Wan Junaidi: Cooperatives should delve into agriculture to strengthen country’s food security

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Wan Junaidi (left) looking at a bag of rice being sold at Angkasa’s BA100 grocery shop, accompanied by Angkasa Sarawak chairman Wan Azizan Wan Zainal Abidin (centre) and Sarawak Cooperative Commission (SKM) director Basuini Ali (right).

KUCHING (Dec 27): Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Dato Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar is urging cooperatives in the country to diversify their businesses and delve into agriculture to strengthen the country’s food security.

He said with the country this year importing about RM18 billion worth of food, he hoped cooperatives in the country would be able to delve into agricultural and even farming sectors to increase the country’s food production to lower its reliance on food imports.

At the same time, he said, if the country is producing enough, it could even contribute more to the GDP and income by exporting some of the food products produced by the cooperatives.

“For example, our food security level for rice the previous year was about 65 per cent. This year I understand that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries wants to increase that level, meaning they would need more local farmers to produce rice.

“So this role can only be played by Malaysians themselves to be farmers, not just agriculture but also livestock,” he said.

Wan Junaidi was speaking at a press conference after a working visit to Angkasa Sarawak’s headquarters and its BA100 grocery shop selling essential items with competitive prices.

Unfortunately, he continued, at the moment according to data from his ministry, only about 1.1 per cent of about 14,600 cooperatives in the country were in the agricultural sector, while about 89 per cent were in the service sector.

He said his ministry together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries could only provide training, financial assistance, monitoring and such, while the rest depends on the involvement and participation of Malaysians themselves who were willing to take up the hoe.

He cited an example where a young chilli agropreneur Ahmad Shafiq Ahmad Sabirin from Rampangi, Santubong who in less than a decade, managed to achieve sales of more than RM1 million in 2019.

Wan Junaidi said for entrepreneurs achieving sales up to RM1 million, his nett earnings would be no less than 50 per cent of that.

“That means he is anytime better than four to five ministers because his earning level is now more than RM500,000 a year.

“So imagine if our youngsters, doesn’t matter if they are Malays, Iban, Chinese, Bidayuhs, they all can delve into the agriculture industry with the help of both the federal and state government,” he said.