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Addressing food security

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Dr Ronald (third left) receives a souvenir from Rundi (second left) during the dinner at a hotel here.

KUCHING: A special task force to look into matters relating to food security will be set up following an agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MAFI) and Ministry of Modernisation of Agriculture and Regional Development (MANRED).

MAFI Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee said the special task force will consist of officers from both ministries who will work together to find the best way to guarantee food security in the country.

“Food security is important, because when a country faces problems with food security, it will lead to instability and others.

“Therefore, we have a huge responsibility and there is need for involvement and engagement between the ministries at the federal and state level,” he said at a dinner programme organised by MAFI and MANRED at Hilton Hotel on Friday.

Kiandee added that it is important to have engagement not only at industry level but also with the state government to come up with new approaches and policies to tackle food production under such challenging times now.

“As such, the exchange of ideas is something we have to focus on,” he stressed.

He also said that MAFI and MANRED share the same aspiration that is to develop the agro food industry at all levels.

“We want to see that the industry is able to bring the small industry players out of poverty that is often linked to the agro food industry,” he said.

He mentioned that the actions taken by the state government were also in line with the policies of the federal government that is National Agrofood Policy, 2021-2030 (NAP 2.0).

Meanwhile, Minister of Modernisation of Agriculture and Regional Development Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi said he is looking forward to more engagement between his ministry and MAFI.

“We have to be responsible to help the poor, the B40 to come out of poverty and to see them able to earn an income of RM6,000 by the year 2030,” he said.

He added that he had also discussed with Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg on how to fast-track the development especially in the agro industry.

“Now, we are looking at agro parks so that we will be able to create a piece of land and plot them and get the anchor farmers to come in.

“This is so that we will be able to get someone who is strong enough to be the anchor farmer, then we can develop those to leverage on them because they have networking, marketing and others,” he said.

On a side note, Rundi said that basic infrastructure is crucial to develop and modernise agriculture.

“The Sarawak government tries to provide things the best we can in order to move forward. And the target is to make sure the state is developed by the year 2030,” said Rundi.

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