Uggah launching the JTDL at Canaan Square, Jalan Stutong Baru yesterday. Also seen are (left to right) Chai, Abdul Gharif, Dr Abdul Rahman and Zainal Abidin (right).
KUCHING (Oct 29): The Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) is urged to assist the State Farmers Organisation (SFO) to build a marketing network for the organisation to enable it to export Sarawak’s food produce to overseas market and buy what local farmers produce.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said Sarawak aims to be a net food exporter by 2030, and the right mechanism is to move the full supply chain from production, processing, marketing and exporting, not only within the state but to the international markets.
“Our goal of becoming a net food exporter by year 2030 is quite achievable provided that we adopt the right technology and production systems and extend the necessary support to our agriculture industry.
“Therefore, it is necessary for Fama to assist SFO in terms of its marketing mechanism and system so that our food produce will not only be marketed domestically but also can reach international markets,” he said in a press conference after launching ‘Selling Direct from The Farm (JTDL) and MyRakyat’ programmes at Canaan Square, Jalan Stutong Baru here yesterday.
Uggah, who is also the Minister of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, said, in fact, the Sarawak state government had allocated a total of RM10 million to strengthen the marketing system of SFO.
“I am confident Fama and SFO can make this change bigger throughout the state of Sarawak.
“This is what we want to build, selling our agricultural products beyond the local market to the international market; the most important thing is we must be able to market our products.
“We have a lot of products, we must make sure that they reach the market and of course to be able to reach the market, the products must be competitive and able to compete with products from other places,” he said.
Yesterday’s event saw most of the farmers/sellers exhibiting and selling their products themselves, which showed that they could sell their products without going through middlemen.
“The products you can see today are from the farms, they do not have to go through the middlemen. This is the way how we prove that our farmers will be able to get a better price for their products,” he said.
Meanwhile, Uggah acknowledged the problems faced by the farmers for not being able to sell their produce during the pandemic although they had a good harvest.
“Therefore, we take note that during Covid period, products are difficult to sell, and that is why the state government set up funds to buy these produce from farmers and fishermen throughout the state with the cooperation of Fama and SFO.
“At least, that could help ease their burden and reduce the problem of unsold goods produced by farmers during the pandemic.
“Thank you very much Fama, SFO and our farmers and fishermen for continuously working even though we are going through challenging times, but we always strive to ensure that our farmers and fishermen are always being taken care of, especially in looking for ways to increase your income,” he said.
Also present at the event were Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail, Fama director-general Datuk Zainal Abidin Yang Razali and his deputy Datuk Abdul Gharif Ramin, Department of Agriculture director Dr Alvin Chai, the ministry’s permanent secretary Datu Edwin Abit, head of Farmer Institutions Division, Department of Agriculture Mohidi Bidin and SFO general manager Gom Raway.
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