Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on carbon credits by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on local food production by Ms Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment in each year of the last 10 years (a) what is the actual output of food produced locally; and (b) what is the percentage of local consumption for food produced locally, as broken down by (i) meat (ii) seafood (iii) fruits and (iv) vegetables.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment based on the Singapore Food Agency’s tender plans for farm land, what is the expected (i) number of local food farms and (ii) production capacity of local food farms with a breakdown by food types, in the next three years.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song: To ask the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment (a) whether Singapore is on track to meet the Government’s 30-by-30 target to raise Singapore’s food self-production level to 30% of total food needs by 2030; (b) whether there are any sectors that lag behind and what is being done to support them; and (c) what are the plans to enhance food security beyond 2030.

Answer:

1 The 30 by 30 vision is an ambition to grow the capability and capacity of our local agri-food sector to produce 30% of our nutritional needs locally by 2030. The agri-food sector is nascent and, like other sectors, has been hard hit by headwinds, including manpower and supply chain disruptions and increasing costs of production arising from COVID-19, geopolitical tensions and climate change. These challenges have delayed the development of farm infrastructure and plans to scale up production.

2 The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has been supporting our local farms to address these challenges, and to facilitate their capability and capacity development. For example, SFA has committed $60 million to the Agri-food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund to co-fund the adoption, test-bedding, and development of productive, resource-efficient, and sustainable farming technologies and systems to help farms increase their productivity. SFA also supports the industry in achieving greater offtake for local produce via various initiatives, including launching the Farm-To-Table Recognition Programme (FTTRP) in Mar 2023 to encourage food businesses to procure local produce, and supporting an industry-led Alliance for Action (AfA) on Local Produce Demand Offtake and Consumer Education.

3 As of 2022, there are 257 licensed food farms in Singapore. Local farms produced 609 million pieces of eggs, 4,400 tonnes of seafood and 19,900 tonnes of vegetables, or around 29%, 8% and 4% of our food consumption for those items respectively. SFA expects production output to gradually increase over the next few years, as more productive farms become operational. We do not track the other categories of foods as they are not grown locally in large quantities. The Member may wish to refer to the Singapore Food Statistics published annually by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) for further available details.

4 While we are implementing initiatives in support of our 30 by 30 vision, the actual production output of our farms depends on consumer demand for their products. Whenever we choose to purchase local produce, we help to improve the commercial viability of our farms. Local production is just one part of our overall strategy to ensure our food security over the longer term, and SFA will continue to implement a multi-pronged approach to strengthening Singapore’s food security, which includes efforts to diversify our import sources.