Deep Dive: An industry working to ensure Singapore doesn’t go hungry

When Malaysia, one of Singapore’s top sources for food products, announced a nationwide lockdown in early March, Singaporeans went on panic-buying sprees, cleaning out grocery store shelves because they feared the country’s supplies would soon run out.

In response to the situation, players in the agritech scene have ramped up production to make Singapore less import-reliant and more self-sufficient.

Photo credit: avemario / 123RF

Tech in Asia’s Joseph Gan looks into the recent activities of some agritech startups and discusses how much of an impact they’ve had on the city-state’s food supply chain.

Timecodes:

00:30 – Intro music
01:12 – Today’s topic: Singapore’s rooftop gardeners
01:48 – Seeing empty shelves at supermarkets
02:31 – The story of agritech startup ComCrop
03:46 – The difference between traditional and emerging tech-reliant farming
05:57 – Another agritech startup, Edible Garden City
08:25 – The role these startups play in society
09:36 – Growing support for agritech startups
10:42 – Challenges posed by today’s “new normal”
12:16 – The big problem of overhead costs
13:24 – Overcoming the issue by finding the right focus
14:36 – How effective Singapore’s agritech industry has been in filling the food supply chain gap
16:02 – What the future holds for the agritech scene
17:48 – A rising trend of city dwellers taking up farming in the provinces

Download the full transcript here.

Featured reporter:

• Joseph Gan, a Tech in Asia reporter based in Singapore

Essential reading:

• How Singapore’s rooftop gardeners are filling the food supply chain gap

Episode Sponsor:

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