URBAN YOUTH GOING INTO AGRICULTURE
It may not be a glamorous field, but it can give excellent returns, provided the right ecosystem is put in place
ACOUPLE of young men sent me photographs of their latest venture two weeks ago. Afad and Wan, both in their 20s, are venturing into agriculture. Again!
This time, they are trying their hand at poultry farming. They are both from Kuala Lumpur, but their farm is in Kedah. With whatever funds they have, they leased a small piece of land and set about their new venture.
They had ventured into fish fry farming last year, but this had apparently not been doing too well. Apparently, fish fry are in demand locally and overseas. I’m told some are even exported to Hong Kong for a tidy profit. Their venture into this didn’t quite take off, which forced them to look for something else. This led them to retailing fresh fish. They transported the fish from Kedah and brought them down to Shah Alam. It went well in the initial stages, but they ran into snags and had to abandon the project.
One must give them credit for not giving up. They retreated for a while and re-strategised. They picked up very valuable lessons from these two ventures. With proper knowledge, networking and sufficient capital, they may return to these ventures in good time.
It didn’t take them long to start a new venture — poultry farming. I thought that the efforts of these lads are worth sharing because they seemed not to have been discouraged by the lack of success of their previous attempts.
I wouldn’t say that their previous ventures failed completely. They may have lost some money, but they gained so much knowledge in the process. They were on a steep learning curve to become entrepreneurs, and their chosen field is agriculture. How many young
people would venture into agriculture today? For that reason, I feel that these young men deserve support for all their interest and confidence in their sector.
They have some big plans actually. But my advice to them has always been to start small, put in some real money, learn, acquire as much knowledge as possible, have written agreements with whoever they deal with, and move confidently and steadily.
At a time when young men wouldn’t want to get their hands dirty with agriculture, Afad and Wan go against the norm and plunge into a field that has not been getting much attention in recent years.
A bit odd, I thought. These are urban lads, mind you, with little or no deep affinity with agriculture. But they never stopped looking for opportunities and trying out new ideas. Many young urban entrepreneurs would opt to go into food retailing (opening food stalls selling burgers, nasi lemak and such) or plunge into the information technology business or direct selling of consumer goods. Some may get dressed to kill and start marketing unit trusts, insurance or become car salesmen.
Agriculture? Forget it. Which leads me to ask — why not agriculture? When Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was agriculture minister in the previous administration, he coined the slogan — agriculture is business.
You see, many people believe that they must have acres of land before they can go into agriculture. This is wrong! One must understand the agriculture chain in order to get into the sector. Look at e-hailing service provider Grab. They don’t have a single car to their name but have thousands of vehicles to provide a popular and reliable transport service.
The question begging to be asked then is — where is our agriculture sector going? What new initiatives will there be to help bring down our food import bill which stood at RM45.4 billion in 2015? With our national population reaching 40 million in 2050, we better start some serious work to get things going.
Just look around us. There are acres and acres of idle land in the country. In the countryside, absentee landlord is a common issue. This is not a new issue, mind you. Sometimes, it makes us wonder why no efforts are being made to plant fruit trees, rear cows and goats, plant chillies, tomatoes and grow lemongrass and rear fish and prawns.
In the 70s and 80s, there were government employees known as extension officers. I believe their duty was to go round the country engaging farmers to become better farmers, with new knowledge and technology.
I move around the countryside quite a bit. But kampung folk who own land hardly talk about utilising theirs for any productive use. When asked, they said: “No capital, no one to work on the land, no market...”
It’s time the relevant authorities took a ride to the countryside and meet with some real people. Talk to them. Find out why their gold mine is left idle, untended and covered with lalang and bushes. A couple of pythons, cobras and wild hogs could very well be occupying the land.
The authorities should scout for agriculture talent in the countryside. They won’t be disappointed if they are thorough in their work. These talented people could become successful commercial farmers, if given the necessary support and guidance.
Agriculture may not be a glamorous field. But it can give excellent returns, provided the right ecosystem is put in place.
Perhaps the mass media can help. Maybe it’s time to have specialised journalists covering agriculture in the same way that there are specialists covering sports, politics, crime and courts, education, business and finance.
There used to be an award for the best agriculture journalist of the year organised by the ministry. What happened? No budget? Surely it can be revived quite easily. As for me, I’m going to follow the progress of Afad and Wan in their latest adventure. Maybe the ministry should, too.
It’s time the relevant authorities took a ride to the countryside and meet with some real people. Talk to them. Find out why their gold mine is left idle, untended and covered with ‘lalang’ and bushes. A couple of pythons, cobras and wild hogs could very well be occupying the land.