Asia to spend over $8 trillion on food by 2030

PwC, Rabobank and Temasek launch The Asia Food Challenge Report

PwC, Rabobank and Temasek have released The Asia Food Challenge Report: Harvesting the Future, which delves into Asia’s food and agricultural landscape. The report was launched in conjunction with this year’s Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Week in Singapore in November 2019.

It estimates that cumulative investment of $800 billion above existing levels over the next 10 years will be needed to grow Asia’s food and agriculture industry to a sustainable size, in order for Asia to feed itself. The majority of these investments – around $550 billion – will enable key requirements around sustainability, safety, health and convenience. The remaining $250 billion will drive increased quantities of food to feed Asia’s growing population.

Together, the investments will unlock market growth of around 7% per year, with the region more than doubling its total spend on food to over $8 trillion by 2030. This presents a huge opportunity for corporations and investors to invest in Asia’s Agri-Food industry by placing a stronger focus on promising high-impact innovations.

As countries around the world grapple with food shortage and the effects of climate change, the report addresses the challenges and opportunities that Asia’s Agri-Food industry face. The region is urbanising rapidly and by 2030, it will be home to approximately 250 million more people who have a growing appetite for healthy food that is sustainably and ethically sourced.

Anuj Maheshwari, Managing Director, Agribusiness, at Temasek, said, “A fundamental change is required across the entire food supply chain in Asia to enable and sustain the region’s food security. We see immense opportunities for start-ups, businesses and governments to work together in creating innovative solutions that can transform our global food systems. Sustainability is a key focus for us at Temasek, and we remain committed to deploying our capital purposefully across the whole Agri-Food value chain, as we invest for a better, smarter and more sustainable world.”