Find Agriculture expertise in Brunei Darussalam
- Industry
- Development
Industry
Agriculture, along with forestry and fisheries, contributes only 1% to the Brunei’s total GDP (2010). The primary agricultural products include rice, vegetables, fruits, chickens, water buffalo, cattle, goats and eggs. The role of the agricultural industry has changed due to the growth of the oil industry which has replaced it in terms of significance. With favourable employment opportunities in the oil sector, the number of people working in agriculture and the amount of land available to it has declined. Agricultural land accounted for 2.1% of total land area in 2009, having stayed at a constant level since 2007 (World Bank).
A relatively small number of people work in the industry according to the Department of Agriculture, in 2008 4205 people were employed in crops, alongside 810 in livestock and 107 in agri-processing. The previous decline in agriculture decreased self-sufficiency, increased the need for imports and made food security a pressing issue. In order to combat this, the state has placed much importance on agriculture and agri-food development. Extensive work has been put into fruit and rice farming, and livestock, in order to improve production. Indeed the industry has been the focus of several key recent economic initiatives in the country, with the production of Brunei’s own halal food produce and a drive towards self-sufficiency in rice production. In the 2000s the livestock sector continued to dominate agricultural sector development, with the production of poultry and eggs, alongside leafy vegetables, attaining levels of self-sufficiency. The Department of Agriculture and Agrifood, which is part of the Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources, is the government department in charge of administering the industry.
Development
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report (2012-13) placed Brunei 24th in the world (out of 144 countries) in terms of its balanced agricultural policy costs, with a value of 4.5 out of 7, above the world mean of 3.9.
The Department of Agriculture hopes to encourage the development of the agri-food processing industry, which would capitalise on cheap raw materials in the region for the manufacturing of export oriented and value-added agri-food products. It also wishes to strengthen the primary production sectors, and to tie it in with the processing or agri-food manufacturing and trading of agricultural produce. Some indicators of this have already been seen, such as the development of large scale poultry farming, modern food manufacturing and food-based professional services. Successful development of the agri-food processing industry would bring about a major expansion in the agricultural sector.
| Agriculture organisations in Brunei Darussalam | |
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| Brunei Agricutural Reasearch Centre, Department of Agricuture |
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