The Beef of Agriculture

We have been having a few meetings with Agriculture Department lately and there were a number of literatures made available to us. One of the more interesting ones is this tiny book on agricultural statistics in Brunei. I was quite amazed of the statistics inside it. Used right you can even tell which agicultural sector you can venture into.

I was quite intrigued with the beef industry statistics. Between 1998 to 2002, beef imports rose from 3,519 metric ton to 5,401 metric ton. But after 2002, beef imports fell that by 2,007, we only imported 3,080 metric ton down by almost 2,400 metric tons. That's a lot of beef. You would have thought with such a drastic drop, there would be an increase in local beef production. Apparently no. In 2002, local production was 206 metric ton and by 2007, it was only 72 metric tons.

Something is not right. Bruneians have stopped eating meat? The population has increased. Weddings have increased. The economy has been more or less the same over the first decade of the new millennium. So what gives? The supplies must come from somewhere and I guess that's why our preventive officers at the Customs Department had been working extra hard. Interesting what statistics can tell you...