KUALA LUMPUR: Out of 113 countries, Malaysia's rank in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) has dropped from 28th in 2019 to 43rd in 2020 with a score of 67.9 per cent due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Economic Outlook 2022 report released by the Finance Ministry today, the score is based on four categories namely affordability, availability, quality and safety as well as natural resources and resilience.
"Malaysia scored 85.5 per cent under affordability, mainly due to low food inflation, a small proportion of the population under the global poverty line and food safety net programmes.
"However, lower scores in other categories are due to among others, low public expenditure on agricultural research and development (R&D), ineffective educational campaign on the importance of a balanced and nutritious diet, no dedicated agency responsible for food security and high dependency on food imports," according to the report.
The report said in this regard, having a dedicated food security agency, particularly to formulate and implement food security policy at a national level, is imperative.
"This can be done by centralising food security-related functions from various existing agencies to optimise resources," according to the report.
The report stated that with the collaboration and smart partnership between public and private sectors in addressing the food security issues, Malaysia will have more opportunities and capabilities to ensure sustainable agriculture and enhance the country's food security.
At the same time, it is also important to enhance the capacity of current agriculture R&D agencies.
"These measures will help to capitalise on the full potential of a modern agriculture sector to supply diverse and quality inputs to the economic sectors and develop an integrated food economy," it added. – BERNAMA