KUALA LUMPUR – While Malaysia constantly imports RM50 billion worth of agrifood, namely wheat and corn, the 3D (dirty, difficult, and dangerous) jobs are beginning to attract more young people who shunned them before, Agrobank Bhd covering president/chief executive officer Khadijah Iskandar said.
“(This is true)…especially during Covid-19, as we’ve noticed that the (agrifood) sector has been regarded as one of the recession-proof industries and has continued to attract interest from this group (the younger generation).
“As we stand tall to beef up food security in the country, we are thrilled to see that this sector, which seemed to be less attractive to previous younger generations, mainly due to its 3D nature as well as lower income and returns compared with other industries, is now becoming desirable,” she said.
Khadijah said the idea of more young people venturing into this industry bodes well as the country moves into becoming an ageing nation by 2030.
Sharing data, she said RM23 million in grants was disbursed to 1,159 young agropreneurs under Agrobank’s Agropreneur Muda (PAM) programme last year compared with RM13.7 million to 764 in 2019.
The PAM programme helps assist young agropreneurs, not only in terms of financing and capital to start a business, but also incorporates technical advisory, consultation, training, as well as other relevant skills training.
The programme came to be after Agrobank evaluated the financing risks associated with them such as inadequate knowledge, skills, and relevant business experience, apart from not having credit history as key assurance.
Meanwhile, Khadijah said the bank looks ahead in bringing forward the agriculture industry though Industry Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0), making agribusiness an interesting, young, and “sexy” career, inculcating an interest in farming among the younger generation, and making it a career or profession to look up to.
“We do have business owners who have already adopted the modern farming concept – making full use of the Internet of Things (IoT) as modern farmers do, and they are doing really well,” she said.
She said modern farming would definitely attract young people, since they would be able to precisely manage their farms from preparing soil for planting to harvesting from their smartphones.
“We believe this trend among young people will pick up soon, making farming their career of choice or a family business passed down from generation to generation – it’s just that the new generation adapts and takes it differently.”
Agrobank will be signing a memorandum with eight start-ups this year, providing an opportunity for them to pitch ideas for introduction into the marketplace, she revealed, adding that the bank is in the process of drafting the agreement.
On challenges, Khadijah said a lack of commitment seems to be the main issue when dealing with this group of clients.
“We noticed this in our previous programme whereby youth who expressed their eagerness to enrol for a certain programme (conducted by Agrobank) were also looking for other jobs at the same time. Basically, it’s like this is just a temporary thing for them.”
Even though being young makes them hesitant to join the industry, Khadijah said youth should realise that using technology is not cheap and advised them to put 100% commitment into farming.
As highlighted in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), the agriculture sector still has low exposure to agriculture technology, especially in the implementation of IoT under IR4.0.
She said smart and modern farming initiatives could be catalysts for the agriculture sector to expand and enable a smooth transition to digital transformation.
Under its strategic business plan for 2021-2025, Agrobank will enable innovative catalysts to digitalisation and automation under its sandbox initiatives, a platform/hub for young entrepreneurs to unleash innovative business models that embed agriculture technology and digitalisation initiatives.
Under 12MP, the agropreneurs have received RM126 million in approved grants, of which RM76 million will be dedicated to automation and mechanisation.
“At the same time, we would encourage them to be certified under Malaysia Good Agricultural Practices or MyGAP as part of delivering and performing responsible farming activities which will contribute to the preservation of environment and climate change,” Khadijah said.
She said Agrobank has also started to monitor its clients’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG).
“That’s what people are talking about now, sustainability. Although we are still in the early stages of ESG monitoring, barely at 5%, the response has been overwhelming and we hope to improve it further,” she said. – Bernama, November 14, 2021
