Jan 062010
 

The UK has unveiled a 20-year food strategy that would include making land  available for people to grow their own food.

See, it’s not as far fetched as some people might think.

Part of the plan entails facilitating cooperation between local landowners and community groups to make land available temporarily for food cultivation.

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Feb 272009
 

cpi

Source: Statistics Department, Malaysia

Inflation may have dropped to 3.9 per cent in January 2009 in line with the fall in consumer demand and the end of the commodity price bubble. But even though the agriculture commodity bubble has burst, food prices remain high with the consumer price index showing a 9.8 per cent rise in January for food. (The food and non-alcoholic beverages component contributes over 80 per cent of the 3.9 per cent rise in the CPI index.) Imagine, the index for rice, bread and other cereals has shot up by 18 per cent.

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Feb 142009
 

ipp_dec08

Manufacturing hurtles down a cliff Source: Statistics Department, Malaysia

There are three components to our Industrial Production Index — manufacturing, mining and electricity. Manufacturing (see dotted line), the most crucial, appears to be in free fall by December.

Manufacturing accounts for 71 per cent of the Index and contributes 28 per cent of GDP. It also employs 20 per cent of workers. And then there’s the ‘multiplier effect’ on the rest of the economy.

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