SOCIOECONOMIC and quality-of-life issues are priorities among Malaysians for the unity government to address, according to a recent survey titled 100 Days of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Administration as Prime Minister.
Under “national issues and citizen’s concerns”, socioeconomic issues such as cost of living, price of goods and inflation are an overwhelming area of concern for Malaysians.
The survey by research firm O2 Research Malaysia – in collaboration with local media alliance Media in Arms – also tasked respondents to gauge how well they thought the current federal government handled pressing issues such as natural disasters, economic growth of the country, welfare and health of the people, our economic resilience, and food supply.
For most Malaysians, the immediate effect of rising prices of goods is making basic meals expensive, of which the government has begun addressing through initiatives like Menu Rahmah with collaboration from private sectors.
But what about our food supply in the long run?
Being self-sufficient
Malaysia recorded 26 food items with more than 100% self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) in 2021, compared to 19 in 2020, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
However, we are still highly dependent on imports for beef and mutton; the import dependency ratio (IDR) for both of these proteins exceeded 50% – with beef at 81.6% and mutton at 89.4%.
The consumption of chicken meat per capita was the highest at 46.1kg per year followed by chicken and duck eggs at 20.8kg a year (or 347 pieces).
When it comes to the most commonly consumed carbohydrate, that is rice, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries stated that our paddy and rice output meets 70% of the nation’s requirements.
In a discussion paper, Khazanah Research Institute deputy director Dr Sarena Che Omar noted that Malaysia had imported around RM79bil worth of food items in 2021 – double the amount of what it was a decade ago.
Unsurprisingly, this figure has caused a stir with how high our food import bill is and further raises questions on the nation’s self-sufficiency levels despite recording over 50% self-sufficiency ratio for rice, poultry, eggs and tropical fruits.
Dr Sarena noted that a low import bill doesn’t necessarily mean that we are food secure. We could produce all the food needed to be consumed locally but at what expense? We’d have to clear more land and raze more forests to create agricultural land suited to commonly consumed crops, all at the expense of taxpayers.
Deconstructing food security
Being food secure also means having access and being nutritionally diverse to eradicate malnutrition; simply relying on a single or even a handful of sources can prove to be a bottleneck when shortages arise.
UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) data shows that a whopping 61% of our nutritional intake come from just 12 crops and five animals.
Paradoxically, our current food system which has enabled us to stockpile food may be our downfall.
Economies of scale dictate that we need to maximise yields – causing crop diversity to shrink to single, standardised varieties.
The dangers of relying on single crop varieties are well-documented in history. For instance, between 1845 and 1852, the Irish Potato Famine killed nearly 25% of the population when a potato blight wiped out potato crops across Ireland. The main cause was a disease that affected the potato crop, which accounted for one-third of Ireland’s food dependency.
Reliance on a single variety also leaves our crops vulnerable to diseases, pests and a volatile climate brought on by climate change.
Reimagining agriculture
On Feb 9, Economic Affairs minister Rafizi Ramli reiterated that Malaysia should reduce its dependence on food imports by investing in agriculture – a notion supported by the federal government when looking at the revised Budget 2023.
During the first session of Budget 2023, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas) will share its profits from rice imports by contributing 30% of its net profit to paddy farmers.
Parallel to that, the Food Security Policy Action Plan (DSMN Action Plan) 2021-2025 will serve as our guide to strategise on future food systems that are sustainable. The plan covers five core pillars with 15 strategies and 96 initiatives to ensure the sustainability of the country’s food supply at all times, especially in the face of unexpected situations.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries and Bernas are also working on a centralised farm management system to optimise the use of existing resources by increasing the efficiency of the country’s rice production activities through the Large-Scale Smart Padi Field (Smart SBB) programme.
The key lies in collaboration between different players. The Smart SBB programme involves not only paddy farmers but also private companies with farmers and rice paddy operators, including land owners – all this is in line with the government’s goal of increasing the country’s rice self-sufficiency level to 75%.
Despite the fact that the ministry had launched a number of development programmes like the Young AgroPreneur Programme and My Future Agro, there still exists a negative perception of farming as a profession although that is changing with younger generations taking up urban farming.
“On a futuristic note, there’s a chance that the world may be overhauling what we currently understand as agriculture through cellular agriculture and precision fermentation,” said Dr Sarena.
“There are technologies being developed around the world, and are in the process of being commercialised large scale. This involves the culturing of meat products such as beef and poultry in laboratories, without having to kill the animal and without needing a lot of our natural resources such as land and fresh water,” she added.
Meanwhile, for fisheries, the ministry allocated up to RM150mil for financing facilities under the Vessel Modernisation and Catch Mechanisation Programme – providing more opportunities for local fishermen to upgrade and modernise their vessels in terms of safety and catch quality.
The socioeconomic factor
In agricultural economics and development economics, Bennett’s law states that as incomes rise, people eat fewer calorie-dense starchy staple foods and more nutrient-dense meats, oils, sweeteners, fruits and vegetables.
Coinciding with that, Malaysians have experienced diet diversification over the years, stemming from economic growth and rising citizen wealth.
Think about all the salmon, avocado, kale or even chocolate you can find in cafés and restaurants nowadays which probably weren’t part of mainstream Malaysian diets until the last 10 years.
However, despite dietary diversification, rice remains the main source of carbohydrate in Malaysia according to Khazanah Research Institute’s report The Status of the Paddy and Rice Industry in Malaysia.
The paddy and rice industry is still important as the report also found that the most vulnerable consumers are the poor, rural residents and migrants.
Rice accounted for 6.1% of the average household’s food and non-alcoholic beverage (F&B) expenditure in 2016 (RM44 monthly). When compared to their respective counterparts, households in the B40 group, rural areas and non-citizens spend a higher proportion of their monthly F&B expenditure on rice.
“It’s mainly due to cost-of-living, as poorer households will tend to prioritise cheaper carbohydrates to prevent starvation or hunger, and as a consequence, spend less on fruits, vegetables and meat which are more expensive,” Dr Sarena explained.
So, while it seems concerning that our food import bill is high, it doesn’t tell the full story.
Keep in mind that imports like maize are used for animal feed while “luxury foods” have also seen an increase in import as demand grows with the improving socioeconomic status of the nation.
Ultimately, it is still important to be able to produce our food locally, but it should be done ethically, hygienically and sustainably.
