Letter of the Week: Give local producers more support to speed up ‘30 by 30’ push
The
- by autobot
- Nov. 18, 2022
- Source article
Publisher object (23)
The was announced back in 2019. More than three years on, it is worth examining whether Singapore is still on track, especially with the impact of Covid-19 and recent economic downturns. Global events have driven home the need for Singapore to become more self-sufficient in its food supply. According to the Singapore Food Agency, in 2021, the local agri-food sector produced, among other things, 4 per cent of domestic consumption for all kinds of vegetables and 8 per cent for seafood. So Singapore is still some way off in attaining the 30 per cent goal for all its nutritional needs. The Government has been active in supporting innovation, ground-up initiatives and technological developments in the push for 30 by 30. However, in the light of recent events and the urgency of this objective, could more support be rendered to producers? This could come in the form of offsetting production costs, or having financial support schemes for local producers that suffered losses due to the pandemic. Another possibility could be to provide local producers with more assurances in their production, given the inherent risks that come with scaling up in any industry. Assurances could perhaps be given to producers that the Government will buy their produce at a set price if it fails to sell elsewhere, or a percentage of risks and costs could be co-borne by local food producers and the Government. Nevertheless, it is commendable that we continue to aspire towards these ambitions, and I hope we continue to be active in the push towards making 30 by 30 a reality.