As a small island country, Singapore lacks natural resources. Currently, Singapore imports more than 90 per cent of its food. Its food supply is vulnerable to global food supply shocks and disruptions. With only one per cent of Singapore's land area used for agricultural purposes, the urgency is to establish the nation’s food supply resilience through diversifying our import sources; ramping up local production using technology and innovation; and helping local companies to grow food overseas.
Diversifying import sources have been one of Singapore’s main core strategies to shore up its food supply. Perhaps that’s why Singapore was ranked number 1 in the world in the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) for two years running in 2019 – the result of our long-term planning and proactive actions to safeguard Singapore’s food supply.
According to the latest Singapore Food Statistics Report 2022, Singapore has increased and diversified its food supply sources from 172 countries and regions in 2019 to 183 today. Singapore Food Agency (SFA) accredited Indonesia as a new source of chilled, frozen, and processed chicken meat. To date, Singapore has accredited 25 countries for its chicken imports. Brunei was recently approved as a new source of eggs, and so there are 17 countries accredited to export hen shell eggs to Singapore, up from just 12 in 2019. SFA will continue to accredit more import sources and facilitate the industry’s further diversification, through sourcing trips and business networking sessions.
In 2019, SFA set a target called ‘30 by 30 goal’ to transform Singapore’s agri-food industry by building our capability and capacity to sustainably produce 30 per cent of our nutritional needs locally by 2030.
In Singapore Food Statistics Report 2022, local food production dipped by 5 to 15 per cent, where we produced 3.9 per cent of vegetables, 7.6 per cent of seafood and 28.9 per cent of hen shell eggs. Singapore also saw a 17 per cent increase in its number of farms, rising from 221 in 2019. In 2022, there were 109 licensed sea-based farms and 152 land-based farms, bringing the total number of local licensed food farms to 261.
Working towards vision 30 by 30
To make this vision come true, the agri-food industry needs to be transformed to ‘grow more with less’ - technology and innovation being the key enablers for a highly productive industry that employs climate-resilient, resource-efficient and sustainable technologies.
To expand the agri-food industry’s capacity to increase production, more land tenders were introduced to support a wider range of food types in 2H2023.
Lush Lim Chu Kang
Lim Chu Kang, which already hosts most of Singapore’s farms, is expected to hatch its fourth egg farm. Slated to begin operations in 2024, it’s now facing delays attributed to rising to rising construction costs and challenges linked to its biosecurity measures. The $100 million farm, enabling Singapore to meet up to 50 per cent of its egg consumption needs – up from around 29 per cent as of 2022 – moving the country closer to achieving its 30 by 30 goal. The farm, owned by local company ISE Foods Holdings (IFH), aims to cover the full ecosystem of egg production here, which can help enhance Singapore’s food security.
Lim Chu Kang (LCK) is being master planned into a high-tech agri-food zone
Already home to a myriad of farms, Lim Chu Kang could soon become a high-tech, sprawling district producing leafy vegetables, mushrooms and fish in a climate-resilient, energy-efficient way. To intensify the land use, a “stacked farm approach” is being considered. This could consist of three layers, where food production for crops like mushrooms that do not require sunlight and would thrive in humid and cool conditions, as well as indoor aquaculture farms are sited at the basement; food production that requires a closed and heavily controlled environment, such as indoor farms for leafy vegetables to be located at the first level; and the top level would be used for food production requiring natural sunlight, such as in greenhouses for fruited vegetables like tomatoes. Other potential facilities in Lim Chu Kang could include a district cooling facility to provide cooling needs for farms and reduce energy consumption, and a centralised waste treatment facility to process farm waste collected from the district and reduce the negative impact on the environment. SFA in its masterplan for Lim Chu Kang has proposed a multi-tenanted facility to nurture start-ups, promote agritech research with automated harvesting, and have co-located processing to ensure freshness of the produce.
Incentive schemes and grants for the industry
Alongside plans for an agri-food production hub of the future at Lim Chu Kang, SFA is supporting local farms through the Agri-Food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund to increase their production output with advanced technologies.
Launched in April 2021, the ACT Fund supports farms’ needs in different aspects, such as capability upgrade, innovation and test-bedding, as well as technology upscaling. In 2022, SFA expanded the scope of the ACT Fund to offer higher co-funding quantum for a wider range of food types including fruited vegetables, mushrooms, and shrimp, allowing more farms to benefit from the higher co-funding support and invest in farming solutions. From its funding allocation of $60 million, SFA reported that by FY 2022, $13 million had already been committed, where 29 projects had been approved and 12 projects had concluded.
