JOHOR BARU: Malaysia will not face any shortage of food despite ongoing challenges including floods, says Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.
He said that according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Malaysia ranks second behind Singapore in South-East Asia in terms of food security.
"Singapore does not have a significant agriculture industry. Where do they get chicken from? They invest in Johor.
"Where do they get rice? They collaborate with Vietnam or Thailand. Where do they get meat and other products? They cooperate with Australia.
"We need to adopt the same approach and can no longer operate in silos. We need to have more partnerships, especially with South-East Asian countries," he said after officiating the Johor Amanah Johor convention on Saturday (Dec 21).
He added that to further strengthen food security, the government must establish third and fourth rice bowl regions in Sarawak and Sabah.
"Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg is committed to this and has allocated RM500mil to develop irrigation systems for the first phase.
"The Sarawak Premier also said that in the next ten years, the state will be capable of exporting rice," he said.
Mohamad also noted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had met with his counterpart in India and secured an agreement to supply 200,000 tonnes of rice.
"The price of the rice was reduced from RM3,000 per tonne to RM2,800," he said.
Malaysia ranked 41 out of 113 countries in the FAO's 2022 Global Food Security Index (GFSI) rankings, the second-highest in South-East Asia behind Singapore in 28th place.
