THE Covid-19 pandemic has paralysed much of human movement and is of no benefit to anyone, especially our country’s B40 citizens.
More than 750,000 people are unemployed, and the numbers are increasing daily. Our foreign investment is also dipping. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Malaysia registered a lower net inflow of RM2.2 billion year-on-year against RM6.4 billion in the first quarter of 2020. All these factors point to the negative impact on our well-being, especially on lower-income Malaysians.
The government has unveiled various programmes and packages to aid those in need – the Economic Stimulus Package worth RM20 billion, Prihatin package (RM 230 billion), additional Prihatin package (RM10 billion), National Economic Recovery Plan (RM35 billion) and Kita Prihatin Package (RM10 billion) – to weather the impact of Covid-19. These are great packages, but perhaps, the government should also introduce a scheme to encourage citizens in both urban and rural areas to do some gardening, to improve their livelihood or bring greater sustenance to their household.
In December 1974, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein launched Buku Hijau (Green Book). This programme encouraged every citizen to take up short-term gardening or farming.
Malaysians were encouraged to develop an organised farming unit, such as planting greens and running dairy or fish farms, be it for personal consumption or to enhance their household income. This applied to everyone, regardless of where they lived.
I can confidently vouch that it was a great programme, as it helped my family and neighbours when we were living in an estate. With the help of the estate management, my parents secured a small plot of land near our home, and in good time, our sweat and toil provided us with fresh organic vegetables, as well as additional income, in a period when estate workers’ salaries were too meagre to live on, especially with eight children to feed and educate.
Recently, the Selangor government introduced the Farmer Entrepreneur Programme, created specifically to help farmers by renting out plots of land for them to work on. It helps solve the problem faced by farmers in the state who do not have the space to cultivate various crops.
Some 385ha of land in the Selangor Fruit Valley Plantation has been allocated to help these entrepreneurs. However, the effectiveness of the initiative has yet to be seen.
Agriculture in Malaysia, in terms of food production, is neglected, disorganised and in disarray. Smallholders are at the mercy of “middlemen”.
Market data indicates that the average age of Malaysian farmers is 50, and the majority are in the B40 group.
We have so much land in Malaysia, and compared with our Asean neighbours, a small population of just over 30 million. Yet, we import over RM50 billion in food commodities annually to feed the nation. This situation certainly raises serious doubts and questions that require answers.
Where is our food security? During the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been too reliant on food imports. The first movement control order, which took effect last March, resulted in many unclaimed food containers at our ports, causing much hardship to citizens. If we were in a war, and food imports were to cease, what would we do?
A practical solution is for our government to reinitiate and reintroduce the Buku Hijau programme. This time, local authorities must respond and attend positively to all citizens who sign up.
Do not hand over this task to defunct residents’ associations. Cut the red tape, go straight to every applicant, and help them with their farming and gardening. Local authorities should allow the Agriculture Department (DoA) in all states to assist, approve and support budding farmers.
Although helpful, DoA’s assistance and advice must come only when asked for. Take my case, for instance. As an urban farmer working on a small plot, I am learning farming in the most painful way. I planted eight types of banana trees. The first harvest was great; the second was strangely bad.
When I checked with DoA, I was informed that my banana trees had been affected by the Panama virus, and to my despair, I had to cut down all the trees. After the banana episode, I planted 50 papaya trees. They grew well, but after nine months, their leaves began to wilt, and they began dying. Upon contacting the agriculture officers in Shah Alam and Gombak, I was told that my papaya trees had been infected with a “dieback” virus, and again, I lost my trees.
Should there have been the Buku Hijau programme, which I would definitely have applied for, I may have been able to save my trees – and also my hard work – with the advice and attention of DoA officers.
I would not have been informed of such problems with my crops only after my efforts to contact and enquire, when it was already too late.
The Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry should be given a free hand to manage, advise and consult farmers whose land can be broken up into multiple lots to be used strictly for planting food crops, depending on the size of the land.
If the government is sincere about growing enough food to feed the nation, and reducing the annual RM50 billion food import bill, it should be actively playing a supporting role through Agrobank, the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi), and Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama).
Agrobank can assist financially by disbursing loans; Mardi can guide and train farmers; and, Fama can provide advice on the logistics of marketing, to give farmers better returns on their produce. Mind you, these are all initiatives that surfaced from the Buku Hijau programme.
We need Buku Hijau to help and sustain the people facing a hard time in their daily lives. We need the scheme to be relaunched as soon as possible, to help the needy work within their homes.
Through their initiatives, they will not only harvest organic vegetables, but also become healthy. If fertilisers, seeds, and gardening and farming tools are provided to budding farmers, and technical aid, in the form of tractors and ploughing machines, given to them, we will see booming urban and rural communities that not only look good, but are productive, too.
With the availability of modern technology, the Buku Hijau programme can be boosted to even greater heights. It is best to encourage gardening and farming, as we can also divert the stress of “no work, no outing” to something beneficial for all individuals in our country. – The Vibes, February 14, 2021
Ravindran Raman Kutty is a communications and reputation management expert who has worked in multinational and government-linked companies, as well as government agencies
.jpeg)
