Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 28): The Malaysian government remains committed to continuously strengthen the country's food security to ensure such security is assured under any circumstances, Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee said in Parliament on Tuesday.

Kiandee said in a statement the ministry is committed to raise the country’s ranking in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI), which is a scheme undertaken by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

He said the government's efforts to strengthen the country's food security include the establishment of the nation's Food Security Cabinet Council and the development of the National Food Security Policy Action Plan for 2021 to 2025.

The Food Security Cabinet Council is also known as Jawatankuasa Kabinet Mengenai Dasar Sekuriti Makanan Negara while the National Food Security Policy Action Plan is also known as Pelan Tindakan Dasar Sekuriti Makanan Negara. 

Kiandee was responding to queries from Bukit Bendera member of Parliament Wong Hon Wai, who requested Kiandee to elaborate on Malaysia’s 43rd ranking in the GFSI in 2020 and specify the government’s initiatives to improve the country’s food security and lower food prices.

According to Kiandee, “Malaysia’s ranking in the GFSI for 2020 was at 43rd which was a notch higher compared to 2019 (when Malaysia’s ranking stood at 44th).”  

He said Malaysia’s 2020 ranking at 43rd is the second best among Southeast Asian countries after Singapore.

According to the GFSI’s website, Singapore was ranked 19th in the index in 2020 while the top spot went to Finland.

The Economist Intelligence Unit said on the GFSI website that the index considers the issues of food affordability, availability, quality and safety, and natural resources and resilience across a set of 113 countries. 

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the index is a quantitative and qualitative benchmarking model constructed from 59 indicators that measure the drivers of food security across both developing and developed countries.

“This (2020) edition of the GFSI incorporates the 'natural resources and resilience' category into the main index. This category assesses a country’s exposure to the impacts of a changing climate, its susceptibility to natural resource risks, and how the country is adapting to these risks, all of which impact the incidence of food insecurity in a country. The category was first introduced into the GFSI in 2017 as an adjustment factor and, given its increasing importance, has been mainstreamed for the first time this year (2020).

"The 2020 GFSI is the ninth edition of the index. The Economist Intelligence Unit updates the model annually to capture year-on-year changes in structural factors impacting food security,” the Economist Intelligence Unit said.

At Parliament on Tuesday (Sept 28), Kiandee said Malaysia still needs to pay attention to various challenges to strengthen the nation’s food security.

He said the challenges include dependence on food imports, increasing demand, climate change and natural resource constraints.

For more Parliament stories, click here.

Edited ByChong Jin Hun
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