Food and livelihood security of the Malaysian paddy farmers

Mohd Dainuri Mohd Shah, . and Mohd Rashid Rabu, . Food and livelihood security of the Malaysian paddy farmers. pp. 59-69. ISSN 1823-8149

The National Food Security Policy aims to increase the National Self Sufficiency Level (SSL) of domestic rice production from 70 in 2020 to 85 by 2015. This will reduce the importation of rice from 30 to 15 by 2015. Malaysia needs to produse around 2.5 million metric tonnes of paddy annually. There are about 300 000 farmers involved in paddy production of which almost 30 are full time farmers. They are the backbone of the industry and determinant of the national food security target. Despite achieving the national food security agenda it is important to understand the status of the paddy farmers livelihood. Especially their socioeconomic status in relation to their ability to achieve their minimum living expenditures. This study investigated the farmers livelihood status which was indicated by their monthly households income and expenditure compared to national hauseholds income and expenditures level. This study revealed that the farmers monthly household income in three granary areas were higher than the national poverty income level but lower than the national households income level. The income from paddy activities was not sufficient to support the household monthly expenditure of farmers in Projek Barat Laut Selangor (PBLS) and Muda Agriculture Development Authority (MADA) as they had to get support from other sources of income. On the other hand the income from paddy activities was sufficient to support household livelihood for farmers in Kemubu Agriculture Development Authority (KADA). The living cost in KADA was relatively low compared to that in PBLS and MADA.

Full text available from: Official URL: http://etmr.mardi.gov.my/Content/ETMR%20Vol.8%20(2...

Abstract

The National Food Security Policy aims to increase the National Self Sufficiency Level (SSL) of domestic rice production from 70 in 2020 to 85 by 2015. This will reduce the importation of rice from 30 to 15 by 2015. Malaysia needs to produse around 2.5 million metric tonnes of paddy annually. There are about 300 000 farmers involved in paddy production of which almost 30 are full time farmers. They are the backbone of the industry and determinant of the national food security target. Despite achieving the national food security agenda it is important to understand the status of the paddy farmers livelihood. Especially their socioeconomic status in relation to their ability to achieve their minimum living expenditures. This study investigated the farmers livelihood status which was indicated by their monthly households income and expenditure compared to national hauseholds income and expenditures level. This study revealed that the farmers monthly household income in three granary areas were higher than the national poverty income level but lower than the national households income level. The income from paddy activities was not sufficient to support the household monthly expenditure of farmers in Projek Barat Laut Selangor (PBLS) and Muda Agriculture Development Authority (MADA) as they had to get support from other sources of income. On the other hand the income from paddy activities was sufficient to support household livelihood for farmers in Kemubu Agriculture Development Authority (KADA). The living cost in KADA was relatively low compared to that in PBLS and MADA.

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Item Type:	Article
AGROVOC Term:	Farmers
AGROVOC Term:	Food security
AGROVOC Term:	Households
AGROVOC Term:	Farmer income
AGROVOC Term:	Household expenditure
AGROVOC Term:	Crop production
AGROVOC Term:	Socioeconomic environment
AGROVOC Term:	Food availability
AGROVOC Term:	Sustainable livelihoods
Depositing User:	Mr. AFANDI ABDUL MALEK
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2025 00:55
URI:	http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/9713

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