Chan (third left) posing with staff of the State Agriculture and Food Security Ministry after giving his address on Tuesday.-Bernama photo
KOTA KINABALU (Jan 17): The Federal Agriculture and Food Security Ministry will continue providing encouragement and assistance to the community that are interested to venture into the agropreneurial sector in Sabah.
Its deputy minister, Chan Foong Hin, said that among the encouragement and assistance support are matching grant for Change Upgrade Product (CUP) and High Impact Product (HIP) that is aimed at transforming micro entrepreneur operation and small medium enterprise (SME) to modern agriculture based on high technology capable of doubling the production level.
In addition, the ‘Rezeki Tani’ programme for low-income households with assistance in the form of in-kind grants and training with a maximum value of RM10,000 subject to the needs of the project, he said.
Chan said that the ‘Agropreneur Muda’ grant (GAM) will be given to qualified participants of the Agropreneur Muda programme whereby assistance in the form of in-kind with the maximum approval of RM20,000 depending on the type of projects.
“At the same time, financing facilities to cover capital expenditure and operation cost with the interest-bearing funds as low as three percent.
“The application for all the facilities and other services can be made through the Agriculture Department and MAFS agencies in Sabah,” said Chan at the 2023 New Year Address ceremony with MAFS Sabah staff at the Sabah Federal Government Administration complex near here on Tuesday.
Chan also suggested that a one-stop centre that houses all the MAFS agencies and departments’ representatives to coordinate all latest information concerning the initiatives of the ministry and the Sabah government in matters related to agriculture.
“This centre will also become a channel for us to acquire direct feedback from the people. Any action that garners good approval will be continued and those that are not will be improved,” he said.
Chan also mentioned that the theme for the address was ‘The sustaintability of the nation’s agrofood sector drives the challenge of the global crisis” and the theme was to support the aspiration to strengthen integrated cooperation as the key to empowering the national agro-food sector in the context and understanding that Sabah and Sarawak have autonomy in the field of agriculture.
“The integrated cooperation that I emphasize here also includes a joint role and strategic collaboration between the ministry at the Federal level and the governments in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.
He also said that the support for this aspiration is not just talk.
“In fact, I translated this spirit into practice by starting a series of meetings and engagements in Sabah around the issue of ensuring food supply in this region,” Chan said.
He added that he paid a courtesy call on Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Noor on 27 December 2022, and after that he met with Sabah Deputy Chief Minister I and Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Jeffrey Kitingan.
Chan said that he also conducted a series of meetings with representatives of departments and agencies related to agriculture in Sabah and stakeholders across all agro-food subsectors to understand the issues at the local level.
“Having just finished my working visit in Sabah, I hope that we can continue this series of engagements in Sarawak as well so that I can continue to learn while ensuring that every input from various parties is taken into account in our efforts to develop the country’s agriculture,” he added.
Chan also spoke of the ministry’s rebranding from Agriculture and Food Industries Ministry (MAFI) to Agriculture and Food Security Ministry (MAFS).
He said that this outlines the determination of the Unity Government led by the Prime Minister, Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim to guarantee food accessibility to the people without any one being left behind.
He said that the rebranding also mirrors the need for us to be ready to carry heavier responsibilities because issues linked with food security cross various ministries.
“MAFS must strengthen strategic cooperation network with ministries and other agencies such as the Domestic Trade and Living Cost Ministry (KPDN) which is responsible for the control of food supply prices; the Health Ministry (MOH) is responsible for food safety; and the Finance Ministry (MOF) is responsible for subsidy matters.
“Strong collaborative effort is needed to be created with parties such as divisions/departments/agencies, the private sector, non-government organisations and the people on the whole through Whole-Of-Government and Whole-of-Society Approach,” he said.
Chan also spoke on the issue of challenges and said that everyone is aware that MAFS is among the ministries that are the focus of the people.
“For example, because of the global crisis following the 4Cs (Covid-19, Conflict, Climate and Currency) lately, we were forced to face the challenge of inadequate supply for some food items temporarily.
Aside from that, every time we draw close to festivities, the issue of raw material supply will crop up to become the people’s conservation topic,” he said.
He added that these challenges are becoming more urgent as people place high expectations on them.
He said that the people hope that they can address any issue with smart ideas.
“I am grateful to the citizens of MAFS for constantly providing the latest information and offering advice to address any issue that we must face.
“In addition to short-term considerations, we also need to prioritize strengthening the resilience of the food supply chain to ensure that the country’s food security can last for a long time,” he said.
In his speech, Chan also said that the agriculture sector has huge potential with the absorption of the latest technology capable of raising production of farmers on a large scale.
“But this requires determination and coordination of efforts by all parties including between MAFS and the Sabah government,” he said.
He added that three matters are being studied together by MAFS and the Sabah government to start the integrated approach namely urban farming, high-tech farming and farming as future careers.