Situation of Agriculture in Malaysia

Situation of Agriculture
In Malaysia - A Cause
For Concern
Contents
Agriculture and Food Security: Developments In Malaysia ......................... 1
By T. Indrani
SustainableAgriculture in Malaysia:An Assessment .................................. 32
By Chamhuri Siwar and Md Amzad Hossain
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Strengthening The Role of Farmers Under Agenda 21 .............................. 49
By P. Vijian
ERA CONSUMER MALAYSIA

(Education and Research Association for Consumers, Malaysia]
ERA CONSUMER is a voluntary, non-political and non-profit organization.
ERA focuses on issues ranging from food security, human rights, environment,
consumer rights to womens rights for a socially just and equitable society.
Situation of Agriculture in Malaysia
Agriculture and Food Security:

Developments In Malaysia
By T. Indrani, ERA Consumer Malaysia
Introduction
Food security ensures the independence and sovereignty of a nation. History has
proved time and again that food is vital to national security. Food crisis sets in when
it is not available, or accessible, in sufficient quantities for the local population. Nations
have gone to war over food, and will continue to do so, if they are not able to produce
enough or buy food for their people. Those who are convinced that another world
war is coming believe that it will be over food and they cite, among the many reasons,
the burgeoning human population and the diminishing amount of arable land.
Malaysia is one of the many countries in our planet, tiny though it is, where food selfsufficiency is decreasing, year by year. The weakness of the Malaysian agricultural
sector is that it largely produces cash crops and little food.
Malaysia is a net food importing country, despite once having produced almost enough
food for the local population. It is not that there is no land to produce food: it is just
that the priorities are different. Malaysia is a high cost producer of many food products
1
such as rice and certain vegetables and even in the region, it does not have the
comparative advantage in food production. Therefore, planning provided for some
2
level of local production, but not self-sufficiency .
Since 1990, Malaysias food import bill has been enlarging steadily:
FOOD IMPORTS BY MALAYSIA

YEAR
1990
1996
1997
1998
Amount (RM - million)

4,581.80
9,056.20
10,083.57
10,515.51
Source: Ministry of Agriculture

1
2
National Agriculture Policy 1 & 2

National Agriculture Policy 2
ERA Consumer Malaysia
The 1998 food import bill of RM10.52 billion is a very shocking figure for a small
country like ours, especially considering that it is a more than two-fold jump in just
eight years! It is indeed a very high figure for a country that has all along been
agriculture-based, where 35% of the total land area, or 11.63 million hectares, is
suitable for agriculture. Malaysias main imports are cereals, dairy products, vegetables
and fruits, according to Statistics Department figures.
MAJOR FOODS IMPORTED (IN % OF 100%)

Year
1996
1997
1998
Cereal
27
26
27
Vegetables
8.5
8.4
9.4
Dairy Products
10
9.8
9.5
Despite these high food import bills, Malaysia is also a food exporter, largely to its
neighbours like Singapore. Then, there is also the import and re-export of certain
foods, such as fresh vegetables. This is done to increase our income, but can
4
anyone see the logic of exporting food that is imported for domestic use?
Our main exports are coffee, cocoa, tea and spices, followed by fish (including
prawns and other seafood) and fish products, cereals & rice and also fruits. We also
export vegetables, meat, dairy products and animal feed.
The Food Sector, 1970-1980

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, agricultural sector development was important to
the overall economic development of the country. This sector contributed to onethird of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) provided for half of the total employment
and 50% of the foreign exchange earnings. In 1970, the agriculture sector posted a
growth of 8%.
3
It is said that many of those food products that we import cannot be efficiently
produced in the country efficiently or cannot be produced at all because of our climate.
In 1996, our food export earnings came to RM4,693 million and there was an increase
in the year 1997 to RM5,275.2 million and in 1998, our food export earnings were
RM6,154.1 million.

5
This achievement was the result of the First Malaysia Plan policies for more and
better skilled agriculture workers. The 1MP also aimed to stimulate the adoption of
modern and better farming practices and patterns, and encourage crop diversification,
by the agriculture community.
These policies resulted in increased food production as farmers became more skilled
and improved practices, such as double-cropping for paddy. Local rice production
saw a growth of 11.9% a year during the 1MP.
The National Paddy and Rice Authority was established during this period to coordinate the various aspects of production, processing and marketing of paddy and
rice.
Production in the other areas of agriculture went up as well. Fisheries saw a production
increase of 8% a year while livestock production increased by 5.4% a year, especially
in the chicken and hog industries. Malaysia then was already dependent on imports
for dairy products.
During the 1MP (First Malaysian Plan), the Federal Agriculture and Marketing Authority
(FAMA) played an important role in regulatory schemes in the principal paddy growing
states of West Malaysia, and initiated paddy trading in Tanjung Karang (Selangor),
Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu. The Agriculture Bank or Bank Pertanian was also
established, to strengthen and co-ordinate public sector credit programmes for
agriculture.
The Federal Land Rehabilitation and ConsolidationAuthority (FELCRA) was established
in 1966 to alienate and develop land, especially idle land, for agriculture purposes.
Subsequently, 18 fringe alienation schemes, comprising 15,000 acres and 2,400
participants, were taken over for rehabilitation. All this contributed to the development
of the agriculture sector.
In 1975, the contribution of agriculture sector to foreign exchange earnings was
49.3% and to the GDP, 29.8%. This sector employed about 1.9 million workers, or
some 50% of the total workforce. Though there was a small reduction in its
contribution to the national economy, the agriculture sector continued to play an
important role.
Moreover, this sector was important for the achievement of two key objectives of
5
First Malaysia Plan (1966-1970)
the New Economic Policy: the eradication of poverty and the restructuring of society.
6
It was during this period that the Second Malaysia Plan (2MP) was implemented.
The plan period from 1970-75 saw the agriculture sector grow by 5.9%, with 150,000
new jobs created. However, agriculture registered a drop in total employment as a
result of the more rapid growth of the other sectors.
Food production increased from 1971-1975 because the government implemented
initiatives for food self-sufficiency, learning bitter lessons from the world food crisis
of 1972-73. For paddy, the 90% self-sufficiency target was reviewed and increased
to 100%. Several measures were adopted during this period, including the provision
and improvement of irrigation facilities, the increase of yields through varietal
7
improvement and provision of incentives such as Guaranteed Minimum Price and
the urea subsidy scheme.
Domestic production of paddy increased from 1.6 million tonnes in 1970 to two
million tonnes in 1975. It met about 87% of the domestic need that year, the result of
government policy that emphasised higher food self-sufficiency by increasing yields.
Production incentives were also given to farmers, such as price incentives and input
subsidies, and better facilities through the Agriculture Department. The MUDA and
Kemubu irrigation schemes were also implemented to increase production of paddy.
With the establishment of the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia
(MAJUIKAN) during the 2MP, fish landings increased 9.8% a year and the fishing
fleet was expanded from 20,300 vessels in 1970 to 22,400 vessels in 1975. MAJUIKAN
promoted the extensive use of modern techniques and provided cold storage and
processing facilities for the catch.
MAJUTERNAK, the National Livestock Development Authority, was established in
1972 to develop and commercialise the beef and dairy industries. During the 2MP,
Malaysia became self-sufficient in the production of poultry and pork and produced
85% of its beef requirements. However, 95% of its milk and milk product requirements
continued to be imported. Production of vegetables also increased from 370,400
tonnes in 1970 to 523,100 tonnes in 1975. This increase was due to farm crop
subsidies and government incentives to vegetable and fruit growers to increase
production.
6
Second Malaysia Plan (1970-1975)
Guaranteed Minimum Price is a ceiling price set by government for paddy retail &
wholesale.
The strategies under the 2MP to enhance the development of the agriculture sector
were to increase employment opportunities through the sound exploitation of
Malaysias land, water and timber resources and also to raise the incomes of farm
and plantation workers by increasing productivity and the scale of operation,
particularly among the more traditional activities where income is lower. Research
was done to raise the income of small farmers, increase the production of export
crops, promote agricultural diversification and stimulate import substitution. These
strategies contributed to the increase of food production and were geared at the
small farmers.
8
The Third Malaysia Plan (3MP) policy initiatives were continued under the national
development plans of restructuring society and eradicating of poverty. The push was
to raise agriculture income levels and increase employment opportunities in the sector
through programmes of higher production in existing holdings and opening up new
land for agriculture. These objectives were to be achieved through an integrated
approach to accelerate agricultural development by providing inputs to large numbers
of small farmers so that they could raise yields, and therefore, incomes. These strategies
also contributed towards the increase in production of food products during the
9
3MP.
Even though production in the food sector increased, the agriculture sectors
contribution to the GDP dropped to 22.2% in1980, with the growth rate of the sector
being 4.3% a year. This was due to the global recession of 1974-75, and also because
of adverse weather conditions during the second half of the decade.
During the decade, the cultivation of fruits and vegetables expanded as a result of the
provision of subsidies and marketing incentives. The acreage for vegetables expanded
to 9,000 hectares in 1980.
Livestock production constituted about 6% of total agricultural output in 1980. It
expanded at a slow rate of 2.2% a year due to the foot and mouth disease outbreak of
1976-1980. Production of beef, milk and mutton expanded as a result of the pawah
programme and beef/dairy projects of the Veterinary Department and MAJUTERNAK.
Milk production increased substantially with the implementation of the dairy
8
9
rd
Malaysia Plan 1975-1980
Paddy production increased from 1.6 million tonnes (1970) to 1.9 million in 1980 and
yield per hectare increased from 1,055 gantang to 1,260 gantang during the period
while acreage under paddy increased from 533,400 hectares (SMP) to 595,600
hectares, of which 56% was under double-cropping. Rice self-sufficiency level increased
to 92% in 1980 from 87% in 1975.
development programme for smallholders. The development of the livestock industry,

however, continued to depend on high cost imported feeds. Fisheries also had a
production growth rate of 9.8% a year and its contribution in agricultural output was
11.2% in 1980. Development of the aquaculture programme was expanded to
supplement marine food production.
During these three Malaysia plans, the government invested a lot on land development
for agriculture through various programmes such as FELDA and FELCRA, with a
total of RM375.9 million invested under the Fourth Malaysia Plan (4MP).
Under the 2MP, the investment was RM88.18 million and during the 3MP, RM2744.65
million went for land development. The second highest investment by the government
was for the development of drainage and irrigation, which contributed to the higher
production of paddy and other agriculture and food crops.
Private sector involvement in agriculture during this period was very minimal. It
mainly involved land development projects and many projects were joint programmes
with the government sector. Under the 4MP, only 139,000 hectares of land were
developed by the private sector out of the 888,100 hectares developed. In the 2MP,
the private sector developed 115,900 hectares and in the 3MP, a total of 134,615
hectares of land were developed through joint venture and private projects. Agriculture
education was also given much attention during this period and besides six agriculture
institutions, the National Agriculture University was also established.
Therefore, it can be seen that the emphasis given to the agriculture by the government
was largely due to its multifunctional role: the need to improve the livelihood of
farmers, to produce food and for economic reasons as the sector contributed a large
amount of the countrys foreign exchange earnings.
Moving Towards Commercialisation

th
10
In the 4 Malaysian Plan (4MP), the overriding objective was to increase income
through productivity improvements and the creation of employment opportunities.
The NEP was still the base for the development of the agriculture sector in the
11
development plans as this sector had highest poverty rate in the country.
10
11
th
4 Malaysian Plan 1980-1985

t
During the implementation of 4 MP, agriculture contribution to the GDP was only
20.3% in 1985 and the growth of the sector was 3.4% a year. In terms of employment,
the sector accounted for 1.95 million jobs or 35.7 of total employment in 1985,
compared with 1.91 million jobs or 39.7% in 1980. During the period 1981-1985, it
generated about 42,300 jobs or 6.5% of the total employment.
Paddy production increased by 1.1% a year from 2,040,200 tonnes in 1980 to

2,258,000 million tonnes in 1985. This amounted to 73.6% self-sufficiency only. In
1980, there was a sufficiency level of 92%. This decline is said to be due to weather
conditions, continuing instabilities in yields and cropping intensities, even in the major
granary areas, and the increase in amount of abandoned paddy land. The drop was
so high that there was an import of RM257.10 million worth of paddy that year. The
supply and demand gap was 426,000 tonnes. This was the beginning of high amount
of rice imports by the country as the self-sufficiency level of rice was the lowest in
1985 compared to previous years.
12
VEGETABLE PRODUCTION SECTOR

Year
1980
1985
Production
(Tonnes)
202,100
124,300
Hectarage
Planted
9,000 hectares
8,090 hectares
Import
(Million)
RM276
Fish and other seafood imports in 1985 came to RM237.2 million. In the livestock
sector, beef production increased to 19,199 tonnes in 1985, mutton production
decreased to 600 tonnes in 1981 but increased in 1985 to 800 tonnes as a result of
rearing of sheep in rubber and coconut estates.
FISH P RODUCTION SECTOR

Year
1980
1985
13
Total Production Marine Fish

743,700 tonnes 732,000 tonnes
697,100 tonnes 689,100 tonnes
Aquaculture
10,900 tonnes
8,000 tonnes
Production of poultry, eggs and pork was self-sufficient and there was a surplus,
which was exported. Milk production increased three-fold due to rearing of better
breeds, and increase in the number of dairy farmers as well as improved dairy
12
13
This reduction in production was caused by increase in cost production due abolishment
of crop subsidies during the NAP 1. Fruit production was constant during that period of
time.
The decline in output was supposed to be due to inadequacies of the marketing system
for fresh water fish, which culminated in the closing down of large number of fishponds.
management, particularly in areas surrounding milk-collecting centres.

