Dutch–Singaporean collaboration in urban food production
The annual Singapore International Agri-Food Week (SIAW) showcases innovation and collaboration in the agri-food industry, with a focus on sustainable food production in Asia. This year’s event, which took place from 31 October to 2 November 2023 at Sands Expo & Convention Centre, brought together over 1000 global leaders from the public and private sectors, academia, and civil society to exchange ideas and insights on building a robust and vibrant agri-food ecosystem in Asia. One of the main focus areas of the event was urban food production.
As a land-scarce city state with less than 1% of land available for agriculture, Singapore relies on food import for more than 90% of its needs. Food is imported from over 180 countries and regions to meet the needs of Singapore’s population of about 5.7 million people with a high standard of living. This dependency on food import makes the country vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions such as the pandemic and the global consequences of the Ukraine war. To enhance food security and resilience, Singapore has set an ambitious goal of producing 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030, dubbed the “30-by-30” vision. To increase local food production towards fulfilling this goal, Singapore focuses on three key food groups: eggs, seafood, and vegetables.
Some of the efforts concentrate on increasing production in existing facilities. Singapore’s three egg farms currently already account for around 30% of locally consumed eggs. Other efforts focus on identifying new areas for food production such as high-tech urban farming solutions for leafy vegetable production. The market value of urban farming in Singapore reached $152 million in 2022, with local farms contributing significantly to hen shell eggs, seafood, and vegetable production.
To demonstrate future efforts in increasing local food production, Singapore prominently featured the Lim Chu Kang Agri-Food Hub Showcase at the annual Agri-Food Tech Expo Asia 2023, one of the anchor events of SIAW. At a large pavilion at the entrance of the expo, the Singapore Food Agency displayed the plans and design for the city’s first agri-food hub that will house high-tech farms, research facilities, and a food processing zone. The hub aims to increase Singapore’s local food production by three-fold and serve as a model for sustainable and resilient urban food systems. A consortium, under the leadership of MKPL Architects and with participation of Dutch enterprises Priva and Kuiper Compagnons, brought together urban planning and food system design with a proposal of a three-layer stacked farm for the Lim Chu Kang area in Singapore. The plan includes greenhouses and indoor farms to produce fruits, vegetables, mushrooms, fish, and crustaceans, and was designed to meet the nation’s 30-by-30 objective while safeguarding biodiversity, nature, and the unique rural character of Lim Chu Kang.
Dutch – Singaporean food collaboration
Singapore has ample room to leverage on the Dutch agri-food expertise to increase its national food production and achieve its food production goal. Pending initiatives are the GroGrace farm, launched by Urban Farming Partners Singapore as part of a collaboration between Singapore and the Netherlands. Another example is the farm of Dutch agri-tech company Growy, aiming to produce up to 500 tons of leafy greens annually. Other collaborations focus on knowledge sharing, such as the partnership between Wageningen University & Research and Nanyang Technological University on a major in Food Science and Technology
To highlight these initiatives and demonstrate further opportunities, the Netherlands participated in SIAW with a Netherlands Pavilion at Agri-Food Tech Expo Asia, focussing on urban food production. The Pavilion featured 20 Dutch participating organizations active in either horticulture, alternative proteins or other areas of food innovation. In addition, the Netherlands organized a two-hour seminar centered around the theme: “The Netherlands; Farming the Future”, in line with the international campaign. On stage, there were presentations and discussions about the protein transition, cellular agriculture, partnerships with food & ag startups and high tech urban farming.
The week was ended by a networking reception at the Netherland’s residence in collaboration with Enterprise Singapore and the Global Foodture program, hosted by Ambassador Anneke Adema.
The need for urban food production globally
While increasing food production in Singapore is a necessity for food security reasons, it can be seen as a leading example for cities worldwide that need to cope with increasing urbanization. By producing food within a city, rather than solely exporting from abroad or rural areas, multiple benefits can be achieved including reduction of dependence on food imports, a lower carbon footprint by food transportation, increased resource efficiency, improved food safety and quality, creation of green jobs and social cohesion while fostering a culture of urban agriculture.
Would you like to learn more about opportunities for collaboration on urban food production in Singapore? Please reach out to our Agricultural Advisor Emilie Rost van Tonningen at sin-lnv@minbuza.nl.