The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has allocated $165 million to the second phase of the Singapore Food Story (SFS) R&D programme, known as SFS 2.0. The programme was launched to support research projects in agriculture, aquaculture, future foods and the food safety domain. According to SFA’s statement, the second phase will emphasis addressing food security challenges, which include intensifying sustainability and circularity for Singapore’s climate change commitments and enhancing food safety amidst the emergence of novel food.
The Singapore Food Story R&D Programme was initiated in 2019 to support the national agenda of strengthening Singapore’s food security and achieving the”30 by 30″ target while reaping economic benefits. A total of $144 million of research funding has been allocated for the Singapore Food Story R&D Programme as part of Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2020 plan, to enable R&D in sustainable urban food production, future foods, and food safety science and innovation. Since then, it has supported over 40 projects that have the potential to transform food production and enhance food security, such as the 12 proposals that were awarded over $23 million in funding through the first grant called ‘Sustainable Urban Food Production’ led by SFA in April 2011.
Under the SFS 2.0, key research areas include leveraging genetics and breeding to improve the productivity and nutritional qualities of crop varieties and fish, developing future foods with improved nutrition, taste and texture, and establishing faster non-animal-based analytical methods to support the safety assessment of novel foods. We hope to enhance the adoption of productive, climate-resilient, innovative, and sustainable technologies for agriculture and aquaculture by building a strong base of R&D capabilities in local research institutions in partnership with the industry. Furthermore, cross-domain research in emerging areas of the agri-food space will promote the development of novel foods and ingredients, alongside a robust future-ready food safety system.