The import of meat, mainly beef and mutton, and milk, came to RM465 million in
1985. MAJUTERNAK, which was supposed to contribute towards the development
of the local livestock industry, especially the beef and dairy sector, was dissolved in
1983 and its tasks taken over by the Department of Veterinary Services.
Total food import was RM3,063.00 million in 1985 compared with only RM2,340.3
million in 1980.
14
During the 4MP, the First National Agricultural Policy (NAP1) was implemented in
1984. The main objective of the NAP1 was maximisation of income from agriculture
through efficient utilisation of the countrys resources. Maximisation of income was
for farmers and the country.
Production of all agricultural commodities, except rice, would be based on technical,
including agro-climatic considerations, as well as economic returns. The thrust of
the NAP1 was to increase productivity, efficiency and competitiveness in the
development of new resources as well as in the fuller utilisation of existing resources.
This period of time was the beginning of the agriculture sector moving towards the
commercialisation. However, during this period of time food production decreased
and food imports were increasing, even though one of the reasons food production
decreased was adverse weather conditions.
During the implementation of NAP1, planting materials and certain inputs that had
been provided free by the government were replaced by a scheme where planting
materials were provided at a nominal fee. Subsidies for all kinds of crops, livestock
and fisheries with the exception of paddy, pepper and sago were gradually reduced
towards the end of the 4MP period. This contributed to the increase in cost of
production for farmers and decreased production that year, even though the strategies
of NAP1 stressed cost reducing measures.
Moreover, the Agriculture Ministry privatised a number of projects, mainly those
related to food production, to encourage private sector participation. These included
aquaculture projects in Puchong and Sungai Dangga, the hatchery centre at Mahang
in Kelantan, and the pig section of the abattoirs at Ipoh, Johor Bahru and many other
areas.
14
First National Agriculture Policy, 1984-1991

15
The ministry also privatised ice factories operated by the LKIM at some fishing
complexes and the tea factory operated by MARDI in the Cameron Highlands. The
privatisation of LKIM projects had an impact on the fisher folk, especially small
fishing communities that would have to depend on the private sector, which always
charged a premium on everything, even the supply of ice. This increased costs of
production.
Large-scale production and increase in farm sizes for the production of all food
products was encouraged, especially for vegetables, fruits and livestock. This was
for economic productions of scale and also to increase production for domestic
demands and export purposes.
FAMA, which was supposed to help farmers earn a better income from fairer prices
for their produce by setting up buying centres, gradually moved out of direct domestic
marketing activities and instead undertook to provide market intelligence and seek out
and develop new markets overseas. This shows the importance given to overseas
markets and export-orientated produce.
During the implementation of the Fifth Malaysia Plan (5MP), efforts were taken to
revitalise and modernise the agriculture sector, as well as to urbanise the rural areas.
The major thrusts during the 5MP were to continue the efforts towards modernising
and commercialising the smallholder sub-sector; rationalise the extent of government
involvement and increase private sector participation in agriculture.
The agriculture sector grew by 4.6% a year and its contribution was just 18.7% of
the total GDP, at a time the NAP1 was still being implemented.
Paddy production was 1,271,000 tonnes in 1990 and the increase in production was
only 1.03% because of labour shortage, low returns, poor management and occasional
droughts in the non-granary areas of the northern peninsular. Self-sufficiency level
was 79.4% an increase just under the NAP1 target of 80%.
Vegetable production increased 4% a year to 609,600 tonnes in 1990. The increase in
production was due to the intensity of cultivation rather than any increase in hectarage.
Malaysia was still a net importer of vegetables as production was not able meet the
demands of consumers. In 1990, our import of vegetables was worth RM366.8
million. Livestock is another area in which we depended heavily on imports, even
15
MAJUIKAN had a change of name to LKIM-Fisheries Development Authority of

Malaysia
though we had a surplus in egg, pork and poultry production in 1990. Milk production
was only 10% self-sufficient; production of beef only grew by 1.9% a year, which
was not in line with the increase in consumption. Livestock imports amounted to
RM855.2 million in 1990. In fisheries, even though there was an increase in production
to 564,600 tonnes, imports of fish and fish products were still high, coming to RM363.6
million in 1990.
This is a very worrying trend. After five years of the implementation of NAP1,
Malaysias import of food had increased and the rate of self-sufficiency dropped,
especially in rice, despite it paddy production being given special privileges under
NAP1.
Moreover, it is stated in NAP1 that the production of all agricultural commodities,
except rice, will be based on economic returns. At this point, it seems cash crops
have been given priority as they caused Malaysias exports to rise and brought high
economic returns. Food crops were therefore sidelined, as costs of production were
high and the returns, low.
Mechanisation of the agriculture sector was emphasised under the NAP1, even in the
research and development area. This contributed to the increase in cost of production
in the agriculture sector, as mechanisation is expensive and could have contributed
towards small farmers going out of business. Employment in this sector dropped by
about 3.8% in 1990.
The NAP1 was supposed to increase incomes of farmers through increased
productivity and efficiency, but then this was not achieved as the high incidence of
poverty in the agriculture sector remained. It has increased the role of private sector,
with the important projects of agencies like LPN and LKIM being privatised during
this time. LPN was privatised during the 5MP and the implementation of NAP1. This
was the agency given responsibility over the nations staple food.
The private sectors role in land development also increased after the implementation
of NAP1. During the 2MP, 67.2 % of the total land developed by the private sector
involved wholly private sector projects while 42.5% represented joint-venture projects
with government agencies. During the implementation of 4MP and NAP1, 76% of the
total land developed by the private sector was for private sector projects while during
the 5MP, also under NAP1, only 2% of land developed by private sector was by joint
venture, with 98% being fully private sector projects. It showed that over the years
the role of private sector in the national agriculture scene had increased significantly.
10

16
During the implementation of the Sixth Malaysia Plan (6MP), the role of private
sector was further increased. Land development was no longer done by FELDA but
only by state governments and the private sector, with private companies developing
85% of the total land developed during 1990-95.
Privatisation And Globalisation Of The Malaysian

Agriculture Sector
During the 6MP, priority was given to further re-orientating smallholdings towards
greater commercial operation to realise economies of scale and to be internationally
competitive in the long run. The major policy concern was to ensure that agriculture
remained competitive in the international market, and therefore economically viable,
though exploration of new crops for their earnings potential.
For products that were not competitive, research and development (R&D) was to be
emphasised towards enhancing their competitiveness. The Second National Agriculture
17
Policy (NAP2) was introduced and implemented during the 6MP period and its
policy on research and development was also emphasised to ensure the agricultural
sector was well on its way to commercialisation that was based on market forces.
NAP2 stressed that the agriculture sector should be market-led, commercialised,
efficient and competitive. The strategies of the NAP2 are focused on large-scale
production, rural industrialisation and commercialisation. Self-sufficiency in food
production is not encouraged, as Malaysia does not have a comparative advantage in
food production.
FOOD PRODUCTION S ECTOR IN 1995
Production (tonnes
Land-used (hectares)
Self-sufficiency level
Import (RM Million)
Paddy
1,373,000
670,000
76.3%
356.1
Livestock
1,400,100
1,473.2

16
17
Sixth Malaysia Plan - 1990-1995

Second National Agriculture Policy - 1992-2010
11
Vegetables
609,600
71.6%
683.4
Fisheries
764,500
762.4
Even though import substitution for food crops was stressed under NAP2, imports
still increased and food production was relatively low, compared to the production of
cash crops. The agriculture sector grew at 2% a year during the 6MP as Malaysia
headed towards industrialisation and Vision 2020, meaning that it was left behind.
The sectors share in GDP also declined to 13.6% in 1995, while its contribution to
total export earnings was 13.1% and contribution to total employment, only 18%.
This decline was the result of government policy to move the country from an
agricultural economy to an industrial economy. The basic reason for this shift was
that the agriculture sector was considered non-productive and labour- and capitalintensive.
Food crops were therefore neglected and concentration in the agriculture sector was
on commodities like palm oil, cocoa and rubber, which besides being of export value,
were also important to the local manufacturing sector.
The NAP2 did have a direct bearing on falling food production. Its policies were
market driven and slanted towards human resource development for efficient agrobusiness, resource management and agro-based processing. This was much unlike
st
nd
the 1 and 2 Malaysia plans, where human resource development was based on
training in farming, agricultural techniques, fishing and so on.
Investment in agriculture was to be in agricultural commodities that would support
industrial growth. This meant food production such as paddy and vegetables, which
are not based on industries, were not an attractive sector for investment. Moreover,
under NAP1, social and institutional support was emphasised for the development of
farming and the improvement of farmers living standards. However, under the NAP2,
institutional development was concentrated on integration of small farms into bigger
co-operatives, so as to become competitive with the support given. This is not
development for farmers but chasing smallholders out of business, since a large farm
will be able to produce more cheaply than small farms.
The Seventh Malaysia Plan (7MP) also saw a reduction in the role of agriculture in
the countrys economy and a slow growth in the food sector.
The 7MP encourages increased participation in agriculture on a large-scale basis,
particularly in the production of food commodities and high-value produce, reorienting
production methods to improve competitiveness in the context of a more liberal market
environment and reviewing the remaining tariffs imposed on agriculture inputs. At
the same time, it calls for the gradual withdrawal of subsidies and encourages greater
12
market efficiency. All these policies confirm that the agriculture sector was moving
18
towards a more open and competitive agricultural economy and towards free trade.
Self-sufficiency in rice needs also dropped to the target level of NAP2, around 65%
in 1998. Total area under paddy dropped as concentration was only in the eight major
19
paddy growing areas , with the other areas encouraged to change to more productive
cash crops.
The production of vegetables registered a positive increase the past three years, but
imports continued to rise, from 10% to 16% a year. In 1998 a 16.6% increase in
imports was recorded or an expenditure of RM987.3 million to import vegetables
the previous year. The main imports were onion, shallot and garlic, followed by
potatoes, carrots, round cabbage, cauliflower and headed broccoli.
Even though Malaysia has a large food import bill, the export of vegetables continued,
and sometimes there is a re-export of imports to Singapore. It has often been claimed
that Malaysia exports cheap vegetables and imports expensive ones. Many of these
expensive vegetables are definitely not for the masses which mean that the import
bill is high because Malaysia imports vegetables for the rich and the better off. This is
neglect of the poor as vegetables they consume are exported and vegetables for the
rich are imported.
There is also an increase in imports of livestock and of animal feed as the value of US
dollar is higher compared to the Malaysian ringgit.
PRODUCTION AND I MPORT OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS

Year
1996
1997
1998
Production (Tonnes)
1,443,200
1,495,400
1,555,500
Import (RM Million)

1,556.2
1,704.7
1,673.3
18
19
th
During the 7 Malaysia Plan and NAP2, paddy production increased by a level of 0.9%
a year from 1996 to 1998. However, the import of paddy had also been increasing,
from RM537.52 million in 1996 to RM701.31 million in 1997 and RM910.52 million
in 1998.
The eight major granary areas Muda, Kemubu, Kerian-Sg. Manik, Barat Laut
Selangor, Seberang Prai, Seberang Perak, Besut and Kemari Semarak.
13
The major contributor to the food import bill, which takes up about 50% of the total
livestock imports, is dairy produce all kinds of milk and cream, milk products,
butter, other fats derived from milk, cheese and yoghurt. Malaysia is only 4% selfsufficient in milk now.
Fisheries also show high import and export figures. Fisheries are one of the areas
developed for export orientation. Production had a constant increase of 5.8% a year
in the last three years (1996-1998) and consumption has increased by 7.1% a year.
Production increase is not in line with consumption. The country imports fish products
but remains a net exporter of fish products. So why are imports high?
During the 7MP, the NAP2 was reviewed and as the policies were found not to be
suitable with the current situation. After the 1997 financial crisis, the Third National
Agricultural Policy (NAP3) was introduced and implemented in 1998. It was said
that the NAP3 was introduced to ensure food security in the country but the policies
do not indicate this.
The main objective of NAP3 is to enhance food security, increase productivity and
competitiveness of agriculture, deepen linkages with the economic sectors and create
new areas of growth for agriculture. These objectives do not seem to go in line with
food security, for how can competitive agriculture ensure food security?
Moreover, displacement will take place in the workforce in the agriculture sector as
labour-saving technologies and improved management are introduced to increase
productivity. Already, there was displacement occurring in the agriculture sector due
22
to replanting and development . Labour-saving technology will increase the number
of displaced workers. In the NAP3, the policy for food production is larger-scale
operation and commercialisation. As we can see, commercialisation of food production
has not contributed towards the self-sufficiency in food production, for this was also
the strategy in NAP2. In the early 1970s and though to the 1980s, food production
had a much higher self-sufficiency level as commercialisation was not considered.
For paddy production, the targeted self-sufficiency level remained at 65%, as under
NAP2. Production was also to be concentrated in the eight major granary areas while
the areas outside, which contributed to 30% of local paddy production, were to be
converted to other uses, in particular agro-forestry. This would of course increase
20
Malaysian Agriculture Index 97/98
21
Third National Agriculture Policy 1998-2010
22
Refer appendix
14
Malaysias import of rice, as there will be 30% less production.

Moreover, the rice industry was to be deregulated, with the repackaging of price
subsidy and fertiliser subsidy programmes in order to allow for long-term structural
adjustments to fulfil international obligations under the World Trade Organisation.
The past three years, only fertiliser subsidy was given for paddy and all other subsidies
that were given for food production were gradually stopped after the implementation
of NAP1. This has increased the cost of production of paddy and other food crops.
What more adjustments can be in store for the farmers and the industry?
In the development of the livestock sector, especially milk, beef and mutton, fisheries
and vegetables, the private sector was to play an important role in increasing production
and developing the sector. Thus the development of the food sector was privatised
and it would no more be the role or responsibility of the government to ensure food
production. The vegetable, fruit, fisheries and the poultry and egg sectors as well
were to be export-based. So now, food production is for business purposes, not for
national security, as seen under NAP1.
The NAP3 strategy is based on an agro-forestry and product-based approach. These
strategies are correct for the commercial market but how about food security? If it is
going to be a product-based approach, then the concentration will be on enhancing
the production of crops with a higher market value. Food products are less profitable,
if produced as a social responsibility.
Moreover, research and development programmes are to focus on conducting
industrial-driven technologies in collaboration with industry, producing technologies
for the public good and the commercialising of research findings.
The policy does not mention anything about improvement in food production or
research in ensuring food security. Also to be undertaken are marketing efforts and
other areas relevant to ensure efficient marketing of cash crops. This is very unlike
the NAP1 policy which emphasised marketing channels, the promotion of farmers
participation in marketing their own products and upgrading physical infrastructure
to help farmers.
Private sector involvement has also increased significantly in the agriculture sector.
Institutional development is based on the setting up of a private-public sector
coordination council to implement NAP3. Private sector participation is also encouraged
in large-scale farming for paddy production and investment in research and
development. Projects involving the private sector will be intensified to commercialise
15
research findings and innovations. The agriculture sector is pushed towards

globalisation and free trade with the encouragement of foreign investment, and
guidelines are to be introduced to enable this. The main components of NAP3 show
the trend of the agriculture sector being pushed towards privatisation, free market
and globalisation. More proof that food production is neglected can be proven by
looking at loans given out by the Agriculture Bank of Malaysia (BPM Bank Pertanian
Malaysia).
ALLOCATION OF LOANS BY BPM FOR THE FOOD SECTOR

Year
1970-1975
1976-1980
1996
1997
1998
Percentage Of Allocation
41.2%
50%
12%
6.7%
26%
As we can see, the total amount of loans given by BPM for paddy production and
food production has declined. Emphasis has been given to tobacco production,
mechanisation and commercial products. It is very clear that the food production is
neglected.
Another Drastic Change

