Hong Kong is one of the world's most densely populated cities, with over 7 million people packed into just 1,106 square kilometers. This makes it one of the most populous cities in the world. Due to the extremely high population density, there is very little land accessible for farming.
As a direct consequence of this, the vast bulk of the city's food is brought in from outside the region.In point of fact, Hong Kong imports more than ninety percent of its total food supply, the majority of which originates from the Chinese mainland. Because of the city's reliance on food that is brought in from other countries, it is susceptible to disruptions in the supply chain.
This was seen during the SARS pandemic in 2003, when China stopped sending food shipments to Hong Kong.Because of the high cost of land, local farmers are unable to compete with cheaper food that is imported, which has led to the progressive deterioration of the city's agriculture sector. In the early 1980s, there were more than 2,000 farms in Hong Kong; today, there are fewer than 200 farms left in the territory.
Despite the difficulties, the government of Hong Kong remains dedicated to providing assistance to the city's farmers and to growing the amount of food that is farmed locally. The Grow Local program was started by the government in 2016 to encourage people to support local agriculture and to purchase food that was grown in their own communities.It is intended that the campaign would contribute to ensuring the long-term survival of Hong Kong's agriculture sector, since it has been successful in raising awareness of the necessity of supporting local farmers.