Feeding the future: achieving food security in Malaysia through trade mechanism

Zaeidah Mohamed Esa and Prakash Santhanam and Jefiena Jaafar and Zaemah Zainuddin (2023) Feeding the future: achieving food security in Malaysia through trade mechanism. Journal of Agribusiness Marketing (Malaysia), 11. pp. 13-29. ISSN 2289-5671

Malaysia’s food imports have almost doubled in 10 years, from RM35 billion to RM63 billion in 2021. In total, 26 food items have a self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) of 100% or above, according to the Supply and Utilization Accounts of Selected Agricultural Commodities, Malaysia, from the Department of Statistics (DOSM), but 24 other products still fall short of this mark. Moreover, Malaysia showed progress in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) in 2021, moving up from the 48th rank (67.9 points) in 2020 to the 41st place (69.9 points) in 2022. Malaysia still has problems with food security, despite these encouraging signs. By employing a desktop research technique and secondary data from papers and publications, this concept paper seeks to investigate the landscape and trajectory of food security in Malaysia from 2017 to 2022. Further analysis is carried out on food security by focusing on the use of trade mechanisms in the four pillars of affordability, availability, quality and safety, sustainability, and adaptation. The analysis found that Malaysia faces several challenges in achieving food security, including increasing dependence on food imports, declining agricultural productivity, and income inequality. However, Malaysia has also made important strides toward enhancing food security, including diversifying its import sources, enhancing accessibility through price regulation, and intensifying its use of agricultural technologies.

Full text available from: Official URL: https://www.fama.gov.my/documents/20143/681564/Fee...

Abstract

Malaysia’s food imports have almost doubled in 10 years, from RM35 billion to RM63 billion in 2021. In total, 26 food items have a self-sufficiency ratio (SSR) of 100% or above, according to the Supply and Utilization Accounts of Selected Agricultural Commodities, Malaysia, from the Department of Statistics (DOSM), but 24 other products still fall short of this mark. Moreover, Malaysia showed progress in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) in 2021, moving up from the 48th rank (67.9 points) in 2020 to the 41st place (69.9 points) in 2022. Malaysia still has problems with food security, despite these encouraging signs. By employing a desktop research technique and secondary data from papers and publications, this concept paper seeks to investigate the landscape and trajectory of food security in Malaysia from 2017 to 2022. Further analysis is carried out on food security by focusing on the use of trade mechanisms in the four pillars of affordability, availability, quality and safety, sustainability, and adaptation. The analysis found that Malaysia faces several challenges in achieving food security, including increasing dependence on food imports, declining agricultural productivity, and income inequality. However, Malaysia has also made important strides toward enhancing food security, including diversifying its import sources, enhancing accessibility through price regulation, and intensifying its use of agricultural technologies.

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Item Type:	Article
AGROVOC Term:	food security
AGROVOC Term:	agricultural trade
AGROVOC Term:	trade
AGROVOC Term:	affordability
AGROVOC Term:	availability
AGROVOC Term:	food quality
AGROVOC Term:	literature reviews
AGROVOC Term:	food policies
AGROVOC Term:	food supply
AGROVOC Term:	government agencies
Geographical Term:	Malaysia
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Food security, trade openness, comparative advantage, agriculture trade
Depositing User:	Nor Hasnita Abdul Samat
Date Deposited:	21 Mar 2025 06:27
Last Modified:	21 Mar 2025 06:27
URI:	http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/1676

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