Due to the sidelining of the food production sector in the past few years, Malaysia is
dependent on imported food to feed its people. In the last three years the countrys
food import has increased to RM10 billion. Cereals made up the highest import at
27% in 1998, followed by dairy products at 9.5% a year between 1998 and 2000.
Vegetables made up about 9.4% of food imports in the last few years. These figures
show a change in eating habits in the country, as the highest imports are Western
food that cannot be produced locally.
Therefore, the food demand has changed from rice to cereals and from sawi to
cauliflower. The increase in demand for these products is not a healthy trend as
Malaysia has become more vulnerable to food insecurity, and with Western food
becoming popular. Malaysia is becoming more and more dependent on imported food
as the production of rice and other major food commodities is low and also because
16
of the lifestyle change, with Western food and food habits becoming more popular
with the people.
Malaysia is also heavily dependent on inputs used to produce food. For instance, the
country is 70% dependent on imported animal feed for the livestock industry. Animal
feed contributes 65%-80% to the cost of production of chicken and cattle. Even if
Malaysia companies produce the feed locally, the major input for animal feed, such as
vitamins, minerals, drugs and preservatives, are imported. For instance, the cost of
production of a 2kg chicken is RM 5.62
PRODUCTION COST OF 2KG OF CHICKEN (48DAYS)

Components of Cost
Animal feed (soft)
Animal feed (rough)
Chick
Medicine
Labour
Structure
Water & Electricity
TOTAL
Amount (RM)
0.97
2.80
1.00
0.20
0.40
0.10
0.10
RM 5.62
Local/Import
Imported
Imported
Local
Imported
Local
Local
Local
Source: Nafas Sdn Bhd
In the total cost of production of a chicken, which weighs 2kg, RM 3.97 worth of
inputs are imported and the rest are local. So, 70% of the cost of production is spent
on imported inputs and only 30% of the production cost is local input. This confirms
that the local food production industrys depend on imported inputs to produce food
locally.
The livestock industry even depends on imported parent breeders to start the breeding
of cattle or sheep. In the farming sector all the chemicals used as fertilisers and
pesticides are imported and even if produced locally, the major ingredients are imported.
Somehow or other, Malaysia is dependent on imports for food production.
Moreover, as the Malaysian economy moves towards a market-orientated economy,
investors in the agriculture sector, in search of better returns on their investments,
have diversified the use of agricultural resources such as land and capital to other
competing sectors. Therefore, the growth of new industrial, commercial and residential
centres are at the expense of the agricultural sector resources. This is evidenced
17
especially in recent developments, where large tracts of agricultural lands were

converted into industrial, commercial or residential purposes. The KL International
Airport and Putrajaya projects are the two most recent projects where the agriculture
lands were converted to other uses.
The Last Recession

The 1997 financial crisis gave Malaysia a bitter experience of food prices soaring and
important commodities like sugar, coconut, chicken and rice seeing price hikes, until
now a coconut still costs RM 1 RM1.30. Prices of other food commodities remain
high. There was also a shortage of vegetables, onions and other food products in the
market as price increases, because of the financial crisis, also forced a reduction in
imports.
Everyday the food prices went up. Even the price of the chicken, which we are selfsufficient in producing, went up as the feed had to be imported. The nation did not
have a food crisis but then, for a country that was originally agriculture-based, this
shortage of food could have been avoided if policies towards food self-sufficiency
had been introduced and implemented. The 1997 crisis taught us not to depend on
imports for food: Has this lesson truly been learnt?
Malaysias dependency on food imports has increased the cost of food in the daily
23
lives of Malaysians. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows the increases in prices
of consumer goods and can be used to prove that the cost of food in our daily lives
has increased due to the importation of food.
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR FOOD

Year
1995
1996
1997
1998
July 1999
CPI
104.9
110.9
115.5
125.8
116.8
Source: Statistics Department Malaysia

23
Consumer Price Index changes in the prices of goods according to weightage. The
weightage for food products is 34.9%. Rice, bread and cereals is 5.5%, meat 3.8%, fish
4.9%, egg and milk 2.3% oil and fat 0.7%, fruits and vegetables is 5.4%, sugar 0.6%,
other food is 1.1%.Outside food carries a weightage of 9.8%. The base year for CPI is
1994, where CPI is calculated as 100.
18
Food is the highest expenditure in CPI, where it carries a weightage of 34.9 out of the
full 100 points. In 1998, food contributed 62.8% to the CPI and from January to July
2000, the contribution of food to the CPI was 62.1%.
In 1994, a person used to spend RM271.94 on food. After that, the amount spent on
food has increased every year. Even though the increase is small, it is significant. In
1997, the average food bill was RM 314 a month a person and now, according to the
August 2000 CPI, the amount spent on food was RM357 an increase of RM 85
since 1994. This amount may not be seen as large, but if we are calculating for a
household of five members, the increase is RM425 a month on food alone.
This is a large increase and with the financial crisis, it is not easy for the people, as
their wages are not increasing together with the prices of food or goods in the country.
They have to spend more on food that is getting more expensive day by day. This is
due to the high cost of food production and high cost of food imports. If this situation
continues, then one day wholesome food will be a luxury, having become too expensive
for low-income people to buy nutritious food. Food will not be affordable for the
poor and low-income groups.
This analysis proves that Malaysia is becoming vulnerable in the area of food security,
where the prices of food are increasing and Malaysia is becoming more dependent on
imported food as domestic production is not able meet the demand.
Analysis of The National Agriculture Policies

If we analyse further, this situation was caused by policies in the NAP1, NAP2 and
NAP3, where step by step the agriculture sector was commercialised and marketdriven. Moreover, self-sufficiency in food production was lowered on grounds that
Malaysia does not have a comparative advantage for food production. Paddy production
was targeted for an 80% self-sufficiency level when 90% was possible. This target
was further lowered under NAP2 and NAP3 to a self-sufficiency of 65%.
Further, livestock, fisheries and vegetables were pushed towards export orientation
and large-scale farming. This led to concentration on export based production, where
we can see a large export of the commodities and a high value of imports in that
sector for domestic consumption.
Moreover, research and development policies were based on commercial needs and
market-driven under the three agriculture policies. Throughout the three agriculture
19
policies, private sector involvement increased to the extent that the private sector
now plays an important role in the implementation of NAP3. Food production and the
agriculture sector were commercialised and subsidies were gradually stopped for
nearly all the food products. Malaysia has begun to globalise its agriculture sector and
this meant its food sector as well, with the NAP3 giving encouragement to foreign
investments in agriculture. Therefore, soon we can expect multinational companies
producing food for the country as it is a lucrative business and there will always be a
demand for it.
Situations like this already exist in many countries like United States, Philippines,
India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, where transnational corporations and multinational
companies control the production of food by controlling seeds, pesticides and also
the prices of food. The nation will end up depending on corporations to feed its
people.
Opening the agriculture sector to the globalised market is not going to benefit Third
World countries, as this will further burden local farmers who are not competitive
enough to compete with transnational or multinational corporations. This is because
multinational companies are supposed to be much more efficient in food production
as they are in commercial and large production.
Moreover, there is a need to protect the agriculture sector as it is important for food
production in the country. Malaysia cannot be dependent on imported food or imported
inputs to produce food. In the year 2000 budget, tax reduction and tax relief have
been given to a certain number of imported foods, so that they will be cheaper to
import. But then, the government has not considered the situation where we will be
more dependent on imported foods as these will become much cheaper to import
than to produce locally. This will increase dependency on imported food and also
increase our import bill as you can get more products with the same amount of
money spent earlier. The situation encourages imported foods and if this situation
continues, it will make food security in Malaysia highly vulnerable. As we discussed
earlier, food security is vital in ensuring national security.
20
Conclusion
The analysis in this paper confirms that:
1.
Malaysia is not self-sufficient in food production
2.
Malaysia is dependent on food imports and also imported inputs for food
produced locally
3.
The Malaysian agriculture sector has moved towards privatisation,

commercialisation and is market-driven
4.
The Malaysian agriculture sector is moving towards globalisation and

open economy
Malaysia: Towards achieving Food Security

It is important for nation states to achieve food security and food sovereignty to
ensure that every citizen in the country has access to safe and healthy food. Malaysia
should take steps to move towards ensuring self-sufficiency in food production in
the country and also push towards achieving food security in the ASEAN region.
The government should review the food policy in the Third National Agriculture
Policy (NAP3) and move towards ensuring food security. Future food policies should
aim to create greater stability in food production. They must also be geared towards
establishing a more integrated food market, which can ensure better integration between
supply and demand.
The government should also have a comprehensive programme, in line with developing
food production, to develop the food industry. The Fund for Food should be more
accessible and flexible to encourage farmers to produce food and develop the food
production sector. Human resource development to generate a larger number of food
technologists must also be pursued. The establishment of local food industries will
not only provide income and employment generation opportunities but will also lead
to a reduction in the countrys food import bills and have a beneficial impact on the
balance of payments. The government should also take over agriculture land that has
been left idle and lease them out for food production. This will also increase food
production, as more land will be used to produce food.
The government should also subsidise and give equal support and importance to the
21
food production sector as is given to the cash or commercial crops. Subsidies should
be given to small farmers to enhance production in the food sector and other facilities
should be given to youths and farmers to encourage more people to explore the
agriculture sector for opportunities, especially the food production sector.
The government of Malaysia should also reject any new negotiations on the Agriculture
sector in the Seattle Ministerial Meeting and push for an evaluation and impact analysis
of the Agreement on Agriculture. This is to ensure no further liberalisation is done in
the agriculture sector and food security is achieved. The United States of America
had a 50-year relief period to liberalise its agriculture and textile markets. If a developed
country needs 50 years to open up its agriculture market, how can a developing
country like Malaysia liberalise its market in just 5 10 years? All this should be
questioned at the Ministerial meeting and an evaluation should be done on the impacts
of the Agreement on Agriculture on developing nations and on the small farmers.
The impact of the Agreement on Agriculture can be clearly seen in many developing
nations. For instance, in the Philippines, liberalisation and the implementation of
commitments under the Uruguay Round have had severe effects on both producers
and consumers in the rice and corn sectors. Liberalisation of the rice trade in the
Philippines through reductions in price subsidies and the reduction of stocks led in
1995 to the doubling of the local retail price of rice. In order to avoid civil unrest, the
government was forced to import a large amount of rice for cheap distribution. The
local sugar industry and the food security of its 400,000 workers suffered severely
as a result of higher sugar imports resulting from liberalisation.
Another well-documented example is that of heavily subsidised beef from the European
Union being dumped in West Africa at prices below production costs, forcing cattle
farmers in Burkina Faso out of business. All these impacts should be evaluated and
steps should be taken to set things right before further liberalisations in agriculture
sector are negotiated.
Another very effective way to ensure food security in the country is to take steps
towards regional food security through trade in food and food products among ASEAN
member countries. Intra-regional trade will not only enable resources to be utilised
more efficiently, based on the principles of comparative advantage and resource
endowments, but will also bring about greater prosperity to the entire region.
To facilitate and also enhance intra-ASEAN food trade a number of major steps may
be pursued:
22
1.
Development of ASEAN Regional Food Balances Sheets. The purpose of this

exercise would be to compile national food balance sheets that show supplydemand situations and also the level of self-sufficiency in the staples and major
food items. This in turn will provide the starting point for identifying the surplusdeficit situation with regard to individual food production in each member
country.
2.
The next step is to develop regional food trade policies that can allow for an
efficient exchange of food items between the member countries. This would
entail the setting up of special committees under the Senior Officials Meeting
of the ASEAN Ministers of Agriculture and Forestry (SOM-AMAF) Meeting,
and also the AFTA working Group to design a policy framework that can lead
to harmonised agriculture policies and instruments.
3.
In addition, various other initiatives institutional, financial and economic

may be undertaken to promote intra-ASEAN trade in food. These include
strategic alliances among agricultural cooperatives in the region; the enhancement
of ASEAN joint ventures in food production and the food industry, technology
sharing and exchanges; offshore investments and Cupertino of shipping and
other trade facilitation instruments.
4.
The ASEAN Food Security and Reserve Board (AFSRB) should also endeavour
to expand its scope of foods from the present three items rice, sugar and
maize to include more main food items such as lentils and tapioca. The
overall quantity of the stockpiles can also be increased in order to provide for
24
sharp downturns in grain and other staple food harvests.
All theses steps will form a strong foundation for the nation to move towards ensuring
its food security and food sovereignty.
November 2000
24
Food, Agriculture and Food Security: developments In ASEAN-Prospects and

Challenges by Prof Abd. Aziz Abd.Rahman, Universiti Putra Malaysia
23
Appendix
EXPORT & IMPORT OF F OOD
(RM MILLION)
Year
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Jun-99
Import
3,063.00
4,581.80
7,663.60
9,056.20
10,083.57
10,515.51
5,200.21
% Of Total Import
10
5.8
3.9
*
4.5
4.6
4.5
Year
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Jun-99
Export
1,662.10
3,454.20
4,445.10
4,693.30
5,304.86
6,199.67
2,971.60
% Of Total Eksport
4.4
4.3
2.4
*
2.4
2.1
2
24
PADDY
Production
tonnes000
Consumption
tonnes000
1,258
1,271
1,373
1,426
1,482
1,539.50
1.03%
8.03%
3.87%
3.90%
3.90%
1,684
1,630
1,798
1,836
1,874
1,913.70
-3.2%
10.3%
2.1%
2.1%
2.1%
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Jun-99
Import
RM Million
257.10
270
356.1
537.52
701.31
910.52
351.38
SupplyDemand Gap
(tonnes000)
-426
-359
-425
-410
-392
-374.2
Export
RM Million
1.66
0.14
1.9
0.24
0.87
1.4
0.02
%
4.9%
32.0%
50.9%
30.5%
29.8%
-159.1%
LAND USE
Hectares000
1985
1990
1995
*1996
*1997
1998
Self Sufficiency Level %
655.0
680.6
670.0
514.7
503.9
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
73.6
79.4
76.3
71.0
68.0
65
* Value for Peninsular Malaysia only

# Estimate
PADDY FERTILIZER SUBSIDY

RM Million
118.6
113.1
125.1
1996
1997
1998
25
VEGETABLES
Year
Production
tonnes000
540.7
609.6
718.1
747.1
772.2
808.6
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Year
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Jun-99
%
12.7%
17.8%
4.0%
3.4%
4.7%
Consumption
tonnes000
669.3
810.3
1,003.20
1,041.40
1,081.10
1,122.20
Import
RM Million
276.0
366.8
683.4
769.6
846.3
987.3
467.7
%
32.9%
86.3%
12.6%
10.0%
16.7%
-52.6%
%
21.1%
23.8%
3.8%
3.8%
3.8%
Supply
-Demand Gap
-128.6
-200.7
-285.10
-294.30
-308.90
-313.60
Export
RM Million
39.1
125.4
160.5
160.0
177.0
206.1
81.5
LAND-USE
1985
1990
1995
*1996
*1997
Hectares 000
31.8
35.2
42.0
30.1
32
* value for Peninsular Malaysia only

