KUCHING: Sarawak’s agriculture sector must shift from the traditional way of farming to agropreneurship.
“There’s no reason for us not to be able to transform the agriculture sector into such industry,” said Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom.
But to be able to do so he called on the farming community to embrace modern and new technologies.
Rundi Utom is confident a transformation with the aid of new technology would translate to more productivity and profit.
“We must dwell on something that is profitable and able to translate our effort to dollars and cents.
“And the only way to do it is to upgrade and improve ourselves and also adopt new technology,” he said at The First Sarawak-Dutch Food Security Workshop held at Pullman Hotel, yesterday (Jan 17).
He also stressed that an alternative system in the agriculture sector should be identified to develop and transform and to be on par with international and advanced countries.
Under the leadership of Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg, he said the state was heading in the right direction.
The event also saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Sarawak government through the Ministry with Sarawak Metropolitan Food Cluster (SFMC) Consortium, a Sarawak-Dutch outfit to develop Metropolitan Food Clusters which was witnessed by Abang Johari and the ambassador of the Netherlands to Malaysia Jacques Werner.
Werner said the partnership comes at a very timely juncture where Sarawak, by joining forces with the Netherlands, embarks on a journey to revolutionise Sarawak’s agriculture industry.
“At the same time, answering to the United Nation (UN) Sustainable Development Goals via The Metropolitan Food Cluster concept and approach with the focus on innovation of the agri-food systems and digital transformations,” he said.
With the knowledge in tow, he said the Dutch government will want to share the information that they have gathered to ensure that sustainable food production is a global effort.
“With Sarawak’s Dutch connection, I hope this can inspire potential trade and exchange of knowledge among us and to serve as a blueprint for growth and prosperity for all.
“I am optimistic that this First Sarawak-Dutch Food Security Workshop is a catalyst to other new collaborations and strengthening our partnership at various levels across other sectors.
“The Netherlands is ready to be a partner in your journey towards achieving Sustainable Food Security System development goals,” he said.
