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SFA works with farms to improve productivity to meet ‘30 by 30’ goal

We thank Mr Lorcan Murphy and Mr Liu Fook Thim for their suggestions (

We thank Mr Lorcan Murphy and Mr Liu Fook Thim for their suggestions ( ; and , both Nov 14). To meet the “30 by 30” goal, the agri-food industry needs to significantly uplift its productivity. The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has been supporting local farms to improve productivity, while ensuring local production remains climate-resilient and resource-efficient. Various funding schemes, such as SFA’s $60 million Agri-food Cluster Transformation Fund, have been established to help local farms build up their capabilities. The fund supports local farms in adopting technology and advanced farming systems. Local farms can also tap the Singapore Food Story R&D Programme, which received an additional $165 million of research funding that was announced at the recent 2022 Singapore International Agri-Food Week. This brings the total commitment for the programme to enable R&D in sustainable urban food production, future foods, and food safety science and innovation to more than $300 million. In addition, SFA works closely with Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation (SAFEF) to increase awareness and uptake of local produce. There is great potential for the food industry to work together in this aspect, and SAFEF has helped to foster collaborations among its members and other stakeholders such as hotels, restaurants, caterers and food manufacturers. Other initiatives such as SFA’s Retail Incubation Programme (where major retailers guide participating farms on the marketing and business development aspects of their business) help support the sale of local produce at our supermarkets. We encourage local farms to voluntarily adopt the code of Good Agricultural Practice (SG GAP) as a quality assurance system in food production, and consumers can recognise produce from certified farms with the red two-star SG GAP certification mark. Local farms can approach their dedicated account managers for assistance on farm operations. SFA will continue to work with local farms to make our “30 by 30” vision a reality.  Senior Director (Industry Development and Community Partnership) Singapore Food Agency

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