26
Self Sufficiency %
80.8
75.2
71.6
LIVESTOCK
Year
Production
tonnes000
643.1
962.7
1,400.10
1,443.20
1,495.40
1,555.50
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Year
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Jun-99
%
49.7%
45.4%
3.1%
3.6%
4.0%
Consumption
tonnes000
1,204.40
1,568.80
2.397.80
2,622.30
2,696.20
2,175.20
Import
RM Million
465.0
855.2
1473.2
1556.2
1704.7
1673.3
*
%
83.9%
72.3%
5.6%
(.5%
-1.8%
%
30.3%
52.8%
9.4%
2.8%
-19.3%
Export
RM Million
116.2
587.1
869.3
970.7
1023.3
1116.8
*
* not available
Livestock includes beef, mutton, poultry, eggs, milk and dairy products
27
Supply
-Demand Gap
-561.30
-606.10
-997.70
-1,179.10
-1,200.80
-619.70
FISHERIES
Year
Production
tonnes000
500.0
564.6
764.5
808.8
855.7
905.3
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Year
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Jun-99
%
12.9%
35.4%
5.8%
5.8%
5.8%
Consumption
tonnes000
527.0
619.9
809.3
866.8
928.3
994.2
Import
RM Million
237.2
363.6
762.4
824.2
901.8
851.9
446.6
%
53.3%
109.7%
8.1%
9.4%
-6%
%
17.6%
30.6%
7.1%
7.1%
7.1%
Supply
-Demand Gap
-27.0
-55.3
-44.8
-58
-138.5
-88.9
Export
RM Million
245.9
606.1
807.4
778.3
901.1
1,144.30
523.7
% OF AGRICULTURE IN GROSS DOMESTIC P RODUCE

%
20.8
18.7
13.5
7.4
7.1
7.4
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
28
BUDGET ALLOCATION FOR THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR (RM MILLION)

Year
Management
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
676.76
876.36
1052.30
1,057.30
1,126.78
Development
Total
Expenditure Expenditure
747.89
1,068.84
14242.65
1,945.20
% of budget
Allocation
used for
development
52%
55%
929.50
944.5
1,986.80
2,071.38
47%
47%
Source: Anggaran Belanjawan Prestasi & Program
EMPLOYMENT IN THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR

Workers
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
1,853.20
1,837.60
1,524.00
1,504.50
1,494.50
1,414.20
Source: Human Resource Ministry
29
% of Total
Employment (000)
30.4
26.0
20.0
19.4
17.3
16.5
COUNSUMER PRICE INDEX (CPI) FOR MAJOR FOOD ITEMS, 1990-1997

(1994=100)
CPI
85.2
103.4
107.0
109.0
115.7
118.6
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Jul-99
Cereals
Rice, Bread
96.2
101.4
108.9
112.8
120.6
125.5
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Jul-99
Fish
Fruits
/Vegetables
72.7
108.7
112.0
114.9
131.1
137.3
65.8
112.1
125.2
134.2
146.4
160.5
FOOD
83.1
104.9
110.9
115.5
125.8
131.3
Meat
86.6
100.8
105.5
109.1
117.9
118.7
Food Away
From Home
88.4
103.7
109.1
114.9
124.5
128.6
Source: Statistics Department, Malaysia
LOANS APPROVED BY BANK PERTANIAN MALAYSIA

FOR AGRICULTURE PROJECTS
1986
1990
1995
1996
1997
1998
Number of Applicants
54,195
51,820
52,501
46,132
34,693
22,260
Source: Agriculture Bank of Malaysia
30
Value $000
188,096
192,014
586,647
586,647
110,889
173,428
LOANS GIVEN FOR FOOD PRODUCTION SECTOR

BY COMMERCIAL BANKS (RM 000)
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
Paddy
29.3
34.4
17.0
60.6
N.A
Livestock
262.4
327.3
578.0
745.3
759.1
Fisheries
74.3
123.8
156.5
117.8
132.6
LOANS GIVEN FOR FOOD PRODUCTION I N AGRICULTURE SECTOR

BY FINANCE COMPANIES (RM 000)
Livestock & Fisheries
22.3
58.3
90.1
102.7
107.7
1985
1990
1995
1996
1997
Source: Bank Negara, Malaysia
31
Sustainable Agriculture
in Malaysia:
An Assessment
By Chamhuri Siwar and Md Amzad Hossain*
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
1.
Background
Until World War II, increases in agricultural production throughout the world, including
Malaysiaprimarily involved bringing more land into cultivation. However, during
the last 50 years, the rate at which new land was brought into cultivation has declined
sharply. New cropland worldwide expanded at only 0.3% per year in the 1970s
compared with a rate of 1% in the 1950s (Hanrahan et al, 1984). Future increases in
agricultural production will have to come primarily from increasing output per unit
of land rather than increasing the area cultivated. Remarkable increases in agricultural
productivity have occurred in many parts of the world, including Malaysia, during
the last two to three decades. However, concerns are increasing as to whether these
gains can be maintained in a sustainable manner.
The prevailing agricultural system, variously called conventional farming, modern
agriculture, or industrial farming, has delivered tremendous gains in productivity
and efficiency. Food production worldwide has risen in the past 50 years; the World
Bank estimates that between 70% and 90% of the recent increases in food production
is the result of conventional agriculture rather than greater acreage under cultivation.
Conventional farming systems vary from farm to farm and from country to country.
However, they share many characteristics: rapid technological innovation; large capital
investments in order to apply production and management technology; large-scale
farms; single crops/row crops grown continuously over many seasons; uniform
high-yield hybrid crops; extensive use of pesticides, fertilisers, and external energy
inputs; high labour efficiency and dependency on agribusiness. In the case of livestock,
most production comes from confined, concentrated systems.
Significant negative consequences have come with the bounty associated with industrial
farming. Concerns about contemporary agriculture are presented below. While
32
considering these concerns, keep the following in mind:

a)
interactions between farming systems and soil, water, biota and atmosphere
are complex we have much to learn about their dynamics and long term
impacts;
b)
most environmental problems are intertwined with economic, social, and political
forces that are external to agriculture;
c)
some problems are global in scope while others are experienced only locally;
d)
many of these problems are being addressed through conventional, as well as

alternative, agricultural channels;
e)
the list is not complete; and
f)
no order of importance is intended.
2. Concepts Of Sustainable Agriculture

Many definitions of sustainable agriculture have been proposed, but one of the first to
be adopted in the United States was published by the American Society of Agronomy
(1989:15):
A sustainable agriculture is one that, over the long term, enhances
environmental quality and the resource base on which agriculture depends;
provides for basic human food and fibre needs; is economically viable; and
enhances the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.
In the following year, the US Congress defined sustainable agriculture in the 1990
Farm Bill (US Government, 1990). Under that law, the term sustainable agriculture
means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a sitespecific application that over the long term will:
z
Satisfy human food and fibre needs.
Enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the
agricultural economy depends.
Make the most efficient use of non-renewable resources and on-farm resources
and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls.
33
Sustain the economic viability of farm operations.
Enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.
Thus, the definition has five parts, emphasising productivity, environmental quality,
efficient use of non-renewable resources, economic viability and quality of life. Under
this definition, a farm that emphasises short-run profit but sacrifices environmental
quality would not be sustainable in the long run.
From the other end, pursuing environmental quality without ensuring viability of
short-run returns would also be unsustainable. A farm that is very productive but
uses large quantities of a non-renewable resource, such as fossil fuel or a nonrechargeable aquifer, to achieve and maintain that productivity would not be considered
sustainable in the long run.
Agricultural sustainability consists of three components: ecological, economic and
social/institutional (quality of life). In order to achieve these, they recognised three
important processes: full use of the natural biological cycles, reducing as much as
possible the use of purchased inputs, and reducing the frantic work schedules of
many farm families (Norman et al, 1997).
2.1 Ecological Concerns

Agriculture affects many ecological systems. The negative effects of current practices
include:
Decline in soil productivity can be due to wind and water erosion of exposed topsoil;
soil compaction; loss of soil organic matter, water holding capacity and biological
activity; and salinisation of soils and irrigation water in irrigated farming areas.
Desertification due to overgrazing is a growing problem.
Agriculture is the largest single non-point source of water pollutants, including
sediments, salts, fertilisers (nitrates and phosphorus), pesticides and manures.
Pesticides from every chemical class have been detected in groundwater and are
commonly found in groundwater beneath agricultural areas; they are widespread in
Malaysias surface waters.
Eutrophication and dead zones due to nutrient run-off affect rivers, lakes, and
oceans. Reduced water quality impacts agricultural production, drinking water
34
supplies, and fishery production. Water scarcity in many places is due to overuse of
surface and ground water for irrigation with little concern for the natural cycle that
maintains stable water availability. Other environmental ills include over 400 pests
and 70 fungal pathogens that have become resistant to pesticides; stresses on pollinator
and other beneficial species through pesticide use; loss of wetlands and wildlife habitat;
and reduced genetic diversity due to reliance on genetic uniformity in most crops and
livestock breeds.
Agricultures link to global climate change is just beginning to be appreciated.
Destruction of tropical forests and other native vegetation for agricultural production
has a role in high levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Recent studies
have found that soils may be sources or sinks for greenhouse gases.
2.2 Socio-economic Concerns

Economic and social problems associated with agriculture cannot be separated from
external economic and social pressures. As barriers to a sustainable and equitable
food supply system, however, the problems may be described in the following way:
Economically, the Malaysian agricultural sector has a history of large federal
expenditures and corresponding government involvement in planting and investment
decisions; widening disparity among farmer incomes; and increasing concentration
of agribusiness-industries involved in manufacturing, processing and distribution of
farm products into fewer and fewer hands. Market competition is limited. Farmers
have little control over farm prices and they continue to receive a smaller and smaller
portion of consumer dollars spent on agricultural products.
Economically, it is very difficult for potential farmers to enter the business today.
Productive farmland also has been pressured by the urban and suburban sprawl,
since the 1970s.
2.3 Human Health Impacts

Potential health hazards are tied to sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics in animal production
and pesticide and nitrate contamination of water and food. Farm workers are poisoned
in fields, toxic residues are found in foods and certain human and animal diseases
have developed resistance to frequently used antibiotics.
35
2.4 Philosophical Considerations

Historically, farming played an important role in our development and identity as a
nation. From strongly agrarian roots, we have evolved into a culture with few farmers.
Can sustainable and equitable food production be established when most consumers
have so little connection to the natural processes that produce their food? What
intrinsically Malaysian values have changed and will change with the decline of rural
life and farmland ownership?
World population continues to grow. According to recent United Nations population
projections, the world population will grow from 5.7 billion in 1995 to 9.4 billion in
2050, 10.4 billion in 2100, and 10.8 billion by 2150, and will stabilise at slightly under
11 billion around 2200. The rate of population increase is especially high in many
developing countries. In these countries, the population factor, combined with rapid
industrialisation, poverty, political instability, large food imports and debt burden make
long-term food security especially urgent.
Finally, the challenge of defining and dealing with the problems associated with todays
food production system is inherently laden with controversy and emotion. It is
unfortunate, but true, that many in the agriculture community view sustainable
agriculture as a personal criticism, or an attack, on conventional agriculture of which
they are justifiably proud.
2.5 New Concepts of Sustainable Agriculture

Many in the agricultural community have adopted the sense of urgency and direction
pointed to by the sustainable agriculture concept. Lack of sharp definition has not
lessened its authenticity. Sustainability has become an integral component of many
government, commercial, and non-profit agriculture research efforts, and it is beginning
to be woven into agricultural policy. Increasing numbers of farmers and ranchers
have embarked on their own paths to sustainability, incorporating integrated and
innovative approaches into their own enterprises.
This just-do-it attitude is the real force carrying the issue of sustainability into the
next century. The best way to communicate the meaning of sustainable agriculture
is through real-life stories of farmers who are developing sustainable farming systems
on their own farms, says John Ikerd, describing the original 1,000 Ways to
Sustainable Farming project funded by USDAs Sustainable Agriculture Research and
Education (SARE) Program.
The project sought to explore and refine the definition of sustainable agriculture by
36
profiling successful sustainable farmers. SARE continued the project, renaming it

The New American Farmer (David N et al., 1997). In addition to describing successful
farming practices, the features in The New American Farmer detail the effects of
those practices on farm profitability, quality of life, rural communities and the
environment.
Critical discussion of the sustainable agriculture concept will and should continue.
The understanding will deepen, and answers will continue to come. Ongoing dialogue
is important for another reason: with more parties, each with its own agenda jumping
onto the sustainable agriculture tent, only a continued focus on the real issues and
goals will keep sustainable agriculture from becoming so all-encompassing as to become
meaningless.
Although ultimately the decision as to whether or not to practice sustainable agriculture
is to be made by the farmers and their families, the ease and practicality of doing so
are dependent on a number of factors, some of which they can influence, but others
are completely out of their control. Generally, progress towards sustainable agriculture
is determined by what happens at five levels: international, national, community, farm
and field. Another level cannot be fitted easily into the above classification the
watershed level, which may be at the field, farm, or community level or some
combination of the three.
Thus, agricultural sustainability is not only a difficult concept to define but is also
difficult to implement and monitor or measure. This complexity is illustrated in Table
1, which shows the expected interactions among the three components of sustainability
and the five levels of influence. Although sustainability tends to be locational or site
specific (at the field, farm, and community levels), it is very much influenced by:
Table 1: Interacting Components of Sustainability
Levels
Influencing
Sustainability
International
National
Community
Farm
Field
Ecological
Components of Sustainability
Economic
Social/Institutional
Secondary
Secondary
Secondary
Primary
Primary
Secondary
Secondary
Primary
Primary
Secondary
Secondary
Primary
Primary
Primary
Secondary
Note: The primary cells represent where the component of sustainability is mainly expressed, and
the secondary cells represent other factors that can influence sustainability.
Source: David N et al., 1997
37
What happens at the higher levels? National policies will have a great influence on
ecological and economic sustainability at the field/farm level. Other policies at that
level related to social/institutional issues also can have major effects on the viability/
welfare of communities and, hence, on quality of life. International markets and
influences (particularly in smaller countries) are increasingly affecting what happens
at the lower levels. Such influences tend to be relatively greater in Malaysia, where
agricultural production is influenced heavily by the export market. Thus, it is necessary
to understand the interaction between these levels, because each level finds its
explanations of mechanism in the levels below, and its significance in the levels above.
Interactions among the sustainability components: In the focus group discussions
referred to above, farmers in conventional agriculture were often on an economic
treadmill (e.g. having to raise enough money to service debts) and hence had little
time to consider ecological sustainability issues. They also had to make compromises
concerning quality of life because of having to work very long hours. In fact, the
prevailing attitude among the farmers was that all three components of sustainability
(environmental, economic, and social) had to be pursued at the same time, if progress
was to be achieved (Norman et al, 1997). The problem of doing this is short-run
economic needs of survival are forcing them to sacrifice long-run ecological
sustainability. In such a situation, ensuring ecological sustainability without solving
the problems of poverty is impossible (World Bank, 1992).
3. Sustainable Agriculture in Malaysia:

