Agricultural labour crunch in Asia to worsen unless public, private investments step up

Companies in the sector have also noticed difficulties in recruiting and retaining workers

Uma Devi

Published Thu, Feb 18, 2021 · 05:50 AM

Singapore

AS economies develop, labour is being sucked out of the agriculture industry with implications for the region's soft commodity companies. Experts warned this shift could also be harmful to economies. Without an increase in public and private investments into the sector, there could be a risk of shortages as smallholders - or farmers who own only small plots of land - are forced out.

This shift has been evident in agriculture-dominant economies such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, which have seen their share of gross domestic produ…