For investors, Credit Suisse’s analysis aims to uncover stocks that can provide exposure to the six main themes explored in the report: rural income beneficiaries, farm input producers, farm investment-related companies, plantation related companies, low-end processors and food-to-fuel companies.