Review of Policy and Programmes
The Malaysian agricultural sector has undergone tremendous changes and challenges,
along with the transformation of the economy to industrialisation. Despite the relative
decline in terms of its contribution to GNP, employment and export, the agricultural
sector still plays an important role, especially as a provider of food, as a source of
raw materials for agro and resource-based industrialisation and also to deepen interlinkages with the other sectors.
In the 1960s and 1970s, agricultural development was mainly based on land
expansionary policies through land and regional development schemes incorporating
export crops (rubber, cocoa and oil palm) and paddy double cropping through irrigation
investment and increased crop intensification. When the New Economic Policy (NEP,
1971-1990) was implemented, agricultural development programmes formed the main
component of the poverty alleviation strategy. Various agricultural modernisation
programmes were implemented, mainly targeted at smallholders and fishermen,
38
through increased commercialisation and technological improvements, supported by

price and income support measures, to create employment, enhance income and
reduce poverty.
The 1980s saw the rapid transformation of the economy towards industrialisation,
resulting in further relative decline in contribution from the agricultural sector. In
1984, the First National Agricultural Policy (NAP1) was implemented to arrest the
decline in contribution from the agricultural sector and to maximise incomes from
agriculture through productivity-driven growth, in-situ development, land development
and consolidation of uneconomic holdings. The NAP1 recognised the need for the
sector to be efficient in order to sustain agricultural growth in the long-run. In the
forestry sub-sector, the interim National Forestry Policy (NFP) was formally adopted
in 1978, providing guidelines for conserving and managing forestry resources on the
principle of sustainable forest management (Malaysia,1999).
In the face of changing global and domestic scenarios, the NAP1 was reviewed. The
second NAP was introduced in 1992 (NAP2, 1992-2010), giving greater emphasis to
productivity, efficiency and competitiveness in the context of sustainable development
and linkages with other sectors.
Strategies for expanding food production, greater role for the private sector, marketing
reform, accelerated agro-based industrialisation and further liberalisation of the
agricultural sector were outlined. In this regard, the modernisation of the smallholders
sub-sector was emphasised through the promotion of group farming activities as
well as provision of support services. However, land development was also given
priority, mainly by the state and regional agencies. In addition, the government provided
support services and appropriate incentives, including land, to facilitate private sector
participation in large-scale commercial farming, taking into consideration the
environmental implications in large-scale farming, especially for food production as
well as floriculture and aquaculture activities.
The modernisation of the agriculture sector was further accelerated through
improvements in the delivery of agricultural support services. These services would
encourage farmers to venture into commercial farming with intensive use of biofertilisers, adopt new technologies and increase productivity. These services included
training and the extension of support services.
The NFP was also revised in 1992, giving greater emphasis to biodiversity, conservation
and sustainable forest management.
39
In the 1990s, further structural changes in the economy led to further relative decline
in the agricultural sectors contribution to the economy, increasing resource constraints
for agricultural and forestry development, as well as the need to be competitive with
trade liberalisation. The need to utilise and conserve natural resources on a more
sustainable basis was further stressed amidst the growing concern for sustainable
development and environmental conservation. In such a scenario, the NAP2 was
revised.
In 1998, the Third National Agricultural Policy (NAP3, 1998-2010) was announced
in the midst of the 1997-98 the financial crisis, giving agriculture a renewed role to
meet the concerns of food security. The overriding objective of the NAP3 is the
maximisation of income through optimal utilisation of resources.
Specifically, the objectives of the NAP3 are to:
i)
enhance food security,
ii)
increase productivity and competitiveness,
iii)
deepen linkages with other sectors,
iv)
create new sources of growth, and
v)
conserve and utilise natural resources on a sustainable basis.
The NAP3 employs strategic approaches to agricultural development, namely the

agro-forestry and product-based approach.
The agro-forestry approach integrates agriculture and forestry development. In the
face of increasingly scarce resources, especially land availability, this approach can
bring about mutual benefits, provide a scope for joint development based on a larger
productive base for agriculture and forestry, allow for wider agro-forestry-enterprise
mix and enhance the income generating potential of agro-forestry investments,
consonant with practices of sustainable agriculture development.
The product-based approach to commodity development is based on market demand,
preferences and potential, which are then translated into strategies for upstream
agricultural production to enhance the production and marketing of the agricultural
produce. By this approach, market signals and consumer preferences at global and
domestic levels would be transmitted upstream to the farm, facilitating the production
of specialised, high value and high quality agriculture and forestry products. This
approach would hopefully create and broaden business opportunities and linkages
for agriculture and forestry development.
40
4. Assessment of Sustainable Agriculture

in Malaysia
Evaluating the sustainability of Malaysian agriculture is no easy task. It requires the
evaluation of the three components of sustainability: ecological, economics and social
dimensions. Unavailability of data and time constraints limit the extent of this evaluation.
While acknowledging that policies are in place to promote sustainable agriculture,
especially since the 1990s, there exist unsustainable agricultural practices and
development, which may be the effect of earlier policies and programmes. The issues
of ecological, economic and social sustainability may be viewed through the following
factors.
4.1 Population and Crop Land

Malaysias population increased from 8.8 million in 1970 to 13.1 million in 1980 and
is expected to increase to 24.4 million in 2002. Population increase contributes to the
shrinking of the natural resources availability and food production. This, coupled
with rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, is expected to reduce arable land per
capita from 0.49 hectares in 1960 to only 0.15 hectares by 2025 (Table 2). Per capita
crop land has sharply decreased from 1960 to 1990 and is projected to drop more
sharply up to the year 2025.
Malaysia is now experiencing the consequences of rapid economic and development
growth that was founded on unsustainable exploitation of environmental resources.
The changes in land use and cover in Malaysia coincided with the 1974-1996 period
and its phenomenal economic growth. In Southeast Asia, deforestation is taking place
at a rate of 3,690 hectares a year, while in Malaysia, it is at an average of 2,500 ha/yr.
Agricultural land use area is increasing at an average rate of about 1,120 ha/yr in
Malaysia, while urbanisation and industrialisation consumed about 2,170 ha/yr in
Malaysia (T. B. Moya, 1998).
Table 2:
Population and Crop Land in Malaysia,

1960-1990 and 2025 Projections
Country
Malaysia
Population
Per capita crop land
1960
1990
2025
1960
1990
2025
8,140
17,891
31,577
0.49
0.27
0.15
Source: Population Action Iinternational and UN projections, 2000
41
Malaysias agricultural land use increased from 5.0 million hectares in 1985 to 5.8
million hectares in 1995. However, it is growing at a declining rate, from 2.3 percent
in 1985-90, to 0.5 percent between 1990 and 1995, suggesting shrinking land use for
agriculture. In terms of land use for agriculture, about 77 percent are planted with
industrial crops (rubber, cocoa and oil palm), according to the NAP3. Rubber and
cocoa areas showed declining trends, due to declining prices and economic viability.
Oil palm showed increasing trend in land use, partly contributed by conversion from
rubber land, attracted by higher prices and economic viability.
On the ecological front, it was asserted that oil palm and rubber created negative
impacts on the capacity to conserve and regenerate biodiversity potentials. In addition,
plantation crops require a lot of agriculture inputs, such as the use of chemical fertilisers
and pesticides. Using chemical fertilisers and pesticides in large quantities over large
areas like huge plantations and over a long duration does contribute to environmental
pollution and degradation. (Singh, Indrani & Chan, undated).
Land use for food crops generally showed a declining trend. Except for fruits and
vegetables, all other food crops (paddy, coconut, pepper and tobacco) showed
declining or stabilising land use trends. Declining land use for food crops has
implications for food self-sufficiency and security. However, there seems to be
stagnation or leveling off in land use for food crops, which could affect Malaysias
capability to meet the food requirements of the population. This is also evidenced in
the increasing food import bill. Furthermore, deforestation, degradation of coastal
resources, pollution and destruction of wetland resources are some of the main causes
of shrinking food supplies and increasing food prices (ERA Consumer Malaysia,
1999)
As for the forests, total area declined by 5.56 percent between 1987 and 1992. An
empirical analysis suggests the inter-twined relationship between economic factors,
land use changes and biodiversity in Malaysia (Jamal & Chamhuri, 1998). Forest
land reduction was mainly due to the high demand for land for the increased cultivation
of agricultural cash crops, population density as well as the intensity of industrial
activities in given region. The higher the net reduction in forest areas, the greater the
loss of biodiversity. In terms of agricultural land use, time series data shows that it
has increased, mainly for the expansion of industrial crops, especially that of oil palm
and largely in Sabah and Sarawak.
42
4.2 Irrigation
Although the potential of irrigation varies from country to country, it is viewed as an
important input to agricultural production systems. It is because irrigation is a major
factor in increasing agricultural productivity, facilitating multiple cropping, the use of
high-yielding varieties and reducing crop loss to drought; there is little doubt that it
will be pressed further to its economic limits.
Table 3 shows that there has only been a marginal increase in the irrigated proportion
of arable and permanent cropland in Malaysia. The expansion of the irrigated area,
however, may be approaching its limits, and there are growing problems due to the
silting of dams and the loss of irrigated land caused by silting of valleys and changing
hydrological regimes below deforested areas. Furthermore, the governments decision
to restrict paddy production to the granary areas limits the expansion of irrigated
areas, while the rising demands of cities and industries are increasingly in competition
with agriculture. The holding back of water to provide urban supplies may also lead
to inadequate dry-season flow into the sea, resulting in problems of salt-water intrusion.
Table 3: Growth in Irrigation in 1975-1995
Country
1975 (million ha)
1985 (million ha)
1995 (million ha)
Malaysia
0.31
0.44
0.45
Source: Population Action International and UN, 2000.
4.3 Fertiliser Consumption

The modernisation of agriculture has come about with increased fertiliser consumption.
In Southeast Asia, fertiliser consumption increased 122 percent, due to the high
consumption rates in countries like Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia (UNDP, 2001).
Malaysia alone recorded a high growth rate of 324 percent (Table 4). In more recent
years, fertiliser use has been tapering off in Malaysia as consumption may have already
peaked. The general increase over a 29-year period is, nevertheless, a very notable
feature. Together with the heavy use of herbicides and pesticides, this chemicalisation
indicates both a major change in farming practices and a cause for serious concern
because of the adverse environmental consequences.
43
Table 4: Fertiliser Consumption in kg per hectare, 1970-1998
Country
Malaysia
1970
43.60
1998
184.9
Source: UNDP, 2001
4.4 Forestry Situation

Nearly half of the Southeast Asian region is covered with tropical forests, accounting
for about 6 percent of the forested area of the world. Therefore, this regions forests
have global significance in terms of biological diversity and conservation. A total of
46.2 percent of the land in Southeast Asia is forested, deforestation growing at a
annual rate of 1.3 percent or the loss of 274,800 hectares during the period 19901995. In Malaysia, more than 50 percent of the land was recorded as forest in 1985.
Even on the basis of the FAO data, there have been steep reductions over the 15-year
period in Malaysia, while other studies record much greater loss. A comparison of
the forest covers of Peninsular Malaysia between 1973 (70 percent) and 1990 (56
percent) shows clearly the scale of transformation that has been taken place. The
forested areas have been greatly reduced by large-scale land settlement schemes
during this period, as well as by selective logging, which has extended over huge
additional areas in that one decade, making deep inroads into the largest remaining
block of rainforest.
Table 5:
Area under Forest as Percentage of Total Land Area

in 1973-1990
Country
1973
1985
1990
Malaysia
70
62
56
Source: Adapted from Harold. B and Yvonne. B, 1993
44
4.5 The Level of Food Security in Malaysia

The major foods are the crops (rice, fruits and vegetables), livestock (beef, mutton,
poultry, pork, eggs and milk) and fish. Of them, apart from livestock (Table 6), all
other food commodities recorded an increase in production between 1985 and 2000.
Along with increasing total production, total demand also increased at a higher level,
causing food deficit to increase over the same period. In the 15-year period, Malaysias
overall food deficit increased, but at a decreasing rate. As the factors of production
of all these food commodities may be reaching their limits, therefore, Malaysia may
be facing uncertainty in food security.
Table 6.
Item
Production and Demand of Major Food Commodities

in 1985-2000 (000tonnes)
1985
1990
1995
2000
Crops
2367.9
Livestock
643.1
Food Fish
500.0
Total Production 3511.0
2749.0
962.7
564.6
4276.3
3110.6
1400.1
764.51
5275.2
3599.1
1706.3
1012.0
6317.4
Total Demand
Deficit
5386.8 7040.1
-1110.5 -1764.9
8359.3
-2041.9
4643.0
-1135.0
Average annual growth rate (%)

1985/90 1990/95 1995/00 2000/05
3.0
2.5
3.0
3.9
8.4
7.8
4.0
3.0
2.5
6.2
7.1
3.7
4.0
4.3
3.7
3.7
3.0
3.5
5.5
3.0
3.5
3.0
3.2
1.5
Source: Third National Agricultural Policy, 1998-2010
Table 7 shows the self-sufficiency level (SSL) for various food commodities, ranging
from a low of 4 percent for milk to a high of 128 percent for poultry. Generally, the
SSL are high for poultry, eggs, fish, pork, fruits, rice and vegetables, and low for
beef, mutton and milk. Rice SSL has officially been kept at 65 percent due to the high
cost of domestic production and because its cheaper to import. Porks SSL has
declined due to the closure of many pig farms as a result of the Nipah virus outbreak
in 1998. The low SSL for beef, mutton and milk are related to their high cost, low
acceptance of integration systems, unorganised production and marketing systems.
45
Table 7: Self Sufficiency level (SSL) in Food Commodities, 1995-2000

Commodity
Rice
Fruits
Vegetables
Beef
Mutton
Poultry
Eggs
Pork
Milk
Fisheries
1995
76
99
71
19
6
111
110
104
4
95
1998
73
98
73
20
6
116
112
105
4
89
2000
73
99
75
21
6
128
113
62
4
89
Source: Malaysia. 1996. Mid-term Review of the Seventh Malaysia Plan (1996-2000), Kuala Lumpur:
Government Printers
The governments lack of enthusiasm for achieving higher SSL for some items is
based on the argument that Malaysia is a high cost producer of many essential food
items and it would be cheaper to import. This has led to the staggering increase in the
food import bill, which stands at about RM10 billion annually. During hard times
such as the recent financial crisis, depending on imports could have a high opportunity
cost.
The NAP3 acknowledges the lessons from the financial crisis that it is not in the
long-term interest of the country to be increasingly dependent on external sourcing
for food, especially so in an uncertain long-term international supply environment. In
this context, the NAP3 proposes a more aggressive policy to enhance food security
through the expansion of domestic food production and strategic sourcing to ensure
adequate supply and accessibility of food at affordable prices. With shrinking land
area for cultivation, there is a need to set up permanent food zones and provide more
incentives for the private sector to venture into the risky food production sub-sector.
46
5.0 Conclusion and Policy Implications

