Govt. building food reserves to cushion price shocks

The government is building storage facilities for rice, honey, poultry and fresh produce to store up to three months’ supply of food, helping to maintain stable prices when global markets are disrupted.

President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali shared the plan on Monday during his keynote address at the first-ever Farmers’ Conference at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC). He believes food security calls for the same planning strategy countries use for fuel.

“In today’s market, just like oil, if you have massive storage facility for oil and you buy when oil is cheap and you can store that oil, you have a longer security period in terms of stability in your market. It’s becoming the same for food because of climate-related events,” he said.