Agrobank to make modern farming more attractive to youths
KUALA LUMPUR: While Malaysia constantly imports RM50 billion worth of agrifood, namely wheat and corn, the 3D (dirty, difficult, and dangerous) jobs are beginning to attract more young people who shunned them before, Agrobank Bhd covering president/chief executive officer Khadijah Iskandar said.
“(This is true)… especially during Covid-19, as we’ve noticed that the (agri-food) sector has been regarded as one of the recessionproof industries and continued to attract interest from this group (the younger generation).
“As we stand tall to beef up food security in the country, we are thrilled to see that this sector which seemed to be less attractive to the previous younger generations, mainly due to its 3D nature, as well as lower income and returns compared with other industries, is now becoming desirable,” she told Bernama.
Khadijah said the idea of more young people venturing into this industry bodes well as the country moves into an ageing nation by 2030.
Sharing the data, she said RM23 million in grants was disbursed to 1,159 young agropreneurs under the Agrobank’s Agropreneur Muda (PAM) programme last year compared with RM13.7 million to 764 in 2019.
The PAM programme helps assist young agropreneurs not only in terms of financing and capital to start a business, but also incorporates technical advisory, consultation, training, as well as other relevant skills training.
This ensued after evaluating the financing risks associated with them such as inadequate knowledge, skills, and relevant business experience, apart from not having credit history as key assurance.
Meanwhile, Khadijah said the bank looks ahead in bringing forward the agriculture industry though Industry Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0), making agribusiness an interesting, young and “sexy” career, to inculcate the interest of farming among the younger generation or making it a career or profession being looked up upon.
“We do have business owners who have already adopted the modern farming concept – making full use of the Internet of Things (IoT) as modern farmers and they are doing really well,” she said.
She said modern farming would definitely attract young people, since they would be able to manage their farm from preparing soil for planting until harvesting precisely by simply swiping their smartphone.
“We believe this trend among young people will pick up soon, making farming their career of choice or a family business passed down from generation to generation – it’s just that the new generation adapts and takes it differently.” Agrobank will be signing a memorandum with eight startups this year, providing an opportunity for them to pitch ideas before being introduced into the marketplace, she revealed, adding that the bank is in the process of drafting the agreement.
On challenges, Khadijah said a lack of commitment seems to be the main issue when dealing with this group of clients.
“We’d noticed this in our previous programme whereby youths who expressed their eagerness to enrol for a certain programme (conducted by Agrobank) were also looking for another job at the same time. Basically, it’s like this is (farming) just a temporary thing for them.”
Even though being young make them hesitant to join the industry, Khadijah said youths should realise that using technology is not something cheap and advised them to put 100 per cent commitment into farming.
As highlighted in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), the agriculture sector still has a low agriculture technology exposure, especially in the implementation of IoT under IR4.0.
The smart and modern farming initiatives could be catalysts for the agriculture sector to expand and enable a smooth transition to digital transformation.
Under its SBP 2021-2025, Agrobank would enable innovative catalysts on digitalisation and automation under the sandboxing initiatives, a platform/ hub for Agropreneur Muda (young agropreneurs), to unleash their innovative business models which embedded agriculture technology and digitalisation initiatives in their activities.
Under the 12MP, Agropreneur Muda (the agroprenuers) have received RM126 million in approved grants, of which RM76 million would be dedicated for automation and mechanisation.
“At the same time, we would encourage Agropreneur Muda to be certified under the Malaysia Good Agricultural Practices or MyGAP as part of delivering and performing responsible farming activities which will contribute to the preservation of environment and climate change,” Khadijah said.
She said Agrobank too has started to monitor its clients’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.
“That’s what people are talking about now, sustainability. Although we are still at the early stage of the ESG monitoring, barely at 5.0 per cent, the response has been overwhelming and we hope to improve it further,” she said.
Asked whether the bank is eyeing for a merger with another bank to become stronger, she said: “Our ambition is to consolidate with the farmers, especially senior citizens, to get them on board via the digital platform.”