Blueprint to avert food crisis in northern states
The Northern Corridor Implementation Agency (NCIA) has initiated a study and action plan on food security specifically for the states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak as part of efforts to avert a food crisis due to increasing population and climate change.
NCIA, the agency tasked with overseeing federal projects in the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER), today held its first roundtable discussion with stakeholders from Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Perak towards developing the first NCER Food Security Blueprint.
NCIA chief executive Datuk Redza Rafiq said the blueprint will provide a “tailored solution” to meet the needs of the population in the north, and will be presented to the its council meeting chaired by the prime minister next year.
Redza warned that rising population growth will increase the demand for food while climate change and ecosystem degradation will slow production.
“The global food crisis during 2007 and 2008 had raised attention to the need for food security in our nation,” he said at a press conference after the roundtable discussion at a hotel in Penang.
“Hence, concerted efforts by all stakeholders are a must to enhance agricultural production and ensure the availability, accessibility and affordability of food, particularly rice for the general public,” he added.
The effort is also being undertaken as the “rice bowl” of Peninsular Malaysia, where much of the country’s staple like rice is grown, is in the north, he said.
The NCIA oversees the Northern Corridor Economic Region encompassing 21 districts in the four states.
Rafiq said the Global Food Security Index designed by the Economist Intelligence Unit ranks Malaysia at the 34th most secure country in the world and 6th in the Asia-Pacific region for food affordability, availability, quality and safety.
There have, however, been warning signs. For instance, countries that have traditionally exported agricultural produce and livestock to Malaysia have reduced their exports because of heightened demand from their own populations and elsewhere, he said.
As such, he said it was imperative for Malaysia to be as self-sufficient as possible although eliminating imports completely was not possible.
He said the government was working on increased focus on production of seeds, and boosting production of rice and other staple items like fruits, including bananas, pineapples and papayas.
“The roundtable discussion is a crucial discourse with active involvement from the policy makers of the states in the Northern Corridor, representatives from the academia, relevant ministries and government agencies,” he said. – December 18, 2014.