There are potential gaps between the current status of Malaysian agricultural
development as a whole and established sustainability goals. These gaps reflect
divergence between achievements and goals of sustainability.
To achieve ecological sustainability, agricultural development programmes need to be
carried out in ways that modernise the sector and maximise the income of the farmers
with a minimum negative environmental impact. Environmental concerns must be
addressed and environment impact assessment need to be conducted, in addition to
existing economic and social impact assessments. Mitigation measures need to be
taken to offset anticipated environmental degradation. The stated NAP3 strategy of
optimal or efficient resource utilisation needs to be evaluated and specific measures
taken to realise the objectives. Detailed and specific measures are also needed to
realise the objectives of the agro-forestry approach.
To achieve economic and social sustainability, the economic viability of agricultural
development projects needs to be emphasised. Many projects are unsustainable
economically, and fail to meet the stated economic and social objectives of income
enhancement and poverty alleviation. The planning and implementation mechanism
needs to be made more effective, with participation and inputs from communities
and beneficiaries. Poverty alleviation needs to be central to any project development,
and the delivery mechanism needs to correctly target the poor as beneficiaries of
projects. Coordinated and integrated actions by key stakeholders are needed to enhance
sustainability in Malaysian agricultural and rural developments.
47
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48
Strengthening The Role

of Farmers Under Agenda 21
By P. Vijian, ERA Consumer Malaysia
Introduction
Raging poverty and environmental degradation became growing global and domestic
concerns in the last two decades. The environment was at risk, as rapid urbanisation
and industrial activities continued to threaten the ecology. Unbalanced economic
development in many countries caused severe environmental destruction.
Global warming, land and sea pollution and shrinking forest reserves became pressing
international issues. But development cannot be halted. The 1990s was an era of
economic boom, mainly aided by the information technology or dotcom revolution.
Many nations in all regions witnessed dramatic economic growths.
Malaysia was no exception. It chalked an impressive 8 percent growth for eight
consecutive years in the 90s; and was on the fast track of industrialisation.
However, this also brought a fair share of problems for the nation, like elsewhere in
the emerging economies. Expanding townships, population explosion and rapid
urbanisation affatal the environment and upset the ecological balance. Forest reserves,
mangroves, wildlife sanctuaries and marine habitats began to shrink.
This situation eventually led to environmental degradation. Flash floods, landslides,
mudflows, soil erosion, siltation and sedimentation of rivers, unmanageable waste
production and water shortages - all obvious signs of unbalanced development.
At the same time, population growth added pressure on the agriculture sector, which
was forced to increase food supply.
However, Malaysia believed that high food productivity would be achieved through
the Green Revolution that was propagated in the 70s which unfortunately encouraged
the use of potent pesticides, new technologies, heavy farm machineries and chemical
fertilisers.
Traditional, sustainable farming methods were abandoned, leaving an adverse impact
49
on the ecology, health and economy. This brought another set of problems - soil
erosion, water pollution and a drop in farm profits that gradually strained the farming
community in rural areas.
The challenges of the 1990s for the local and global communities were therefore to
promote balanced and sustainable development, one that would save the environment
from further destruction.
This led concerned citizens, civil society and nations on the landmark road to the
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 1992. It was a historic meeting where
Agenda 21 - a blue print for a comprehensive plan to make development economically,
socially and environmentally sustainable was endorsed.
Malaysias commitment to preserve a healthy environment was epitomised by signing
the Rio Declaration together with about 177 other countries. These nations agreed to
the principles of sustainable management of forests to protect the environment.
Malaysias stand was clear. As a country rich in biodiversity, natural resources and
having once been an agriculture-based economy, Malaysia had more reasons to protect
its environment.
Way back in 1974, the Environment Quality Act was enacted. Later in October
1989, the government endorsed the Commonwealth Langkawi Declaration on the
Environment- all aimed at protecting aesthetic values such as green land, natural
terrain and pristine ecosystems to enhance the quality of life and the health of its
inhabitants.
Chapter 32 of Agenda 21 stresses strengthening the role of farmers as one method
to promote sustainable agriculture in order to protect the environment. Farmers play
a significant role in this aspect.
Sustainability is based on the principle that we meet the needs of today, while
protecting the ability of future generations to meet their own needs in the future. It
is imperative for a fast-developing Malaysia to protect, conserve and use its natural
resources in a sustainable manner for the sake of future generations.
Policy makers are anxious to safeguard the remaining resources, such as forest
reserves and marine habitats and to maintain the ecology and environmental balance
of the country. This was clearly spelt out in a recent document, the Third National
Agriculture Policy (NAP3, 1998- 2010), which is aimed at shaping the sector.
The government pursued Agenda 21 in several sectors like urban development and
50
agriculture. But implementation was slow and results were paltry, especially in the
agriculture sector. A myriad of difficulties continued to hamper the adoption of the
Agenda 21 proposals, mainly in the farming sector which had for years been bogged
down with perennial weaknesses.
Current Status of the Agriculture Sector

Located just below the Equator, Malaysias tropical climate and fertile land are ideal
for farming activities. In addition, its geographical location protects it from natural
disasters like typhoons, earthquakes and drought which hit some neighbouring
countries. A strong rural community, on the other hand, provides the needed workforce
to support the sector.
The agriculture sector expanded tremendously from the 1960s to 1970s because of
the abundance of land, cheap labour and the governments expansionary policies to
develop paddy and export crops like rubber, oil palm, cocoa and pepper. This was
further aided by the governments heavy investments in infrastructure, land
development policies and institutional building. The Malaysian economy was then
agriculture driven. It created employment opportunities, reduced rural poverty and
earned foreign exchange for the country. Its contribution to the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) in the 1970s was nearly 27 percent.
But this prosperity was short lived. In fact, Malaysia had its own national agenda Vision 2020 which was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamads ambition
for the country to be fully to industrialised by then. This pragmatic programme was
launched in 1991.
Between 1985 and 1995, the Malaysian economy experienced a major transformation,
taking a great leap towards industrialisation and stimulating the growth of the
manufacturing, construction and service industries.
Meanwhile, the agriculture sector, which was once the pillar of the national economy,
took a back seat as the Mahathir administration vigorously promoted industrialisation.
In the early 1980s, the agriculture sector was already plagued with its own problems
- rising wages, labour shortages and land scarcity as urbanisation gobbled up arable
land, while falling prices of commodities like pepper and cocoa in the world market
affected the incomes of planters.
Meanwhile, competition for valuable resources like land, capital and labour started to
51
rise as the nation forged towards industrialisation and policies favourable to

modernisation stifled the growth of agriculture.
Policies ranging from tax incentives, infrastructure development, immigration
regulations in recruiting migrant workers and foreign direct investments were all
skewed towards achieving Vision 2020. Consequently, the agriculture sector failed
to compete with the buoyant manufacturing sector, losing investments and
experiencing an outflow of agriculture resources.
The agriculture sectors contribution to the GDP declined gradually from 22.9 percent
in 1980 to 13.6 percent in 1995, and rise marginally to 14 percent in 2001. It remained
a stepchild of the Malaysian economy and some industry experts feared it would
deteriorate into a sunset industry.
Despite the hiccups, the government has taken steps to ensure that the sector plays
a significant role in the changing economy, especially in maintaining food security.
Besides, the rural farming community had always been a stable vote bank for the
ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.
The NAP3, doubling of annual budgets and the venture into biotechnology, the miracle
discovery which is expected to revolutionise food production, are clear signs that
Malaysia is keen on reviving the sector. In fact, the 1997 regional economic crisis
had prodded the government to review its agriculture policy quickly because expensive
food imports inflated the nations budget. Therefore, there was an urgent need to
strengthen the agriculture sector.
Farmers Role in Modern Malaysia

Traditional farmers are the backbone of the agriculture sector, playing the crucial
role of feeding the population. Rural farmers supply vegetables and fruits for daily
consumption. Coastal fishermen provide fish and other seafood, while paddy farmers
grow rice for over 22 million people in the country. Malaysian farmers produce
nearly 1.3 million metric tonnes of rice to meet the domestic demand of 1.8 million
metric tonnes. The balance is imported from regional producers.
Without these farmers, sustainable agriculture development cannot be achieved. There
will be no food production and rural communities will cease to exist.
Malaysia is at the crossroads. While it ambitiously industrialised its agrarian-based
52
economy, the food sector was neglected. It focused on export commodities like palm
oil and rubber, which generated hefty revenues for the country and provided raw
materials for the booming manufacturing sector.
Malaysia has now become dependent on food imports. Food import bills scared to an
average of RM10 billion annually in the mid-1990s, compared to only RM 4.5 billion
in 1990.
Agriculture lost its comparative advantage because of the high cost of production . It
is also not self-sufficient because of its reliance on imports such as pesticides,
fertilisers and animal feed.
This is a dangerous situation. The global food market is volatile and any environmental
disaster or political upheaval can quickly upset imports. This was clearly reflected in
the Indonesian food crisis of 1998.
Besides providing food security, farmers play a key role in protecting the ecology.
The countrys rich biodiversity is slowly being threatened despite the Biodiversity Act
1998 passed to conserve the environment. The state of the marine ecosystem, depletion
of fisheries resources due to over-fishing, destruction of coastal mangrove swamps
and coral reefs due to land based activities is alarming.
In Sabah and Sarawak, excessive logging degraded the forest ecosystem, causing
river siltation and damage to the land resources the indigenous people rely on.
Agriculture helps to shape ecosystems and biodiversity can be improved or reduced
by farming practices. A sustainable agriculture concept will help to preserve the nations
rich tropical forest, which is a home to a wealth of flora and fauna. Traditional
farmers will be the mainstay, even in the modern economy, because they play a
greater part in protecting the environment and feeding the nation.
However, their future remains uncertain. The farming population is dwindling because
farming is no longer lucrative for the younger generation. In 1995, there were 1.4
million farmers in the country. This figure is expected to decline to 980,000 by 2010.
Gaps in Implementing Objectives of Agenda 21

The objective of the Agenda 21 is to create environmentally friendlier and sustainable
agricultural practices. At the farm level, this means better farm management, with
lower agriculture inputs like fertilisers and pesticides, adoption of environmentally53
friendly technologies and promoting education and farm advisory services. At the
policy level, focus is in design and implementation of agricultural and environmental
policies with the least economic distortions.
But policy makers are facing an uphill task in implementing the agenda in the agriculture
sector, which has long been beset with problems. The new economic policies and
the industrialisation programmes have stunted the growth of the agriculture sector
and the farmers progress.
Local farmers are not well informed about the concept of sustainable agriculture and
how to manage natural resources like land and water efficiently. To many small-scale
farmers, earning a daily income to support their families is far more important than
safeguarding the environment. Thus they tend to neglect proper agronomic practices.
In order to get high yields, an abundance of fertilisers is used, sometimes more than
that recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture.
Due to the neglect of sustainable agricultural development over the years, local farmers
and fishermen now face a crisis. With Malaysian paddy farmers and fishermen
beginning to feel the brunt of unsustainable development and poor management of
agriculture resources, many may be forced to abandon their trades for other lucrative
jobs. Low incomes, poor output and lack of resources and rising production costs
are threatening the farmers livehood.
Sustainable agriculture development as underlined by Agenda 21 has not been fully
implemented in the country. Even after 10 years of signing the declaration, sustainable
agriculture remains an alien term to many traditional farmers. This is evident from
the perennial difficulties faced by some sectors within the agricultural sector.
A)
Problem Areas:
i)
Decision making: The practice is still a top-down process, where policies

are formulated at the ministerial level. Empowerment of the grassroots to
participate in decision-making is not the norm, even though there is same
dialogue between farmers and local officials at the district level such as the
Farmers Organisation Authority and fishermens associations. However, macro
policy planning and research do not involve the target groups. This has its
setback, like the mismatch between research and development. What the
farmers produce and what the market demands may differ. For example, the
exotica papaya that was developed by the Malaysian Agriculture Research
54
Development Institute (MARDI) was not popular among local farmers, although
overseas demand was good. This is because the new variety fetches a lower
profit compared with the larger - sized papayas commonly grown in the country.
ii)
iii)
iv)
Women: In many agriculture-based societies, women are considered important

players, for they contribute to their countrys GDP and household food security.
Besides their routine household chores, women actively participate in farm
work, from planting, weeding, and selection of seeds to harvesting and storing
of crops and food processing. But their contribution to the sector and overall
economic development is often undervalued. Similarly in Malaysia, women
have largely been marginalised from the sector. There are few entrepreneurs.
Many are only employed as farm hands or work in food production sectors,
while others help husbands or family members in the farm. Traditional social
norms and customary laws deprive women of equitable economic opportunities
and access to vital resources like land.
Paddy farmers: The cost of paddy production has increased significantly and
local farmers are finding it hard to compete with those in traditional rice growing
nations like Thailand and Vietnam, who can produce at a lower cost. The exfarm price per kilo of rice in these countries is less than 45 sen, compared with
70 sen in Malaysia. This is mainly due to the high cost of labour, land, water,
fertilisers and pesticides. Poor farm practices and management over the years
have created problems in the paddy fields. For example excessive use of
chemicals have led to soil and water pollution, besides the poisoning of water
resources. Farmers in general depend on the heavy usage of chemical fertilisers
to sustain high yield production in paddy and fruit crops. The use of heavy
machinery like tractors and harvesters has destroyed the clay-pen of the soil.
Except direct seeding, which is done manually, 80% of the work in many
paddy plantations is now mechanised, leading to land compaction. Local paddy
farmers are yet to understand how to conserve and use agriculture resources
on a sustainable basis.
Fisheries: Stocks along the Malaysian coastline are fast depleting. Rapid coastal
development, over-fishing, marine pollution and the absence of a sustainable
marine resources management have affected fish breeding. Three years ago,
Malaysias Exclusive Economic Zone - the 200 nautical miles surrounding its
coasts, was estimated to support about two million metric tones of harvestable
fish. However, stocks are thinning due to over-fishing and poor resource
management. Local fishermen go to sea all year round, leaving little time for
fish stocks to breed. While potential fishing grounds are shrinking, the number
of fishermen has increased over the years. According to the Fisheries
Department, 34,000 fishing licences were issued in 2000, about 2,000 more
55
compared with the previous year.

