Food crisis: Amend food first policy as immediate solution

SHAH ALAM – Malaysia should opt for a food first policy as an immediate solution to combat the food crisis issue in the country.

Agricultural policy analyst Professor Datin Paduka Fatimah Mohamed Arshad proposed this as she said that now was the best time to what was best for the population, which means good food for Malaysians.

“We are tropical people so we should eat good tropical food and not fast food from the west,” Fatimah said.

Malaysia had been importing nearly 60 per cent of its food needs which has been reflected in the 2020’s food import bills that came up to RM55.5 billion.

Fatimah said the country should start mobilising all of its resources and empower the farmers to become innovative farmers.

“In the current digital era with modern advances, we want our farmers to be smart in terms of understanding their environment and technologies.

“After all these years, we have listened to colonial masters, and they were purely extracting our resources to produce rubber and tin for them.

“I suggest we revamp the research and development so we could focus on inventing technology innovation that would improve our capacity with regards to producing food that is best for our children and the next generation,” Fatimah said, following the announcement by the World Bank where a fund of up to US$30 billion was allocated to address the global food security crisis.

Fatimah shared her inputs on Sinar Daily’s talkshow, Wacana English Edition where this week’s episode discussed the food security crisis resulted in food shortages and price hikes both in Malaysia and globally.

The food crisis issue began following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which recently prompted the United Nations’ World Food Programme to warn of an impending global food crisis due to disruptions in production and exports.

Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat and fertilisers, and its output has plummeted since Russia invaded the country, causing a surge in global prices.

The rise in global fertiliser and wheat prices subsequently caused increases in the cost of animal feed and crops.

Malaysia had said it would ban the export of 3.6 million chickens from the start of June until domestic prices and production stabilise, due to the shortages in the country.

Elsewhere in Asia, India has banned wheat exports, while Indonesia blocked overseas sales of palm oil.