Panel Discussion: Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians Venue - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Panel Discussion: Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

Venue : Victory Room, Mercu UEM Date : 2nd August 2019

Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians: Highlights

Tan Zhai Gen for Jomo KS and Tan Zhai Gen 2nd August 2019

Khazanah Research Institute

Food Security

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

• Food Availability: Enough supply for

whole nation

• Food Affordability: Households and

individuals able to afford food

• Food Accessibility: Individuals able to
• btain food easily
• Nutrition: Households and individuals

eating healthily

• Data misleading: Undercount foreign

labour

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Food Availability: Sufficient supply, but

• ligopolistic control due to permits

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

Net Food Supply & Net per capita Food Supply Dietary Energy Supply per Day

Source: FAO (various years) Source: FAO (various years) 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 kcal/capita/day Dietary Energy Supply per Day 1961 = 100 100 200 300 400 500 600 1961 1964 1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009 2012 1961 = 100 Food supply per person per day Food Supply

x 4.7 x 1.4 5830

4872

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• Food and Non Alcoholic Beverages prices have increased

more than overall CPI

• Of all food items, prices of food away from home

increased more than food at home

Food affordability: Food prices increased more than CPI

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 CPI Food and Non Alcoholic Beverages

Overall CPI and Food CPI, 2003 to 2017

2003 = 100

x 1.4 x 1.7

F&NAB, Food at Home, Food Away From Home, and Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, and Non-alcoholic Beverages Indices, January 2010 – December 2017

100 110 120 130 140 Jan-2010 Jul-2010 Jan-2011 Jul-2011 Jan-2012 Jul-2012 Jan-2013 Jul-2013 Jan-2014 Jul-2014 Jan-2015 Jul-2015 Jan-2016 Jul-2016 Jan-2017 Jul-2017 F&NAB Food at Home Food Away from Home Coffee, Tea, Cocoa and Non- alcoholic Beverages 2010 = 100

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Food affordability: Food prices rose less than income

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

• Median household income doubled from 2007 to 2016, but

food at home increased only by 43.9%

• However, median wages increased in tandem with food prices

Growth of median household income versus growth of F&NAB Index, 2007-2016 Growth of median wages versus growth of F&NAB Index, 2010-2016

100 120 140 160 180 200 220 2007 2009 2012 2014 2016 Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages Median Household Income 2007 = 100 100 105 110 115 120 125 130 135 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages Median Wages 2010 = 100

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Food Security ≠ Rice Self-Sufficiency

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

• Rice self-sufficiency legacy of colonial history
• British colonial policy: Produce, not import

rice to maximize net foreign exchange earnings

• Post-war memories: inadequate food during

Japanese Occupation and post-war food shortages

• Rice self-sufficiency trapping rice farmers in

poverty?

• Privatizing monopoly profits via Bernas
• Subsidy ‘leakages’: dubious benefits to

farmers

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‘Jihad Memerangi Orang Tengah’: Instead, promote competition for farmer, consumer welfare

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

• Rural middlemen: marketing and credit

functions

• ‘Rents’ eroded by broadening options for

farmers via market information, improved transport infrastructure, alternative marketing options

• ‘Jihad’ ineffectual, but eliminated many

small and medium Malay ‘middlemen’

Khazanah Research Institute 90 110 130 150 170 190 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Australian Dairy Products & Eggs EPI New Zealand Dairy Products EPI Malaysian Milk, Cheese and Eggs CPI

90 110 130 150 170 190 Annual FAO Dairy Price Index Malaysian Milk, Cheese and Eggs CPI Fresh and Reconstituted Milk CPI

• Global dairy prices fluctuating, but Malaysian prices have increased
• Falling global dairy prices since 2014, but not Malaysian dairy prices

Malaysian milk prices too high

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

Average Malaysian Dairy CPI vs FAO Dairy CPI, 2005 - 2017

Source: Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians, KRI (forthcoming)

Average Malaysian Dairy CPI vs Australia, New Zealand Export Prices Index, 2005 - 2016

2005 = 100 2005 = 100

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Beef prices: oligopolistic behaviour?

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

• In 2014, beef exported from India

sold for average of USD2.90/kg, but much more expensive in Malaysia, at USD7.82/kg (>2.5x)

• Import licences for frozen beef to 148

companies, but almost half of frozen buffalo beef to 5 importers and a third of frozen cattle beef to 5 importers: oligopolistic?

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Nutrition more dire issue

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

• Malaysia currently facing ‘double

burden’ of malnutrition – rising levels of obesity, still high levels of stunting

• ‘Hidden hunger’: Micronutrient

deficiencies, e.g., anaemia

• Securing healthy diets part of food

security – upcoming Addressing Malnutrition in Malaysia report

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Food safety requires due consideration

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

• Lax enforcement of existing regulations

affects health and food export reputation.

• GE crops will require proper scientific

scrutiny.

• Rise of AMR: Excessive use of

antibiotics in food production increases microbial resistance.

• Excessive pesticides use contaminate food

consumed and threaten the health of producers.

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Emphasize nutrition, food safety

+ Achieving Food Security for all Malaysians

• Need to move beyond rice self-sufficiency.

Ensuring affordable healthy diets for good nutrition more urgent, relevant

• Multifaceted policy to ensure healthy,

diversified diets, good nutrition for all

• Alternative policy options to strengthen both

food security and farmer wellbeing

• Food safety should also get due policy

considerations, e.g., agro-chemicals, AMR

• Careful with GEOs; seed regulations

Thank You