FOOD security has become a focal point of discussion among Malaysians as they start to feel the pain of spending more money on their groceries.

However, as there is no proper land and spatial planning from administrations for food production, focusing on commercial (including residential) and industrial uses.

Arable land in Malaysia reduced from 3.1% (1.03 million hectares) in 1980 to 2.5% (826,000ha) in 2018.

The decreasing area of arable land could also be attributed to soil erosion/degradation and deforestation caused by climate change.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defines arable land as the land currently used or potentially capable of being used to grow seasonal crops.

Emir Research has highlighted how little the state governments have done to allocate land for food production in Malaysia entering a serious food security ‘conundrum’.

Although Malaysia has introduced numerous initiatives such as the urban community farming policy (UCFP) and National Agrofood Policy (2021-2030) to encourage local food production over these two years, several barriers have prevented smallholder farmers from doing so.

While there is no official definition of community farming, the term could encompass the practice of farmers looking into the fundamentals by adding organic contents to the sand. The sand will turn into living soil for agricultural production.

A yogi, mystic and visionary known as Sadhguru who has led the Save Soil movement for 24 years said that the minimum organic content should be between 3% to 6% for the normal agricultural soil.

However,, as it is, many smallholder farmers still face constraints with land. They are only eligible to obtain a temporary occupation licence (TOL) – a form of land licence that has to be renewed annually.

If the government or developers want to reclaim the land in the following year, the farmers have no choice but to oblige.

As such, few farmers are motivated to invest more money and other resources into their farms. At the same time, they can neither purchase additional land, if it belongs to the federal or state government, to expand.

In addition, the Department of Agriculture (DOA) and other related government agencies do not provide sufficient training in technological applications that would boost their productivity.

As a result, some farmers find it challenging to produce high-quality food crops due to limited technical knowledge. 

Aside from the Malaysian good agricultural practices (MyGap) certification requirement, farmers who want to practise organic farming have to apply the Malaysian organic certification scheme (MyOrganic), ensuring the agricultural products are free from chemicals and pesticides besides being safe to eat.

Such a measure indirectly places an additional burden on local farmers. The Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi) indicated, through its journal article publication titled Organic Agriculture in Malaysia in 2016, that farmers have to farm organically for two years before the farm can be awarded with the MyOrganic certificate.

In the first two years, farmers cannot apply organic labels for their end products. They have to sell at standard market price, similar to the products that adopt the conventional farming methods.

In contrast to organic farming, conventional farming manages resource inputs (ie, fertilisers, soil amendments, irrigation water, pesticides) uniformly, ignoring the naturally inherent spatial heterogeneity of soil and crop conditions between and within fields.

Moreover, the validity of the MyOrganic certificate only lasts for one year, while renewal has to be completed within six months of the expiry date, according to the official portal of the DOA.

Furthermore, the government do not provide adequate financial support ranging from soil conservation to production cost, labour cost, packing and storage facilities.

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which has contributed to the rising cost of feeding ingredients and the new minimum wage increment of RM300 per month, will eventually lead farmers to charge more to break even.

The increased frequency of extreme weather events also discourages farmers from expanding. The unusual rainfall in December last year (more than 2,500mm of rain, equivalent to the annual rain fall of 2020) resulted in severe flooding in eight Malaysian states.

Around 5,000 livestock breeders and farmers were affected, costing the agri-food sector RM67.7 million.

Hence, to promote interest in community farming, the current administration needs to resolve the overdue land issues, a lack of upskilling opportunities and financial incentives, aside from the complication of applying for the MyOrganic certificate.

Once the welfare of farmers is taken care of, the government can then look into ways to motivate the citizens to be involved in community farming through education programmes and awareness campaigns.   

The following are some of the policy recommendations from Emir Research for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (Mafi), as the lead ministry, to look into:

Modify Taiwan’s Land-to-the-Tiller programme to limit land ownership in Malaysia.

At the very least, the farmlands will not be purely dominated by a small number of wealthy individuals or companies.

When the government can buy back surplus land by compensating major landowners, smallholders will have a higher chance obtaining this land.

To ensure affordability, the government also could determine the rent ceiling for the allotted land, benefiting landless farmers and smallholders.

In addition, the government could promote permanent land rental contracts for smallholders, allowing adoption of advanced technology applications and sustainable farming techniques.

Organise seminars and fairs for farmers to understand and apply the concepts, benefits, associated risks and methods of adopting community farming.

The DOA and state agricultural agencies could implement community farming as pilot programmes to facilitate knowledge sharing and human resources development, including bi-monthly seminars.

Some topics including on how to self-produce fertilisers free from chemicals and pesticides and how to turn available items from the surrounding environment into agricultural tools, for instance, could be the potential themes of discussion.

Mafi could host the national agricultural fairs and seminars at least once a year, giving farmers the opportunity to connect with relevant stakeholders from the private sector, government and education institutions.

Identify more hotspots not vulnerable to disasters in every Malaysian state (including the Federal Territories) to establish more permanent food production parks.

Nonetheless, the government needs to have a proper food production ecosystem in place – processing, warehouse storage, post-harvest handling, distribution and marketing – to ensure the freshness of agricultural products.

Introduce a three-month agricultural technology incubation programme for entry-level or smallholder farmers to learn technology applications related to agri-food commodities, biodiversity, biotechnology and food processing.

Mardi could lead the initiative, whereby the farmers have the opportunity to brainstorm for marketing and financial strategies – to promote and popularise community farming.

Tax incentives and grants can provide farmers the opportunity to improve soil health and condition through modern technologies applications like the Internet of Things, big data and artificial intelligence, aside from pest management and water management.

After the commencement of the incubation programme, Mardi could assist farmers in establishing strategic collaborations with government agencies, the private sector and civil society groups to market their agricultural products.

In the long term, this initiative would increase the food supply in the country and indirectly contribute to the long-term price stability of food items. 

To conclude, community farming would be the ideal way of promoting climate resilient soil regeneration and sustainable livelihoods.

With vegetable gardens and fruit trees within a 5km radius of an urban or rural environment, people could relax their minds by walking or jogging around the community farm.

Smallholders also would have the ability to earn higher income once they gain the necessary knowledge and skills to plant nutritious food crops.

In due course, the current administration has to demonstrate a strong political will in stimulating community farming culture.

It would enable Malaysia to gradually reduce its reliance on other countries for food imports, enhancing the quality of life of the people. – May 26, 2022.

* Amanda Yeo is a research analyst at Emir Research.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.