Launched in 2019, as part of Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 (RIE2020) plan, Singapore Food Story (SFS) R&D grant, provide funding support for local agri-tech and food industry and research institutions push towards the development and use of sustainable urban food production; advanced bio-tech-based protein production and food safety science and innovation. In 2022, fresh funding of $165 million was injected into the Singapore Food Story R&D Programme (SFS 2.0) to support research projects in the aquaculture, agriculture, future foods, and food safety domains, bringing the total funds available to $309 million.
Under SFS 2.0, SFA launched two grants on 2 October 2023 - Seed grant which seeks to explore innovations that strengthen current capabilities and knowledge for food security, as well as enhance its resilience against unanticipated needs and emerging opportunities; and Research Translation grant which seeks solutions capable of enhancing the productivity of local food producers beyond the limits of current best-in-class technologies.
EnterpriseSG and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) launched a Food Manufacturing grant call under the Manufacturing, Trade & Connectivity domain on 1 January 2024. It aims to encourage the co-innovation of solutions for companies to expand their product offerings and adopt sustainable practices to capture new growth opportunities, particularly in the areas of productisation in stratified nutrition, food side stream valorisation, and sustainable food packaging.
Together, the grant calls will provide holistic R&D and translation coverage across the agri-food value chain.
Other notable R&D developments which was announced at Singapore International Agri-Food Week (SIAW) 2023 included (i) the signing of an MOU on 1 Nov 2023 between SFA, National University of Singapore (NUS), Economic Development Board and Syngenta to collaborate on R&D to breed vegetables varieties that can help farms boost productivity and withstand the effects of climate change; and (ii) SFA and Temasek Foundation co-presenting the Food Grand Challenge as part of The Livability Challenge in 2024 - a global crowdsourcing platform to support commercialisation of innovative, sustainable solutions.
Uplifting aquaculture sector
Recognising that aquaculture sector as a significant contributor to Singapore’s 30 by 30 goal, SFA launched the Singapore Aquaculture Plan in November 2022, together with AquaPolis, with SFA’s Marine Aquaculture Centre (MAC) at St. John’s Island as the nucleus for national tropical aquaculture research and innovation.
Research and Innovation
The Government is investing in sustainable tropical aquaculture and has allocated over S$60 million to aquaculture research and innovation under the Singapore Food Story R&D Programme (SFS 2.0).
To support Singapore in becoming a leading research and innovation hub for sustainable tropical aquaculture, an aquaculture research development programme – Aquapolis was introduced in November 2022. The brain trust of AquaPolis comprising scientists from various research institutions – including the National University of Singapore (NUS), Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory and many others, work on addressing real world aquaculture challenges to enhance the productivity of farms and the quality of fish farmed in Singapore e.g. developing superior fingerlings with faster growth rates and higher Omega-3 content; and reducing fish mortality from common fish diseases.
AquaPolis’ research activities will span across Singapore, from land-based research institutions to the Johor Straits and Southern Waters where our sea-based fish farms operate. SFA’s Marine Aquaculture Centre (MAC) at St. John’s Island, which aims to deepen Singapore’s expertise in the areas of aquaculture genetics, nutrition, and health, will serve as AquaPolis’ anchor research campus.
AquaPolis researchers can build on MAC’s expertise in fish husbandry to develop solutions. MAC also provides shared facilities such as replicated tank systems and biological materials such as eggs, larvae, rotifers and microalgae for research. There are also designated incubator space for start-ups to testbed and commercialise R&D results. These inputs of husbandry-related expertise, shared facilities, incubator space and access to biological materials will enable researchers in Singapore to conduct aquaculture R&D and translate the results.
To support Singapore’s ambitions to lead in aquaculture research and innovation, SFA will enhance its facilities to attract companies and researchers to base themselves in Singapore. As the anchor research campus of AquaPolis, MAC’s facilities will be enhanced to cater to R&D needs, with upgrades such as the installation of recirculating aquaculture systems for research in intensive farming within closed environments.
As part of longer-term planning to support the aquaculture sector and Singapore’s food security vision, SFA will also review how our research facilities could be developed and integrated with other aquaculture infrastructure such as jetties and hatcheries in the future.
Increase and optimise spaces for aquaculture
In the next few years, SFA will launch new sea spaces on 20+10-year leases to provide farmers with certainty on the tenure of sea spaces, and a longer runway to amortise their investments in high-tech, productive and sustainable farming systems.
