PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry has come up with “My Village, My Future” programme to encourage rural people, including youths and indigenous communities, to remain in the village and become agents for rural development by participating in economic activities.
Sharing Malaysia’s experience at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) conference in Rome, Italy on Monday, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub said the programme would optimise the use of available resources such as abandoned land and turn them into new opportunities.
“Malaysia recognises the importance of policy coherence between agriculture and rural development to maximise the economic and social benefits to rural communities,“ he said.
Salahuddin told the conference, themed ‘Migration, Agriculture and Rural Development’, that migration in Malaysia was not regarded as a negative impact to rural development.
“An integrated approach is applied to improve urban-rural linkages, thus benefiting both migrants and rural populations,“ he said.
He also urged the FAO to continue to prioritise its work where it maintains a comparative advantage by supporting member countries through policy advice, technical information and standard settings which include increasing members’ capacity in adapting and mitigating the impacts of migration. — Bernama
