ENSURING FOOD SECURITY FOR ALL IN MALAYSIA

TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY the effort must be premised on agricultural land reform. Reforms must take the shape of land redistribution. There must be a proper plan to allocate more agricultural land for food farming. The available land must be transparent and open to genuine farmers. To tackle the food security issue, Agriculture and Food Security Minister already stated that the government is focusing on four pillars outlined by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), in line with the National Food Security Policy Action Plan 2021-2025 and National Agro-Food Policy 2021- 2030 (DAN 2.0). Malaysia will be focusing on four dimensions of food security as defined by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).  These dimensions involve availability, access, utilisation, as well as stability and sustainability in which align with the National Food Security Policy Action Plan. This matter presents challenges to the ministry to ensure that the country's food security can be sustained in the long term and the national food system needs to be strengthened to be more sustainable in preparation for addressing global food crisis threats at this time. Malaysia outlined five strategic directions and the main focus of the ministry starting in 2023 to ensure that the country has a sustainable food source. This article in "Anim Agriculture Technology'' blog I wrote about ensuring food security for all in Malaysia.

It related to the two-day conference brought together over 400 participants, including policy makers, academics, researchers, entrepreneurs, and community members to discuss the strategic directions of agricultural and national food security policy at UPM Serdang. The first strategic direction is to strengthen the aquaculture sector with the goal of increasing fish production from aquaculture activities to reach 60 per cent of the self-sufficiency level (SSL). The second direction is to expand cattle farming using the feedlot method to meet local and export demand for meat and increase the target of local meat production to 50 per cent of the SSL by 2025. The third is to initiate efforts to cultivate grain corn to reduce import dependency by 30 per cent over the next 10 years. The fourth direction is to enhance youth participation in the agro-food and smart agriculture sectors. The fifth direction is more relevant that was to strengthen agricultural training institutes to produce skilled youth in agricultural technology, research and development. Malaysia will explore modern and smart agriculture to ensure sustainable food security. In other views that all was in line with the ministry's requirements. Malaysia can see that the younger generation are currently not interested in entering the agricultural field because the income comes much later, and even if they do join, it's not very high. The report stated that with the modern agriculture is attracting many and for example shows that in China, a 60-year-old woman farmer can operate machinery in her fields using mobile applications alone. Malaysia are now moving in that direction with the help and expertise of various parties and it was including universities.  

On the activities reported that in Selangor nowadays the state government has reaffirmed its commitment to bolstering the agricultural sector to ensure food security for the nation. This initiative had officially marked the Sabak Bernam district as the nucleus for a brand-new economic hub that aptly named locally as the Sabak Bernam Development Area (SABDA).  SABDA, set to revolutionise the agricultural landscape, would focus on the implementation of modern farming techniques and technologies. One notable development within this framework is the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding during the Selangor International Business Summit (SIBS 2023) for the fisheries sector. The four-day SIBS 2023 in which took up eight exhibition halls and seven conference halls of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, featured 11 events and hosted more than 1,000 trade booths. It featured six core components and five events held in parallel with the main programmes. The six main programmes were the 9th Selangor International Expo (F&B); 7th Selangor Asean Business Conference; 8th Selangor Smart City & Digital Economy Convention; 4th Selangor R&D and Innovation Expo; 9th Selangor International Expo; and 3rd Selangor Industrial Park Expo. More over, SIBS 2023 was held in parallel with Selangor International Expo MEDIC (SIE Medic); Selangor International Culinary Festival; Selangor International Coffee Week; Malaysia International Tea & Coffee Expo; and Selangor International Business Summit Invitational Golf Tournament. SIBS 2023 continues to be a platform for fostering business innovation and growth, and this year's record-breaking performance is a testament to the region's growing economic prowess. This year's SIE Medic has recorded around 20 per cent of the participating companies from overseas, showcasing the expo's growing importance for the industry. Describing this as an encouraging figure, Selangor executive councilor for public health, environment, climate change, and green technology Jamaliah Jamaluddin hopes that more industry players will assist in developing the state's medical sector. The involvement of various industry players allows them to meet, learn, explore the latest technology, innovations, and current business trends in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, and healthcare services. SIE MEDIC 2023 is the third edition of the healthcare exhibition and conference that focuses on the development of the industry and will further bring together industry players under one roof towards greater business enhancement. his exhibition and conference offer industry players to converge, interact, and explore the latest technology, innovation, and current business trend in the field of pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical devices and healthcare services. Thnks.

By,

M Anem,

Putrajaya,

Malaysia.

(January 2024).