v)
Poverty: Low income is the main reason why it is difficult to promote

sustainable farming among local farmers. Despite the governments increase
in annual allocations and institutional efforts to lift the economic status of the
farming community, many farmers and fishermen still use archaic methods,
earn meagre incomes and live in poverty conditions. For instance, a paddy
farmer earns about RM927 (inclusive of subsidies) per hectare per harvest,
while coastal fishermen in the east coast of the peninsula earn a maximum of
RM500 a month.
vi)
Inadequate Policies: There is no single national policy to promote sustainable

development in the country. Legislations such as the Forestry Act and NAP3
to manage sustainable development are insufficient. Other factors which impede
the implementation of Agenda 21 are weak coordination among the various
authorities and lack of statutory instruments, resources, enforcement of existing
legislations, institutional capabilities and trained personnel and environmental
awareness among the general public. However, despite these structural
weaknesses, the government has taken steps to develop agriculture strategies
with the assistance of the Agriculture Ministry and other relevant agencies.
B)
Government Actions:
i)
Sustainable farming: The government is gradually introducing different

farming techniques which require minimum use of toxic chemicals, proper
mechanisation and good farm management. The Integrated Pest Management
(IPM), considered an effective method of controlling pests, is being promoted.
The concept of paddy mini estates a project that encourages smallholders to
become farmer-entrepreneurs by consolidating small-scale farms in rice
production areas, is another step to improve the lot of the farming community.
Farmers are also adopting natural pest control methods such as using barn
owls to kill rats and cultivating predator mites or aphids in star fruit orchards
to kill bugs and insects. In the fisheries sector, the Ministry has introduced
artificial reefs to replenish coastal fish stocks.
Comments: These actions are carried out on a small-scale in selected areas
by different government agencies. There is no concerted long-term plan to
help or educate farmers. Despite the governments efforts, nothing much has
changed on the ground. Paddy planters and vegetable growers continue to
adopt old practices. The use of pesticides is still widespread, especially among
the vegetable growers of Cameron Highlands, to the extent that neighbouring
56
countries have rejected Malaysian vegetable exports for failing to pass their
residue tests.
Similarly, the authorities have done little to educate fishermen about sustainable
fishing. Fishing should be on a rotational basis and not year-round. This will
give the fish sufficient time to breed. This is not the case in Malaysia. Fishing
is carried out throughout the year, except perhaps for the few weeks of
monsoonal tides off the east coast of the peninsula. Such activities continue to
deplete the coastal resources.
ii)
National Policies: The NAP3 is expected to be the major framework to enhance

sustainable agriculture in the country through intensifying land use by integrated
farming. Its main focus is agro-forestry, rehabilitation of marginal lands and
proper soil and water conservation. Efforts are to be intensified to improve the
fertility of the soil by promoting organic farming and use of organic matter,
composting, conservation measures and production of organic fertilisers using
the farm agricultural wastes
The Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP 2001-2005) emphasises environmentally
sustainable development. The major thrust of the policy includes ensuring access
to clean air and water, providing adequate food without excessive usage of
chemicals, providing energy services without environmental degradation,
developing healthy urban environments and conserving critical natural habitats
and resources. Also, forest management is to be given priority to conserve
biodiversity, protect watersheds and water catchment areas.
Comment: While the NAP3 seems to be the lifeline of the agriculture sector,
little attention is given to how to make it a sustainable growth sector. Focus
appears to be more on food production through commercial farming and
promoting private sector participation. In sum, the aim of the policy is to
transform the sector into an efficient agribusiness with high productivity
and output. These may require extensive usage of technology, mechanisation
and chemical inputs and are certainly in conflict with Agenda 21, which
stresses sustainable farming methods using traditional farmers.
Not more than four lines in certain chapters in NAP3 stress sustainable
agricultural development. The NAP3 says there is need to ensure agriculture
and forestry development, but falls short of explaining how the government
plans to achieve this. This is a glaring flaw in the policy that seeks to serve as
the guideline for the sector in the next 10 years. Although the government
signed Agenda 21 six years before the revision of the policy in 1998, policy
57
makers failed to give serious attention to promoting sustainable farming, and

the national focus still remains on industrial growth.
Plans are in the pipeline to promote Precision Farming (PF) in the country.
The Malaysian Agriculture Development Authority (MARDI) is already
conducting research on upland rice farms. This high-tech farming will displace
traditional farmers and is unsuitable for Malaysia at this juncture. PF works by
automated data collection, documentation and utilisation of information for
strategic farming. It is a high cost farming technology, which uses the Global
Positioning System, Geographic Information System and sophisticated
computer software to capture and analyse data. It is not economical for smallscale farmers, who have limited knowledge in this field. Moreover, there has
been little success with the PF method.
iii)
Pesticide Reduction: Excessive usage of pesticides in rice cultivation is

prevalent among local rice and vegetable growers, and there is a growing
concern about health hazards of farm workers. About 14.5 million metric
tonnes of fertilisers valued at RM1.32 billion are imported for the sector
(Statistic Department, 2001) As part of a crop protection strategy, the Integrated
Pest Management (IPM), which encourages natural pest control and judicious
use of chemical by farmers is widely promoted. This new technique is found
to be effective in controlling certain pests such as leaf roller of rice and
Diamondback moth of cabbage and also proved to be environmentally friendly.
There is now a concerted effort to reduce the use of chemicals fertilisers and
promote the use of organic fertilisers. These efforts have resulted in the
recycling of organic waste and by-products for productive use. They have
reduced indiscriminate disposal or burning of waste products which causes
soil, water and air pollution.
Comment: The governments actions are inadequate and ineffective. For
example, local farmers are quite reluctant to introduce integrated pest
management for economical reasons. They are more familiar with using toxic
pesticides that work immediately and fear that IPM may not protect their
crops if there is an outbreak of disease. Crop failure means a disaster to their
hand-to-mouth livelihood. The farmers are not confident and are not prepared
to change their old habits and they certainly lack the knowledge of sustainable
farm management.
iv)
Mixed Farming: In order to maximise land usage and help farmers to earn
58
extra income, the government introduced integrated farming in rubber, cocoa,

coconut, oil palm and rubber plantations. Short- and medium- term crops,
ruminants or poultry have been successfully introduced as mixed farming in
many plantations. Crops like yellow sugarcane, banana and pineapple are planted
in oil palm plantations and these yield good returns for farmers.
Comment: While mixed farming has benefited farmers, there are some hidden
risks. Paddy fields and oil palm plantations are highly toxic because of the high
usage of pesticides. This is not safe because the animals can eat the pesticide
residues and eventually pose a health threat to people who consume their meat
or milk. It is a major fear in integrated farming.
Another concern is that the livestock are sometimes confined to small space
and this is unhealthy for the animals and farmers. Both are prone to poor health
and injuries.
The government should instead consider integrated farming methods such as
duck breeding in paddy fields or combining fish breeding with rice farming,
for these practices have proven successful in neighbouring countries. In Vietnam
for example, 30 million ducks are bred annually in rice fields in the early growth
period of the crop or the post-harvest interval. The ducks also act as scavengers,
helping to control insects and weed in rice fields. Fish breeding in certain
granary areas of the country has been tried on small scales, allowing farmers
to earn an extra RM60 to RM100 a month. Further, these farmers have been
found to be more judicious in using pesticides or herbicides because they will
kill the fish. Unless there is a serious insect attack, farmers tend to reduce
chemical application.
v)
Recycling Organic Wastes: Organic wastes from oil palm plantations, such
as fronds and empty fruit bunches, can be effectively recycled. Palm oil mill
effluents can be used as organic fertilisers or used to enriched fertilisers used
for other crops. The palm kernel can be used to produce palm kernel cake for
animal feed. Chicken droppings are commonly used as organic fertilisers in
vegetable farms. The wastes if not recycled will otherwise be harmful to the
environment.
C)
Recommendations
59
Problems such as poverty, shortage of land and labour, lack of private sector
participation and the younger generation not keen in farming have been haunting
local farmers for decades. Issues like poverty ought to be tackled first, especially
among the rural based farming communities. About 70 percent of the worlds
poor are found in the rural areas.
Malaysia has been successful in poverty eradication nationwide the rate of
poverty was reduced from 49 percent in 1970 to 6.8 percent in 1999. Still, the
hardcore poor make up about 1.6 percent of the total population. Several
states still suffer high incidences of poverty, like Kelantan (19 percent),
Terengganu (17 percent) and Sabah (16 percent). Most of these families rely
on agriculture for their living. Without a strong political will and mobilisation
of resources for rural development, the farming community will continue to
grapple with poverty and environment damage will worsen. The will be no
place for sustainable agriculture.
Therefore, a holistic approach is needed to address the structural weaknesses
in the sector, so that farmers in the long run are in a better position to adopt
the concept of sustainable development and manage agricultural resources
successfully, to satisfy human needs and avoid environmental degradation at
the same time.
Along with the current changes introduced by the government, the decisionmakers can take following actions:
i)
Institutional Development: Farmers cannot accomplish sustainable

agriculture and rural development without the help of the governments and
other support groups. Neither can other groups such as corporations replace
farmers and feed the world. Government agencies like MARDI, Federal
Agriculture Marketing Authority (FAMA), Federal Land Development Authority
(FELDA) and Department of Fishery should work more closely with farmers
at the grassroots level.
Institutions should create more awareness about sustainable farming and
educate farmers of the importance of managing natural resources efficiently.
For example, encouraging prudent of water as farmers are likely to face water
shortage because of demand from the industrial and domestic sectors. Farmers
could also be advising to reduce pesticides and synthetic fertilisers and to
maintain soil organic matter, protect ground water from contamination, practise
60
crop diversity and encourage wildlife maintenance.

There is gap between farmers, scientists and policy makers. In many countries
neither farmers nor agriculture scientists determine what is sustainable, or
what is needed in the market. Scientist carry out their research and development
in far away laboratories based in universities and farmers inputs are minimal.
In most cases, they are not even consulted. A closer collaboration between
these parties is important.
ii)
Trained Farmers: Young, trained farmers, who are able to understand concepts
like sustainable agriculture and good farm management, should be encouraged
to take up farming full-time and not as a temporary measure. This is important
because agriculture and the environment are closely linked, and farmers play a
crucial role in protecting the ecology. The over use of pesticides by local
farmers, for instance, is due to ignorance. They are unaware of the serious
implications to their own health and the environment. Many traditional farmers
are still using pesticides instead of switching to IPM, which has proven
effective.
Those interested in farming should undergo formal training before embarking
on it. Programmes should be designed in a way that old and young farmers are
able to work closely, so both can benefit in terms of farming knowledge. Older
farmers can give traditional tips on subsistence farming, while young farmers
can introduce new concepts. In the future, only educated and skilled farmers
can compete with the highly efficient producers of the region, especially with
the implementation of the Asean Free Trade Area in 2003. The ministry has
already started the Green Certificate programme, where participants are given
special incentives like land, financial aid and support services. More such
programmes should be introduced among the rural youth, mainly among the
farming communities as a long-term career and not a short-gap measure.
iii)
Farm Accreditation: The Agriculture Ministry launched an accreditation

scheme where the department evaluates individual farms as to whether farmers
follow good agriculture practices and good handling practices. The ministry
should make the accreditation compulsory for all farmers, so that the
government can monitor sustainable management of resources.
61
iv)
Fair Trade Shops: This concept is gaining popularity in Europe and Africa,
where goods produced by farmers in the southern countries are sold directly
to fair trade shops. Oxfam and the European World Shops are examples which
help poor farmers to get a good deal in the foreign market. The principle of
fair trade means farmers get a fair price and work in safe conditions, with
respect for the environment. Since 1996, some 2,000 World Shops have
mushroomed in Europe. Oxfam supplies coffee that comes directly from small
producers in Africa and Latin America. Agencies like FAMA can promote such
trade ideas for local farmers. In addition, farmers should be encouraged to
form co-operatives which will further strengthen their bargaining power and
enable farming communities to expand their activities on large scale, which
will be more economical.
v)
Support Programmes: The government has introduced an Exit Programme

for unproductive farmers and fishermen. They are encouraged to leave the
sector and the government assists them to seek alternative employment. Exit
programmes should be implemented carefully. The authorities must ensure
that there is no exodus of traditional farmers and fishermen. Otherwise, it will
be a great loss to the industry. Instead of exit programmes, the authorities can
introduce support projects that can bring additional income to farmers and
fishermen during off-peak periods.
Most farmers only work 30 hours a season and they are unemployed most of
the time. Farmers can venture into cottage industries like food production, or
in making and selling of handicraft. This can be turned into community
enterprises, making the farmers self-reliant. It will not only help to reduce the
poverty but will also protect the agriculture and marine resources from being
exploited to the extent that harvests become uneconomical. Only certain agencies
like the fishermens associations have such programmes. The authorities need
to implement support programmes nationwide.
vi)
Communal Farming: There are 296,000 paddy farmers in the country, of

whom 116,000 are full-time farmers. About 65 percent of them own farms
that are less than one hectare and only 4 percent have plots more than three
hectars. Hence, many are not of an economical size for large-scale farming or
for mechanised farm activities. They suffer from high cost of production and
low returns. These small farms should be consolidated to achieve economies
of scale. In addition, farmers should be encouraged to market their own
products, instead of leaving it to unscrupulous middlemen who reap hefty
62
profits by paying the farmers small sums but fixing high prices for the produce
in the markets. This has been a perennial weakness in the sector. Farmers,
through their own cooperatives and enterprises, can than fix reasonable prices
and earn better incomes, rather than relying on middlemen who dominate the
business.
iv)
Poverty Eradication: Unless efforts are taken to improve farmers incomes

and improve their quality of life, they will not care for the environment. The
rural-urban poverty gap is widening and development policies must be designed
to address the social disparities in society. Local farmers use plenty of highly
toxic fertilisers to obtain better yields, and therefore higher returns. Such
practices should be stopped, but this can only be achieved if farmers themselves
are financially stable.
v)
Private Sector Participation: The government is aggressively encouraging

the private sector to develop the agriculture industry. This must be done with
caution. Extensive involvement of private players will lead to commercialisation
of the agriculture sector because the private sector is always profit-driven.
Privatisation means large-scale monocrop farming and food production. These
practices are the direct opposite of sustainable farming which favours
biodiversity. Traditional farmers will soon be displaced by mechanisation and
the country will lose the vast farming knowledge accumulated over decades.
The private sector should instead help to provide an enabling environment for
farmers and limit their role to R & D and providing financial assistance. Farmers
should still manage their own farms and form their own venture enterprises.
vi)
Programmes For Women: The Agriculture Ministry needs to design special

programmes to encourage women to participate in the agriculture sector. For
instance, in Bangladesh where women constitute 45 percent of the farming
community, several development programmes have been designed for both
men and women.
Similar steps can be taken to encourage greater participation of the local women
in farming. Some ideas are:
z
z
training field staff to be gender-sensitive and in participatory planning

and programme implementation that are culturally acceptable;
supporting womens work in the farm and homestead production instead
of merely viewing them as wives of male farmers;
63
z
z
z
z
z
viii)
strengthening the extension system to be gender-equitable to ensure its

effectiveness;
identifying and responding to womens agricultural and household needs
for technology in close collaboration with researchers, implementing
agencies and grassroots workers;
supporting women in their home-based post-harvest production and
marketing activities by providing local market information and linkages,
improving transportation and storage facilities, improving processing
and packaging techniques and enhancing credit facilities;
launching adult literacy programmes and credit use capabilities with
particular focus on women;
establishing monitoring systems for these programmes;
incorporating specific credit, seed production and nutrition education
syllabi for training for NGOs/government agencies providing extension
services;
providing women with training in crop and horticulture production,
post-harvest operation, poultry and small livestock rearing and fisheries
production and processing, and;
Encouraging the Womens Development Ministry to help women in the
sector by providing credit for agriculture activities
Cultivating Biodiversity: As part of sustainable development to achieve food

security, the World Resources Institute released a text titled Cultivating
Diversity: Agro-biodiversity and Food Security. This document highlights the
key principles, polices and practices needed to maintain agro-biodiversity and
to ensure that food security is safeguarded. These recommendations provide
win-win solutions to the multiple challenges of achieving long-term food
security, building economic productivity and maintaining healthy ecosystems.
The recommendations include:
z
Developing policies and institutional changes that support agrobiodiversity, ensure food security, protect farmers rights and eliminate
policies that promote uniform monoculture systems.
Adapting agricultural practices and land use to local agro-ecological
and socio-economic conditions that are adjusted to the diverse needs
and aspirations of the farming communities and building upon local
successful experiences.
Empowering farmers and local communities to protect their rights to
64
ix)
resources, support their knowledge and cultural diversity and ensure

their participation in decision-making and conservation.
Supporting sustainable ecological agriculture that includes the goals of
food security, social equity and health, economic productivity and
ecological integrity as a framework for enhancing agro-biodiversity.
Developing an ecosystems approach, using agro-ecology as a guiding
scientific paradigm to support and validate the sustainable use and
enhancement of agro-biodiversity.
Improving National Policies: There is no specific national policy to promote

sustainable agricultural development, nor a national food policy, both of which
are vital for protecting the environment and food production. Although the
NAP3 outlines the importance of food production and environmental protection,
it does not specifically address the issues for a long-term, sustainable agriculture
industry. The National Forestry Policy, on the other hand, only emphasises the
importance of biological diversity, conservation and sustainable management
of forest reserves. Concerted effort is needed and the government should
formulate separate policies if successful sustainable development is to be
achieved in the long-term for the benefit of the country.
65
D)
Biotechnology - a Threat to Sustainable Farming

