BBYB 2020

Borneo Bulletin Yearbook 2020

Agriculture

Concerted efforts are being made by the government to

improve Brunei Darussalam’s food security in the long

term and create employment opportunities for the youth

through the agricultural sector. The government has

pledged to open up more farmland and provide support

towards galvanising the industry further.

In 2018, Brunei’s gross agriculture output has increased

by BND56.65 million to BND436.30 million on the back

of growing amounts of livestock, better development

irrigation system and cooperation with other countries.

Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Dato

Paduka Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong

recently shared that Brunei’s total agricultural output

– including crops, livestock and agrifood-related

processing – has increased from BND93 million to

BND380 million in the past two decades. Aquaculture

took the big chunk, expanding at a rate of 14.3 per cent

annually and increasing from BND2 million in 1998 to

BND22 million in 2017.

In terms of food self-sufficiency, Brunei has almost

reached 100 per cent self-sufficiency in poultry, achieved

about 47 per cent self-sufficiency in vegetables, 37 per

cent for vegetables, and 30 per cent in the supply of

meat. It however still relies heavily on rice imports

from Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam which make up

around 30,000 tonnes annually.

Despite the agriculture industry’s small contribution

to the nation’s GDP, making up 0.54 per cent in 2017,

moving forward, the minister said that the government’s

agriculture focus will be on increasing farming

productivity by making use of advanced technology. The

ministry will also focus on exploring downstream and

added value agrifood processing for the domestic and

international markets.

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan

Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei

Darussalam and His Royal Highness Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah ibni His Majesty Sultan

Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the

Prime Minister’s Office plant some of the Sembada 188 paddy seedlings at the Kandol paddy

plantation site using a paddy transporter.