GEORGE TOWN – For the past year, hotels and restaurants have been severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to poor patronage.
The lower customer turnout at restaurants has directly impacted demand for local agricultural produce such as poultry, fruits and other locally sourced food.
The take-up of raw food materials has declined so badly that not surprisingly local farmers have been severely affected.
To bring light to this issue, former deputy agriculture and agro-based industry minister Sim Tze Tzin started a “buy local chicken and eggs” campaign to encourage people to buy locally sourced food to save agricultural entrepreneurs.
His team prepped 300 sets of produce, which comprised chicken (1.8kg each) and 30 eggs, that were sold for to be sold for RM18 per set.
It was conducted via drive-thru at his parliamentary office in Bayan Baru to ensure social distancing was adhered to, and amazingly, all sets were sold in just 1.5 hours.
“I want to highlight the (benefits of purchasing) local products because many are still consuming food imported from overseas like cereal, fish and fruits, to name a few.
“Malaysia imports RM53 billion worth of food every year, so instead of buying more imported food, why not buy local agricultural products to help our farmers?
“You know there is a problem when the farmers are complaining about dipping sales, higher feed price, unfriendly policies and no government help at this time of crisis,” he told The Vibes, adding that farmers are becoming increasingly stressed that chicken feed like corn and soybean have increased by 47.8% and 59.5%, respectively.
‘No farmers, no food’
When these difficulties arise, farmers who rear chickens for meat and eggs can no longer survive. If operators shutter their businesses, it will affect the food security of the country.
“No farmers, no food,” he said.
Sim drew a comparison to what happened in Taiwan recently, when China banned all pineapples from Taiwan into the nation.
“The Taiwanese society came out strongly to support the pineapple farmers. From the government right down to associations and even communities – every segment of its society bought pineapples to support these farmers who were badly affected.
“Even the Taiwanese living in Malaysia supported the cause.”
The movement showed how society can help a sector in dire need, he said.
He hopes Malaysians will also adopt the same spirit to help these farmers who are suffering losses during this difficult time, as the closure of hotels and restaurants, along with the cancellation of events like conventions, expos and weddings, have caused their income to shrink.
“We cannot depend on the government now. It is ‘kita jaga kita’.” – The Vibes, May 13, 2021
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