Help industry adopt technology and better farm practices
SFA has been working with sea-based farms to improve their farming and management practices, as well as leverage science and technology, to help raise farms’ productivity and sustainability. Farms can tap on the S$60 million ACT Fund which co-funds the adoption of productive, resource-efficient, and sustainable farming technologies and systems.
To encourage the adoption of sustainable sea-based farming management methods, SFA has been encouraging fish farms to use pelleted feed, that can minimise the environmental impact. SFA will also deploy real-time water quality monitoring stations and conduct routine sampling of other water and seabed quality parameters around our farming areas to monitor the overall health of our marine environment. This would safeguard our farms’ production from adverse environmental conditions.
To provide farmers with an overview of the procedures and regulatory requirements involved in setting up a sea-based farm in Singapore, SFA launched an industry guide for sea-based farms in November 2022. Additionally, SFA will also provide aquatic animal health services (AAHS) to help farms strengthen biosecurity so that they can prevent and control diseases in their farms.
The vision is to grow the aquaculture industry into a sustainable sector contributing to Singapore’s food security, and eventually a leader in sustainable tropical aquaculture, as SFA continues to work with the industry to transform its aquaculture sector.
Promote Local
While ensuring a stable supply of local produce, SFA recognises the importance of encouraging consumer demand to sustain a healthy and vibrant agri-food ecosystem.
SFA worked with local farms to brand and raise consumer awareness of local produce and collaborated with the industry on initiatives to increase market demand.
In November 2022, SFA and EnterpriseSG jointly launched the Singapore Standards (SS68): Specifications on Clean and Green Urban Farms for Aquaculture to guide local aquaculture farms to adopt clean, safe, and resource-efficient smart farming techniques. The standard was aimed at promoting responsible farming practices that reduce farm waste, conserve resources, incorporate circularity, and raise operational efficiency. The standards assure consumers of sustainable production and boost recognition of high-quality local farm produce.
From integrated marketing campaign to collaborations with content creators and supermarkets, SFA continued to promote the “SG Fresh Produce” (SGFP) badges and the benefits of local produce to consumers.
The SGFP badge on produce packaging makes it easier for consumers to identify and buy local produce.
In March 2023, SFA awarded the first local farm, Sustenir, with a 3-star SGFP badge, an SG Clean & Green certification mark indicating their produce was grown in a farm which has been certified to have adopted good agricultural practice and sustainable, resource-efficient practices.
SFA also organised the SG Farmers’ Market at community and online spaces, such as Lazada Redmart, to increase consumers’ access to local produce.
Consumers play a major role in supporting local produce to sustain a healthy and vibrant agri-food ecosystem. As more consumers purchase locally farmed produce, the higher demand will keep local farms commercially viable and encourage farmers to upscale their businesses.
Another way SFA seeks to improve access to local produce is by facilitating the distribution of fresh local produce to hotels, restaurants, and cafes. In February 2023, SFA established the Alliance for Action (AfA) on Demand Offtake and Consumer Education, which helps to match the supply of local farm produce to commercial demand by these establishments.
To support the commercial viability of local farms, SFA partnered with local supermarket retailer Fairprice to establish the SFA-Fairprice Retail Incubation Programme. The six-month pilot saw Fairprice guiding local farms on how to fine-tune their products, pricing, and marketing techniques to cater to consumers’ preferences.
Cultivating Talent Pool
SFA has been working with Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and local farms to develop training programmes that will equip students and adult learners at different stages of their career with skillsets that will lead to a meaningful career in the agri-food sector.
SFA partnered with SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), Workforce Singapore (WSG), and local IHLs to expand the suite of training programmes for current and potential workers to enhance their skills and knowledge, and better equip themselves for a career in the agri-food sector. Among the new and updated courses – the Diploma in Biotechnology offered by Republic Polytechnic (RP), broadened its scope to include a specialisation in food and agri-technologies for graduates to explore exciting career opportunities in the agri-food industry; the Work-Study Diploma in Agriculture & Aquaculture Technology offered by the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), will equip Nitec and Higher Nitec fresh graduates and existing workers with engineering skills in new agriculture and aquaculture systems, knowledge on food crop cultivation, and fish farm management.
SFA teamed up with WSG, IHLs, and farmers to promote job opportunities in the agri-food sector and build a local talent pipeline. SFA Annual Report 2022/23 shared that they were able to match 108 job seekers with local farms through the MyCareersFuture job portal.
In the pursuit of achieving vision 30 by 30, there’s a need to diversify approaches and not just silo into one strategy. One could say that ‘it takes a village’ to achieve food security and sustainability.