After globalisation, biotechnology is the latest mantra in many parts of the
world. Proponents claim that it is the best scientific solution for countries to
enhance food production to feed the growing world population, which continues
to outstrip food output, thus leaving millions in Third World countries starving.
This supposedly cutting-edge-technology can revolutionise food production,
claim scientists, who are now able to use sophisticated tools to transfer genes
from one organism to another for a specific trait. They argue it is good
science and helps to create plants that are more drought-resistant, more tolerant
to arid conditions, poor soil and resistant to pests without the use of pesticides.
This is touted as a boost to countries relying on the agriculture sector, because
farmers could grow good crops with high yield in the future. This can increase
their incomes significantly without disturbing the environment, say
biotechnology advocates.
Malaysia, like many other countries does not want to miss good science.
Thus, the government is promoting biotechnology as Malaysias next engine
of growth. It is expected to bolster the ailing agriculture sector, enhance food
production and create job opportunities for locals.
Malaysia is in a good position to do so because it is home to rich tropical
biodiversity - rated as one of the 12 mega biodiversity nations in the world.
It boasts over 150,000 species of invertebrates, 286 mammal , 736 birds and
15,000 flowers.
But there is a looming threat to this rich biodiversity, which has supported
ecological balance for year and the farming community which relies extensively
on the natural stock of wildlife, flora and fauna for their survival.
Malaysias rainforest is dwindling because of excessive logging, massive land
clearing for development and forest fires. The advent of biotechnology could
possibly cause more damage to this fragile ecosystem.
There are growing concerns as to whether the new science can deliver the
goods with minimum damage to the environment, health and the rural
communities. There are doubts whether biotechnology can protect sustainable
agriculture a core issue for many Third World farmers. Since biotechnology
is still in its infancy, undergoing research in laboratories and farms, scientists
have no ready answers for all the questions raised if farmers were to use this
modern technology. And, neither is there adequate legislation to protect the
communities.
66
Sufficient knowledge is not easily available to grassroots farmers. With the

government continuing to slash funds for research and development for the
agriculture sector, there are doubts how much farmers in developing countries
like Malaysia will gain from the new technology.
While advocates of biotechnology push for the adoption of this new science,
opponents loathe the idea, fearing it could be detrimental to the order of nature,
natural pest control, biodiversity, to rural farming communities that thrive on
traditional farming and threaten food security, both at household and national
level.
Fundamental weaknesses in the technology are already surfacing and sustainable
farming is being challenged in many places. Local farmers may face similar
hardships suffered by several agriculture-based economies if the policy makers
fail to take the necessary measures.
Some common flaws of biotechnology in the agriculture sector are:
1)
It undermines traditional farming: The farming philosophy will change

under the new regime and small-scale farmers may find it hard to grow diverse
crops using old-style methods. The Green Revolution of the 1970s created
immense social and economical problems for the farming community - high
yielding varieties with abundance of chemical usage. It later displaced smallscale farmers, local crop varieties which were grown for decades disappeared,
endangered biodiversity and promoted monoculture. Now, the gene revolution
may create worse problems - marginalise and drive poor farmers into deep
poverty, indigenous biodiversity created by decades of intensive farming may
disappear and the extensive input of chemicals could destroy arable cropland.
In the future, farmers will not have access to seeds that were traditionally
owned and grown by them for decades. Multinationals, through patents, will
control seedlings, thus preventing farmers from planting in the next season.
This will make farmers dependable on seed companies, another sensitive issue
that is likely to stifle sustainable farming in Third World countries. Besides, the
spiraling cost of farming due to expensive seeds and pesticides will eventually
force traditional farmers out of business, or many will be trapped in huge
debts with multinationals.
2)
Uneconomical farming: Many farmers, especially from the under-developed

countries, may not benefit because they are ill-equipped in terms of knowledge
of what is happening abroad. Genetically modified (GM) foods may not find
67
lucrative markets, as better informed people and governments in Europe, Canada

and Japan are beginning to reject them because of mounting pressure from
health conscious consumers.
Local farmers forced to grow genetically modified crops may not have access
to these markets and if the trend prevails, prices will eventually plunge. With
the rising cost of pesticides, herbicides and poor income, individual or family
owned farms may not survive for long. GM seeds and livestock give
corporations increased control over family farms and farmers will be drawn
further under corporate control. High costs will marginalise small farmers,
and nations will be forced to accept GM foods grown in developed countries
or with bio-engineered plant products, at the risk of their own natural food
crops.
3)
Usage of herbicides: The proponents of biotechnology claim that genetically

engineered plants are herbicide resistant. But contrary to this, farmers continue
to increase the use of herbicides in order to grow GM crops. This has been
proven by studies in the soyabean fields of the United States, where farmers
became totally dependent on herbicides. A study of more than 8,000 universitybased field trials showed that farmers who plant Roundup-Ready (RR) soyabean
used two to five times more herbicides compared with that for non-GM crops,
where farmers use integrated weed control methods. Genetically-modified
organisms are considered the biggest threat to sustainable agriculture.
There are vast differences between traditional and GM crops growers. The
former rely on sustainable management practices, which emphasise on
prevention of pest problems by optimising the effect of natural mortality factors
(e.g. biological enemies and weather) to reduce pest populations. They depend
on large amounts of ecological, biological, agronomic and climatic information.
Farmers use a variety of cultural, biological and mechanical methods to prevent
pest problems. Crop rotations, intercropping, cover crops, altered planting
and tilling schedules, new tillage systems and natural bio-control agents are
some of the many options available to growers adopting sustainable farming
strategies, unlike in genetic technology where usage of chemicals is still
widespread. Therefore, many experts feel the new technology is not
environment friendly.
4)
Threat of monoculture: When farmers plants GM seeds, all the seeds will
have identical genetic make-up, which leads to monoculture. Crops will then
be susceptible to diseases and virus and pest outbreaks. There can be major
68
crop failures, as experienced by Indonesian rice farmers in 1975, where they

lost half a million acres of rice to leaf hoppers. In addition, the high input of
fertilisers, water and pesticides and the use of heavy machinery in the farmlands
to manage monoculture crops will have an adverse impact on the environment.
GM crops have been proven to undermine natural biodiversity and the food
security of rural communities who rely on indigenous crops. There are already
signs that biotechnology could spell similar troubles again.
5)
Terminator seeds: Dubbed as traitor seeds or suicide seeds, this new

invention of biotechnology sterilises the seeds produced by pesticide companies
after one generation. Farmers cannot grow them in the next season and they
will be forced to rely on seed banks, which are largely controlled by the pesticide
multinationals of the developed countries. The terminator seed technology
has been widely condemned as an immoral practise that threatens global food
security. If commercialised, this technology will prevent farmers from saving
seeds from their harvest for planting in the following season. By creating
terminator seeds, companies can sell farming packages to growers, which will
include seeds, herbicides and other chemicals needed for farming activities.
In, fact, they can now dictate what and when to produce and local farmers
will have little say. Self-sustaining families in underdeveloped countries will be
deprived of their basic livelihood and locked in abject poverty.
6)
Gene pollution: Another growing concern is that genes from GM crops can
move into neighbouring plants through pollens, either of the same species or a
closely-related variety. Traditional crops can be polluted with genes from GM
crops by insects, birds and wind. Genetic pollution is a serious problem in the
southern countries, where many crop origins are found. In Thailand, the
government barred field tests of Monsantos Bt cotton. (Bt cotton is named
after Bacillus thuringiensis, a common soil bacterium that produces toxins
lethal to caterpillars and certain insects but harmless to mammals, birds and
fish), after farmers protested that its transgenes could flow into some of the
16 plants in the cotton family, which traditional healers use as medicines.
Transgenic crops can create a lot of trouble for farmers: they can kill nontarget organisms, including natural predators of pests, cross-pollinate other
species and contribute to pesticide resistance.
Gene pollution has another danger. Pollution created by genetically engineered
organisms, bacteria and viruses that are released into the environment is
impossible to contain or clean up, unlike other chemical contamination. Scientists
69
warn of another threat the growth of wild super-weeds, which would

accept the resistant gene and become resistant to any pesticide.
7)
Threats to food security: Traditional farmers cannot be replaced by

technology. They will continue to produce basic foodstuff such as vegetables,
rice, and poultry and feed the local population. Without them, the food
production chain will be upset. Genetic engineering, which was lauded as
miracle achievement for feeding the increasing world population and ending
hunger, does not seem to protect this vital community. In fact, the reverse is
happening. Farmers are now losing their grip on the agriculture sector, which
they once dominated, and are forced to compete with large multinationals.
How can one end starvation when farmers are not allowed to plant their own
seeds but instead are forced to buy them? The terminator technology will
surely undermine food security in the developing countries, where poverty
and hunger is more acute. Traditional farmers, who depend on seeds saved
from one planting season for the next, will now be unable to grow their own
food but depend on multinationals for seed supplies.
Genetic engineering will undermine the nations capacities to be self-sufficient
by destroying biodiversity, traditional knowledge and sustainable farming. GM
crops may help food production in the South, only if the technologies are in
the hands of the farmers. The answer to food security depends on sustainable
agriculture and only traditional farmers can practise this, not GM crops growers.
8)
Harm to biodiversity: The genes of living organisms are the basic raw
materials needed for the growing biotechnology industries. Genes of plants,
animals and other biological resources found in rich tropical countries,
especially in the South, have been the target of gene hunters who hijack and
patent them in the North. Indias popular brand of basmati rice was patented
in the United States. Thailands Jasmine rice also suffered a similar dispute
with US companies. Both actions attracted strong protests from the public
and farming communities. Farmers and indigenous communities in the South
have been mainly responsible in identifying many of these resources, which
were used as medicines or food for centuries, and are freely available. But
now, multinational companies by registering patents are claiming exclusive
rights to produce and sell genetically engineered plants and animals, for which
the people from the lesser-developed world have to pay a high price.
70
Conclusion
The debate over biotechnology still rages, with advocates claiming that genetic
engineering is a safe and effective scientific solution to tackle hunger in many poor
countries, without harming the environment. However, recent developments in the
farms do not indicate this. The negative impact on societies and the ecology is far
more worrying than the immediate results. Countries like India have taken a cautious
stand in adopting GM crops, despite the pressing poverty of local farmers. In fact,
after years of debate, the Indian government finally allowed farmers to grow Bt
cotton a GM crop on a commercial scale, from March 2002.
Malaysian policy makers need to rethink their priorities. Malaysia too has strong
farming traditions, which rural farmers still rely on. At the same time, it has to protect
its rich biodiversity from gene hunters. Being a signatory to the Convention on Biological
Diversity, Malaysia has an additional responsibility in protecting the environment and
monitor GM crops and genetically engineered food. Biotechnology is not the only
solution in addressing the shortcomings in the agriculture sector. Better approaches
to pest control than chemical or genetically engineered products exist. For instance,
pest management methods developed using sustainable agriculture practises. For the
moment, biotechnology appears to be a quick fix, rather than a permanent component
of sustainable farming.
Before creating the milk lakes and butter mountain, the government decided to jumpstart its industrialisation programme, which eventually sidelined the agriculture sector.
There was a chain reaction - rise in food imports, threat to food security, environmental
degradation and at grassroots level, farmers were languishing in poverty.
It is almost a decade since the signing of the Rio declaration. Yet the government is
finding it difficult to implement the concept of Agenda 21, mainly because the linkages
between different players, the private sector, non-governmental groups, government
agencies and the farming community appear to be weak.
Implementation was therefore sporadic. There was no concerted effort or nationwide
campaign to achieve sustainable development, especially in the agriculture sector.
Progress is visible in some areas, like in forestry, but more needs to be done in the
farming sector. Prolonged neglect will only increase the economical and social costs.
Agriculture is not just a sector of production, but a way of life for millions of people.
And those in authority are responsible for ensuring a healthy green environment for
the future generations.
71
References:
Integrated Plant Nutrition System, Development in Rural Poverty Alleviation September
2001, by Faridah Ahmad, Assistant Director, Soil Management Division, Department of
Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Paddy farmers still stuck in the mud, -The Sun newspaper, September 21, 2000.
Rural-urban income gap can become unhealthy, -The Sun newspaper, January 14, 2001.
Interview with Prof Dr Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, Director, Centre for Agriculture Policy
Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Bangi.
Sea fearing fishermen,- The Sun newspaper, July 15, 2001.
Regional Rural Sociologist/Women in Development, Food and Agriculture Organization of
the United Nations.
Sustainable food production, income generation and consumer protection in Malaysia by
Quah Sin Hock, Paddy Division, Department of Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur.
The Eight Malaysian Plan (2001 -2005)
Economic Reports (1998/ 1999/ 2000/ 2001)
Third National Agriculture Policy (1998-2010)
Cultivating Diversity, written by Dr. Lori Ann Thrupp.
The Global Pesticide Campaigner, a quarterly publication of the Pesticide Action Network,
North America Regional Centre.
Say No To Genetically Engineered Food - Pesticide Action Network and the Asia Pacific ,
Safe Food Campaign 1998
ERA Consumers National Farmers Consultation Reports (1998 and 2000)
72

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ERA CONSUMER MALAYSIA