Ensuring Singapore's food security

LONG-TERM developments such as population growth, urbanisation, steady advances in social expectations and rising per capita incomes have contributed to changes in dietary habits in all countries, especially in large developing Asian economies. All these factors have had significant impact on the patterns of agricultural production and on their global demand.

Studies by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that the demand for agricultural products globally has expanded rapidly in the past decade, primarily because of increasing need in developing countries. In contrast, consumption in developed countries has remained somewhat stagnant.

In Asia - one of the fastest-growing regions of the world - rapid economic growth and the growing middle class have enabled consumers to purchase a wider range of food and agricultural products. The higher purchasing power of the growing middle class in countries like China and India has heightened the demand for higher-value food products from all over the world. Southeast Asia is no exception. According to the US Department of Agriculture, retail food sales are expected to increase by some 60 per cent in Southeast Asia alone during the next decade, compared to 30 per cent globally.