REVISIT FOOD SECURITY IN MALAYSIA (PART 4)

FOOD SECURITY exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life as defined by World Food Summit, 1996). It consists of component such as Food availability: The availability of sufficient quantities of food of appropriate quality, supplied through domestic production or imports (including food aid). Food access: Access by individuals to adequate resources (entitlements) for acquiring appropriate foods for a nutritious diet. Entitlements are defined as the set of all commodity bundles over which a person can establish command given the legal, political, economic and social arrangements of the community in which they live (including traditional rights such as access to common resources). Food Utilization: Utilization of food through adequate diet, clean water, sanitation and health care to reach a state of nutritional well-being where all physiological needs are met. This brings out the importance of non-food inputs in food security. Food Stability: To be food secure, a population, household or individual must have access to adequate food at all times. They should not risk losing access to food as a consequence of sudden shocks (e.g. an economic or climatic crisis) or cyclical events (e.g. seasonal food insecurity). The concept of stability can therefore refer to both the availability and access dimensions of food security. This article in "Anim Agriculture Technology" I would like to rewrite about food security in Malaysia revisited.

Past policies have not put focus on other crucial food security aspects, which would explain Malaysia's poor score in environmental sustainability (long-term supply of limited natural resources and resilience against climate change, while structural and governance issues disrupt supply chain efficiency (minimisation of food loss) and jeopardise food safety, quality and nutrition. For example, for climate change resilience, GFSI 2021 showed that Malaysia scored:

1. About 41.5% for the indicator "political commitment to adaptation" (100 per cent being the most favourable food security environment). The global average score is 60.9 per cent. This is a reduction of 3.8 per cent from the previous year. Not only is Malaysia well-below average, but it's getting worse too.

2. About 0 out of 2 since 2012 for the indicator of "early warning measures/climate-smart agriculture".

3. Reported that 0 out of 2 since 2015 for the indicator "National Agricultural Adaptation Policy".

4. Later found 1 out of 13 for the indicator "Commitment to managing exposure" indicator. The world average is 5. In which for natural resources resilience, GFSI 2021 showed that Malaysia scored:

5. About 18.5% (i.e., "very weak") in the "oceans, rivers and lakes" indicator, which is critically below the world average score of 60.9 per cent, and

6. Indicated that 5 (the highest risk rating) for agricultural water risk, well above the world average risk score of 3.3, indicating serious water pollution.

The premise of national security is to assume the possibility of all scenarios and prepare accordingly. Therefore, we cannot take the climate, our natural resources, the weather and disaster risk profiles for granted. Climate change and natural resource resilience remind us of another key weakness observed from past and even current policy - the water and energy "nexus". These dimensions appear to be missing or at least, inadequately emphasised, despite being inseparable and crucial elements in the food security equation. At present, Malaysia's ability to produce food through its agriculture sector is facing severe risk given that 70 per cent of the water resources in the country are for the agricultural industry, according to researchers. In addition to water security and water resource management, natural resources resilience calls for the internalisation and practice of a circular economy across all sectors. The emphasis on technology use further heightens the importance of energy security in the agrofood sector. Malaysia has been blessed to be spared from many natural disasters compared with neighbouring countries, but climate change may shift weather patterns, and no one can guarantee that the natural disaster risk profile wouldn't change. 

Thus, food security calls for serious natural resource management, circular economy practices, robust technology implementation and regenerative practices for climate change resilience, soil fertility, productivity and nutrients, and the inclusion of the water-energy-food security nexus in the context of disaster preparedness and resilience. In general, the NAP 2.0 is much more comprehensive than its predecessor. For example, the policy makes clear emphasis on modernisation and use of technology, nutrition, sustainability, youth participation, improvement of SSL of major food items, and alignment with other national policies. However, we are concerned that such ambitious targets would require a level of excellence in implementation not seen even with less comprehensive past policies. The stronger emphasis on technology use requires a higher level of talent (a problem given Malaysia's serious brain drain phenomenon) and requires higher budgetary allocations (with better management) so that Malaysia's spending intensity as a percentage of GDP can be improved. Another important gap in actual self-sufficiency, at least for critical food items, is the localisation of supply chains. This means the SSL of the inputs as a key measurement of self-sufficiency beyond the standard SSL calculation for the food items themselves.  We consider all these potential gaps in supplementing the current policy with its own national food security strategy, as a priority national security agenda. This article divided in 4 segmen that is Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 respectively. Thanks...

By,

M Anem,

Putrajaya,

Malaysia.

(January 2023).