Can Singapore meet its “30 by 30” food sustainability goal?
With the passing of the five-year mark since that goal was set - this question has been cast into the spotlight, following a series of delays, failures or re-configurations of high-tech farms of late.
It hasn’t been easy for local producers, with indoor vegetable farm I.F.F.I shutting down, and VertiVegies abandoning plans to build a mega vertical vegetable farm - both of which had been awarded funding under the government’s 30 by 30 express grant. Other agri-food casualties include aquaculture, with the Barramundi Group ceasing sea bass farming, and novel protein, in particular with the cultivated meat industry seemingly in limbo.
Despite those shake-ups, farmers and relevant stakeholders are still hard at work in pushing the little red dot towards its goal of producing 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.
On this episode of Climate Connections, we explore the issue with a range of stakeholders, including:
- Ma Chin Chew, CEO of N&N Agriculture, a local egg farm that has successfully tapped on technology to scale up its productions, and improve its yield and sustainability.
- Ken Cheong, CEO of Singapore Agro-Food Enterprises Federation (SAFEF), who dives into consumer demand trends, and how SAFEF is working hand-in-hand with local farmers to get their produce on the shelves and stay competitive.
- Andy Chang, Director, Fresh and Frozen, FairPrice Group, who sheds light on what drives consumer choices in today's context, and what local farmers need in order to stay ahead of the game from a retail perspective.
Special thanks to the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment
Feature produced and edited by: Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)
Voiced by: Audrey Siek
Photo credits: SFA website
Music credits: pixabay & its talented community of contributors
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