INTERVENTION by the government to ensure the security of food supplies has paid off as chicken prices are now lower than the ceiling price of RM9.40 per kilogramme, said Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said the measures taken included abolishing the approved permit (AP), halting chicken exports, and creating buffer stock for chicken and fish.

Ismail elaborated that the government had, for the first time, provided subsidies amounting to RM1.1 billion to chicken breeders to ease their burdens as well as ensured the sufficient supply of chicken and eggs, and guaranteed price stability.

“These measures have been successful because today there is an oversupply of chicken and the prices are also lower than the ceiling price set by the government, which is RM9.40 per kilogramme,” he said when launching the 2022 Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro Tourism Exhibition today.

Ismail said the government remained committed to managing the lack of food supply despite facing worldwide disruptions to supply chains.

“The government is trying to deal with the manipulation by middlemen and cartels in the agriculture sector and the food supply chain, which causes inflation and increases the prices of goods,” he added.

Ismail said that yesterday, the Malaysia Competition Commission issued a Proposed Decision against five feed millers for infringing Section 4 of the Competition Act 2010 and this should serve as a warning against cartels that tried to manipulate prices and the market.

The PM also wanted the Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry (MAFI) to continue its ‘jihad against middlemen’ through a supply chain control strategy in collaboration with agencies under it such as establishing paddy-buying and food collection centres, as well as fruit farmers’ and fishermen’s markets.

In the 12th Malaysia Plan, the agro-food sector is expected to grow at a rate of 4.5% per year, thus making the sector a major contributor to the gross domestic product, he added.

Ismail said the government had established a Cabinet Committee on National Food Security Policy to formulate a holistic food security policy and under the committee, the National Food Security Policy Action Plan 2021-2025 had been developed by taking into account food security issues and challenges.

Several trade, producer, and consumer-oriented measures and strategies had been introduced by the government to reduce dependence on food imports, which reached RM60 billion last year, he said.

He expounded that those measures attracted foreign investors in the country’s agro-food sector projects as well as encouraged the aggressive involvement of government agencies, government-linked companies, government-linked investment companies, and the private sector in the agenda to guarantee the country’s food security.

The government also ensured that the issue of national food security was always given attention through the Technical Committee to Address Issues of National Food Security and the Special Task Force on Jihad against Inflation, he said.

He added that MAFI, as the leader of the agro-food sector, needed to ensure that every plan and policy complemented each other in order to boost the sustainability and resilience of the agro-food system. – Bernama, August 6, 2022.