BREAD has been flying off the shelves in most parts of the country with unprecedented speed since the movement-control order (MCO) was enforced more than two weeks ago.

“Normally one person just buys one loaf,” said Hilmi, who manages a store in Shah Alam, Selangor.

“However, since the MCO, customers pick up two, sometimes three loaves,” he said adding that bread disappears soon after the delivery lorry leaves.

“I don’t agree with this type of buying but what can they do? When you have kids who stay home all the time and you need to feed them, bread is a cheap, easy, healthy snack,” said Hilmi.

His tale reflects supplies nationwide as Malaysians endure two more weeks of a lockdown necessary to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The MCO, which was initially supposed to be for two weeks, was extended till April 14 to break the chain of Covid 19 infections affecting 3,116 Malaysians and claiming 50 lives.

Experts in the food industry told The Malaysian Insight there is enough food, but not all of it will get to customers at the same time and at consistent prices during the MCO.

They said temporary shortages of certain items will likely occur as consumers have to adjust to the fact that supermarkets and grocery stores can now only open from 8am to 8pm, under Phase 2 of the MCO.

Vegetable Wholesalers Association chairman Chong Tek Keong told The Malaysian Insight consumers are now flooding supermarkets and wet markets after the government closed down farmers’, morning and night markets, which used to supply local neighbourhoods.

“Farms are still producing vegetables and poultry. Lorries ferrying produce to wholesalers are now being ushered through MCO roadblocks faster than a week ago,” said Chong.

“Lorries of vegetables are still crossing the border from Thailand despite the neighbouring country also being on lockdown.”

Factories and millers are still churning out rice, bread and biscuits and delivering them to supermarkets, said Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) and the Malaysian Bakery, Biscuit, Confectionary and Mee Merchants Association.

However, because the MCO has changed normal consumption patterns and limited the number of outlets where people buy their food, it has caused shortages that did not exist previously.

This is explains why, although bread makers are producing at full capacity, supermarket shelves are empty of the daily staple by the end of the day, said the bakeries association president Lai Yee Kein.

In certain places such as Sabah, bags of rice have also sold out quickly, said Bernas East Malaysia official Jasnih Daya.

This is because civil society groups buy in bulk in order to deliver to low-income residents who have lost their daily wages due to business shutdowns caused by the MCO, Jasnih said.

Food policy expert Prof Fatimah Arshad told The Malaysian Insight when people are locked out of the normal market system, their buying patterns will change and this is why we see panic-buying and empty shelves.

“The number one concern of families is to feed their dependents but the supply chain system cannot respond quickly enough and deliver on time,” said Fatimah of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM).

“The MCO disrupts the supply chain and checkpoints have affected delivery schedules, so there is a mismatch in terms of timing and this creates short-term deficits which pushes prices up.”

Time to fix supply

Although shortages during the MCO are primarily due to the disrupted distribution system, another expert, Prof M. Nasir Shamsudin said the crisis has re-emphasised how the country is still far from self-sufficient when it comes to its own supplies.

Malaysia is only 70% self-sufficient in rice, meaning that domestic production is only sufficient to meet 70% of local demand, said Nasir, also of UPM.

Self-sufficiency for other basic foods such as vegetables is 46.6%, whereas it is 79% for fruits, 23.9% for beef, 11.2% for mutton and 61.3% for fresh milk, Nasir said.

“As of now, disruptions in the food chain are minimal as food supply has been adequate and markets have been stable so far,” said Nasir.

However, Malaysia will be vulnerable if the pandemic and consequently MCO drags on over the next few months leading to suspension of food imports as trade partners also go into lockdown, he added.

“We may risk a looming food crisis unless measures are taken fast to protect the most vulnerable, keep food supply chains alive and mitigate the pandemic’s impacts across the food system,” said Nasir.

Putrajaya should quickly distribute RM1 billion in emergency stimulus funds to farmers and livestock breeders to ensure that they continue to produce adequate supplies.

However, in the medium- to long-term, the Perikatan Nasional government must use the crisis as an opportunity to further shift the country’s overall agricultural sector, UPM’s Fatimah said.

Currently, 85% of all planted land in Malaysia is used to grow palm oil and rubber which is then exported, she said and this needs to be shifted to food crops.

“Vegetable farmers now earn about RM7,000 to RM8,000 per hectare compared to about RM2,300 to RM3,000 that oil palm small holders earn,” said Fatimah.

“So, the data already shows that it is far more lucrative and efficient to use the land for food crops and livestock than for palm oil. We are not fully secure and it’s time to change that now.” – April 3, 2020.