Chief executive officer of the Malaysian Agrifood Corporation Berhad (MAFC) Azizi Meor Ngah says food security needs to be examined from the standpoint of trade.
Being self-sufficient is imperative in an era of climate changes. Countries scramble to ensure food security for their population by any means necessary. This can mean finding ways to grow food in their own backyards, even if it means resorting to the use of expensive technology.
One can assume that countries thriving on agriculture would not have much of a problem. But the same cannot be said for Malaysia, which has been importing more food products than it exports.
“I think the government should look at agriculture in a more commercial way with a higher balance of trade,” says Azizi who was also the chairman of the Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (Fama) for four years.
However, growing food for trade is not as simple as it sounds. There are just so many aspects to it that need to be looked into.
Growing does not mean selling
Balance of trade can be seen as a strategy to ensure better food security, but growing more crops is not a sure-fire way to offset trade deficit, says Azizi.
“We must first ask ourselves the question, what is it that we can grow that the world wants, so that we can export it?”
He says there is no proper brand of agriculture produce from Malaysia that is developed for export, such as New Zealand which are known for their kiwis and the Philippines for their bananas.
Although Malaysia is known for its palm oil, he says, Malaysia can only rely on its oil palm exports for so long, as nutrients in land do need to be replenished. A back-up plan is always wise.
The MAFC, an accredited integrated food supply chain management company in Malaysia, has been also accredited to ensure sustainable agriculture practices at every level of the food supply chain. The company partners with government agencies and industry players to supply safe and top quality fresh produce for healthier living.
MAFC has been growing vegetables and fruits under the concept of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) which includes proper usage of farming methods, appropriate planting and harvesting methods and minimal usage of non-organic fertilisers and pesticides.
Its produce is transported through MAFC’s Cold Chain Network, which means they are transported from the farm to the supermarket shelves in cold trucks at the right temperature to maintain freshness and shelf life. It is marketed under the brand “Lushious” and distributed to several local hypermarkets.
Azizi says one of MAFC’s biggest roles is to go for the export markets, but doing so is easier said than done.
Before any food product can be exported overseas, it has to obtain several certifications that attest not only to its quality, but its safety as well.
Food safety issues
“Food safety issues are always the hardest as countries are very stringent about it,” says Azizi.
“It’s understandable, as everybody wants to protect their country and industry. When you export a food product, you are also exporting potential diseases.”
However, getting certifications for Malaysian products for safety can be a costly process for small producers, as many of the internationally-recognised certification programmes such as Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) require rigorous testing and rigid compliance to its standards.
This has caused much reluctance among industry players to get their products or farms certified.
If they choose to do so, the cost would ultimately have to be passed on to retailers and consumers, so many local buyers and retailers were willing to overlook food safety for cheaper goods, he said.
“They prefer to source cheaply,” Azizi laments.” They refuse my products when it is offered to them as they claim it to be too expensive. But what they must understand is that it comes with an assurance of food safety.”
The situation has also been aggravated with consumers who know little about the importance of food safety and the need to demand for it.
He says the Food Act in the United Kingdom forces the retailers to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring food safety.
“If, for example, somebody dies from consuming something bought at a hypermarket, the family can sue the hypermarket over it because there is a provision in the Food Act for them to do so.”
Countries in the European Union also employ a similar concept, where in the bid to ensure food safety, major retailers choose a farm to “adopt” for their produce supply.
“They will place an expert on food safety on the farms to advise farmers how to plant, which pesticides to use, and everything comes with a buy back scheme, so farmers go through the whole process with peace of mind.
“It is a different case over here. Even if I offer them products with certified food safety, they refuse it on the grounds that it’s costlier. Costs seem to take precedence over safety,” he says.
Go abroad for local benefit
Sometimes, importing can be a necessity rather than a choice. For example, a country with high demand for a food that is not suitable for growing or breeding locally, such as meat, would have no choice but to import to ensure food security.
“When this happens,” says Azizi, “the government should go in big way to encourage companies to buy a big farm or ranch in Australia and New Zealand, where the conditions are more suitable to breed livestock and produce for the Malaysian market,” he suggested.
The practice has been employed in a number of countries around the world such as Brunei and those in the Arab region, where premium meat and dairy products are sourced from their own farms overseas and produced exclusively for local consumption.
It is a good practice in food security, Azizi says. Moreover, he says, it could also play a role in balancing trade.
He says middle-income economies like China and India have around 900 million middle income earners in total.
“These are my target customers. If I were breeding livestock overseas, I would look at exporting to these countries where purchasing power is on the rise.
“As incomes increase, so do diet trends. They now go for more meat, which was previously unaffordable.
If we go into the livestock industry in a big way by owning a farm in Australia or New Zealand, we could also export to India and China when the demand for it starts rising.”
When asked if it is a good idea to breed livestock locally, he says the tricky part was growing good crop feed, which requires nutrient-rich flat lands.
“Most of the good lands we have have gone towards developing housing projects or planting oil palm. Unless the government changes its policy towards such projects and relocates oil palm plantations overseas, it is not feasible to grow crops for livestock in Malaysia,” he says.
Azizi says Malaysia needs to quickly take the reins on the macro planning of the country’s food policy. Further procrastination will automatically make Malaysia less competitive and place the country in a vulnerable position.
“Point in case, China has made a very positive decision in agriculture and now they are successfully exporting much of their produce despite their big population and growth.
“It’s something we need to take stock of immediately,” he says.
Azizi will be moderating a session at the two-day International Conference and Exhibition on Climate Change, Agriculture and Related Trade Standards, which takes place on Nov 1 at Hotel Istana.
