Committee of Supply 2026 debate, Day 5: Zaqy Mohamad on collective urgency to boost food resilience

Singapore is particularly vulnerable to external shocks and food supply chain disruptions and has been repeatedly tested by events beyond its control, said Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Zaqy Mohamad. When the next disruption hits, Singapore wants to have pre-established channels, tested protocols and trusted partners who are ready to respond and transform crisis management from reactive scrambling to proactive deployment, he said in parliament on Wednesday (Mar 4). This means continuing to explore mutually beneficial agreements to strengthen food supply. It also means harnessing local farms as a regenerative source of food with the right scale and cost structure. The government will inject a new tranche of S$70 million to the Agri-Food Cluster Transformation Fund. It will be made available from April 2026 over five years to support technology adoption and local agriculture capability and capacity building. It will also introduce a new funding component to support strategic partnerships between farms and ecosystem players in developing and deploying industry-wide solutions that can support multiple farms.