Response to Written Question PT4

Reading Summary

📖 Reading time: 6 minutes
📊 Word count: 1,157 words

YANG BERHORMAT AWANG ZAINOL BIN HAJI MOHAMED

QUESTION:

YANG BERHORMAT AWANG ZAINOL BIN HAJI MOHAMED requests the MINISTER OF PRIMARY RESOURCES AND TOURISM to state the country's self-sufficiency rate in local food production, and the effectiveness of existing policies in reducing the nation’s food security dependency on imports.

YANG BERHORMAT MINISTER OF PRIMARY RESOURCES AND TOURISM

ANSWER:

In planning and strategizing to advance the food industry and subsequently strengthen food security in the country, the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism has identified six main commodities: rice, chicken, chicken eggs, meat, vegetables, and fish. By boosting the production of these commodities, it is hoped that the country will be able to strengthen its self-sufficiency in food and reduce dependency on imports; stabilize prices and ensure adequate supply even in global crisis situations; and further increase the output of local agriculture and fisheries industries, contributing to Gross Domestic Product.

In this regard, I am pleased to share regarding the self-sufficiency achievements for the six main commodities in the agriculture and fisheries industries, averaged over the past 3 years (2022-2024) as follows:

• For the rice (paddy) sector, the country has achieved 8% self-sufficiency;
• For chicken eggs, it is 103%;
• For chicken meat, it is 100%;
• For buffalo and beef meat, around 2.3%;
• For tropical vegetables, around 72%; and
• For fish, around 74%.

Regarding the average output in the food sector encompassing agriculture and fisheries over the past three years, it increased from $525 million in 2017 to an average of $742 million annually for the past 2022-2024.

The Ministry will continue efforts to increase output and strengthen food self-sufficiency capacity, while reducing reliance on imports for the main commodities under the agriculture and fisheries sector, particularly for commodities that have yet to achieve full self-sufficiency like buffalo and beef meat, tropical vegetables, and fish. This is not only to ensure a secure food supply in the country but also to contribute to an increase in the amount and value of exports.

To support efforts toward boosting production and guaranteeing national food security while advancing the food industry in the country, several strategies have been laid out under the Food Industry Roadmap. These strategic measures are expected to drive growth and increase food sector output through production and productivity from primary production industry activities and processing and added value industries for livestock, crops, fish capture, and aquaculture industries to meet domestic demand and exports.

Some initiatives being undertaken by the Ministry in enhancing agricultural sector results are as follows:

i. Upgrading and providing basic industry infrastructure to increase production capacity from agricultural sites. It is hoped that all Agricultural and Fisheries Development Areas will have adequate and conducive electricity, water, and drainage supply. This is to facilitate entrepreneurs in starting and expanding businesses contributing to Food Security.

These efforts are to ease entrepreneurs, including youth, in starting enterprises and boosting productivity, as well as reducing production costs contributing to food security and strengthening the industry's value chain;

ii. Encouraging the use of modern technology in agriculture and fisheries to increase farm productivity. This includes modern farming techniques and sustainable techniques like Regenerative Agriculture to boost crop productivity by restoring soil fertility through compost use to produce high-quality yields without depleting natural resources. Efforts are also strengthened to practice good farm governance and to attract more new entrepreneurs, especially youth, into this sector.

iii. Promoting value-added activities including Research & Development to attract participation from GLCs and FDIs in high value-added activities and R&D in strengthening the food industry value chain. This includes activities like producing animal feed, fertilizers, seeds, fish/shrimp seedlings, fertilized eggs, producing new varieties, etc., to reduce input costs, ensure increased yield, strengthen competition, and access to global markets, including technology and capital access.

For example, to strengthen the country's rice and paddy production, the Ministry continues to research identifying superior rice varieties that yield high and meet consumer preferences. This includes the proposal to establish a Hybrid Rice Research Centre and facilitate the supply of hybrid rice seeds to Brunei Darussalam; and

iv. Apart from the Primary Industry, the Ministry in collaboration with other agencies like the Brunei Economic Development Board, through the Capacity Enhancement Programme, actively strives to develop the agri-food industry including involving homebased companies. This effort aims to encompass the entire food industry value chain so it can be managed and utilized within this country.

In the fisheries sector, the Ministry has drawn up the Fisheries Sector Roadmap to spur output growth and strengthen food security stability and the agri-food product value chain, while promoting sustainable fishing practices.

To further enhance production from the fisheries sector, several initiatives have been carried out, including:

i. Programs enriching fish resources using artificial reefs deployed from Zone 1 to Zone 3 of Brunei Darussalam waters to increase productivity of fish capture by local fishermen;

ii. Expanding fish capture zones for small-scale fishermen in Zone 1 in efforts to increase yields from small-scale fishermen through the implementation of a new fish capture zone system from 0 to 3 nautical miles to 0 to 7 nautical miles from the shore; and

iii. Prawn Stocking Program periodically into Brunei's waters to maintain the sustainability of wild prawn populations and subsequently contribute to the catch of small-scale fishermen.

iv. Shrimp Aquaculture Recovery Plan to tighten biosecurity controls in managing shrimp disease risks to ensure increased productivity of the local shrimp farming industry:

• To ensure a consistent number of shrimp seeds supplied to local shrimp farms, the Ministry allows the importation of high-quality shrimp brood stock for the production of local shrimp seeds. Additionally, the Ministry also allows the importation of high-quality, disease-free shrimp seeds from recognized shrimp seed supplier companies to ensure an adequate supply of shrimp seeds.

• Furthermore, there are three local companies producing fish seeds in this country to be supplied to local fish farms, contributing to an increase in marine fish farming output.

• The Ministry also collaborates with the Republic of Singapore for genetic studies of prawns in preparation for developing and implementing a giant prawn broodstock development program in this country for production by giant prawn farming companies.

Various initiatives are also undertaken to increase the output of processing and value-added products based on agricultural and fisheries products through the establishment of an Agrifood Taskforce supporting growth and increased output from the food sector.

The Ministry consistently prioritizes the use of raw material supplies from local suppliers to be made into value-added products, however, it remains open to raw material supplies from outside the country to support the needs of local processing factories where the products produced will be re-exported abroad. Any permission for the importation of raw material supplies for processing factory use is always scrutinized based on the quantity of raw material supply produced in this country to support the development of local companies and subsequently boost the national economy.