Page 5 - Berita Sunway - Issue 68

Global Food Security Index (GFSI) 2019 ranking due to its strong as practised in neighbouring countries.
fundamentals,” she said. “Currently we only have the Malaysian Agricultural Research and
Malaysia was recently ranked No 28 out of 113 countries in Development Institute (MARDI) and University Putra Malaysia.
EAT TO LIVE through affordability, availability, quality and safety metrics. sciences as of 2005. Vietnam has four agricultural universities
the GFSI 2019, an annual assessment measuring food security
24 out of the 74 public universities in Thailand offer agricultural
Conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, last year’s Global
while Indonesia has 114 agricultural universities,” she said.
Food Security Index was topped by Singapore, Ireland and the
or LIVE TO EAT? United States for the second consecutive year, followed by BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN LAB AND FARM
Switzerland, Finland and Norway.
Small-scale farmers often lack the innovative technology to
improve their farming and to resolve their problems.
ADDRESS THE RICE MONOPOLY
“We need effective extension services to transfer technology ON THE COVER
to farmers. Extension agents are employed by the government
to work with farmers to increase crop yields, prevent erosion,
eliminate blights or pests. We need to bridge the gap between
technological innovations from the labs to the farm,” Fatimah said.
The problem in Malaysia is that there are too few extension
agents and they lack the required expertise. To resolve this,
more participatory research between researchers and farmers is
essential. Closer private sector collaboration would also benefit
both industry and academia, she quipped.
Academia should also focus on encouraging applied research that
addresses local issues and problems, rather than be fixated with a
“publish or perish” culture that prioritises research papers geared
towards international publications to boost university rankings,
said Fatimah.
When it comes to poultry meat, eggs and pork, Malaysia is The government could provide fiscal incentives to encourage more
self-sufficient, Fatimah said. “Our self-sufficiency level for rice public-private partnerships in food businesses and production from
hovers around 65% to 70% in the last decade or so. The other the private sector since the latter is profit-driven, Fatimah added.
food commodities did not show significant improvement in SUNWAY’S JOURNEY TOWARDS
production,” she added.
While it is possible for Malaysia to achieve a 100% self-sufficiency FOOD SUSTAINABILITY
level in staple food such as rice, the cost is very high due to the Last year, Sunway repurposed 40 hectares of undeveloped land BERITA SUNWAY | APR—JUN 2020
highly subsidised rice industry that is protected from international in Sunway City Ipoh for food and agriculture by establishing the
market vagaries, Fatimah said. Sunway Organic Farm. Located at The Banjaran Hotsprings
The industry is subsidised to the tune of RM2.2 billion in 2012 and Retreat, the farm produces pesticide-free fruits and vegetables
about RM1.1 billion in 2019, according to Fatimah. using freshwater from the mountains for resort guests, staff and
the surrounding community.
She noted that there was a wealth divide between paddy farmers
and private companies, big millers and wholesalers, with 90% of Sunway Group will also be launching the FutureX Farm, an urban
paddy farmers coming from the B40 income group. farm innovation hub in the third quarter of this year. Located in
the heart of Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, the 30,000 sq ft building
“The government should push for more cooperatives for small will feature indoor and outdoor smart farming areas, an R&D
farms to improve their bargaining power and income,” she said. centre, collaborative space for events, cafe and al-fresco area.
MORE FOCUS ON AGRICULTURE R&D FutureX Farm will serve as a skills-building hub for urban
farming professionals, tech companies, researchers and young
There is a need to diversify resources and refocus on food talent to collaborate and create transformative solutions focused
on food and agritech. [For more information on coding school 42,
commodities, as the oil palm-centric policy adopted by the turn to Page 9]
government in the 1970s has resulted in a slower growth for food
in agriculture, she said. Sunway Group will also be hosting the Thought For Food (TFF)
Summit, in partnership with the global non-profit Thought
“Oil palm accounted for 75% of agricultural land in 2015 with food For Food, the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation and Asian Strategy &
commodities taking up 10%. R&D for food is inadequate — yield is Leadership Institute (ASLI).
very low for most commodities. We need a food first policy,” she said. The TFF Summit aims to catalyse entrepreneurship and
R&D in agriculture needs to be prioritised as this is currently lacking technological innovation for food and agriculture by bringing
in Malaysia - this was also highlighted in the recent GFSI where together entrepreneurs, corporate leaders, investors,
Malaysia scored low in ‘public expenditure on agricultural R&D’. policymakers and creative thinkers from around the globe.
Unfortunately, a thriving ecosystem does not exist for food “Sustainable food production and consumption is crucial in
commodities, as Malaysia imports most of the food commodities any environment, be it outskirts or the city, they need to be
that are cheaper, hence removing the incentive to produce done responsibly. Sunway's vision is for our cities to be a living
locally. “Even labour is imported because it is cheap. This has laboratory where ideas are generated to address the challenges
discouraged innovation. As the saying goes, necessity is the facing humanity. This is in line with our vision to be Asia’s model
mother of invention,” said Fatimah. corporation in sustainable development, innovating to enrich
Malaysia would do well to have more agricultural R&D institutions lives for a better tomorrow,” said Tan Sri Dr Jeffrey Cheah AO,
and higher learning institutions focused on agricultural sciences, Sunway Group Founder and Chairman. 5

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