The Singapore strategies

In 2010, the author advised Brunei against pursuing self-sufficiency in rice production, arguing that the country should instead import rice from neighboring Southeast Asian nations, which form the world's rice belt. Brunei is a small, wealthy sultanate on the island of Borneo, with an economy based on oil and natural gas. The author suggested Brunei should leverage its wealth to purchase rice rather than attempt to grow it inefficiently on unsuitable tropical soil. Despite significant investment, Brunei’s rice self-sufficiency remained low, producing only 8% of its rice consumption in 2024, up from 4.8% in 2017. The author recommended Brunei could achieve its goals more effectively by buying or leasing farmland abroad and hiring agricultural workers to grow rice for the country, rather than trying to produce it domestically.

Singapore’s push for food security, including its now-abandoned ‘30 by 30’ Plan launched in 2019, aimed to produce 30% of its food domestically by 2030 while using less than 1% of its land for agriculture. In 2019, Singapore imported over 90% of its food, making the goal ambitious. The plan was driven by concerns over supply-chain disruptions, such as those during COVID-19, and a desire for greater self-sufficiency. Singapore’s government framed the initiative as a way to develop expertise in agribiotech, given the island’s limited agricultural workforce. However, Singapore’s existing strengths—its wealth, strategic location, and logistics infrastructure—already provided strong food security, with only 7% of household income spent on groceries, the lowest globally. Even including eating out, food expenditure remained at about 20% of household income, well below global averages.

Singapore was once a significant agricultural producer, with Malay and Chinese farmers cultivating crops for centuries before British colonization in 1819. Under British rule, agriculture expanded, including commercial farming of crops like gambier, spices, pineapples, coconuts, and later rubber. By independence in 1965, Singapore’s economy had shifted toward urbanization and industry, reducing its reliance on local agriculture. Today, agriculture accounts for the joint-lowest share of GDP in the world, alongside Hong Kong, Aruba, and San Marino. The island’s agricultural history contrasts with its current urbanized landscape, where less than 1% of land is used for food production despite recent efforts to revive it.

Singapore has achieved notable success in ensuring water security through a strategy known as its ‘Four National Taps’: imported water, local catchment water, NEWater (reclaimed water), and desalinated water. Since the 1920s, Singapore has imported water from Malaysia via pipelines, with agreements signed in 1961 and 1962. However, concerns over Malaysia’s potential leverage over water supply during political tensions led Singapore to diversify its sources. In the early 2000s, Singapore developed NEWater, which uses advanced filtration and UV treatment to make recycled water safe for drinking, and desalination plants to convert seawater into freshwater. By 2009, imported water accounted for about 40% of supply, with the rest coming from local catchment, NEWater, and desalination. By 2061, when Malaysia’s water agreement expires, Singapore aims to meet 85% of its water needs through treatment or desalination, ensuring long-term security despite climate change and population growth.

Singapore has consistently ranked highly in global food security assessments. In 2019, the year the ‘30 by 30’ Plan was launched, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) ranked Singapore as the world’s top country for food security out of 113 nations. However, in 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore’s ranking dropped to 28th place. This decline was attributed to changes in the EIU’s methodology, which placed more weight on ‘farmer-focused’ measures, the ‘first mile’ criterion (linking farmers to markets), and resilience factors. Despite this drop, Singapore’s food security remained strong due to its economic resilience, efficient logistics, and global trade networks, which ensured a steady supply of food even during disruptions.