YB Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry (I) today officiated the Johor State Agro-Food Industry Dialogue Program 2022 at the PPK Muar Selatan Farmers Complex.
According to Datuk Seri Haji Ahmad Hamzah, the agriculture sector and the food industry have played a very important role in generating the economy as well as improving the quality and security of the country’s food. As a leader in the agricultural sector, MAFI’s role is to transform the agricultural sector towards a more modern, dynamic and competitive.
He said the Ministry through the Food and Agro-Based Industry Division (IMAT) had provided various forms of assistance and initiatives to young people aged 40 and under such as Young Agropreneur Grants up to RM20,000, financing packages through Agrobank, technical training programs through MAFI Departments and Agencies, briefings and knowledge sharing through FB Live, webinars and various other platforms that are often used by young people as one of the methods used by the Ministry to convey all information to the target group.
The Ministry also provides various initiatives to assist entrepreneurs in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as well as attracting more agro-based industry entrepreneurs to participate in the downstream agro-food industry. The Product Change Upgrade (CUP) program, for example, is open to micro-entrepreneurs involved in food and non-food product processing activities with a sales value of less than RM300,000 per year. Assistance is provided in the form of matching grants (maximum grant value of RM60 thousand) which is 70% Government funding while 30% is funded by entrepreneurs. The scope of assistance includes product quality development studies, packaging, and labeling design, production capacity enhancement, premise improvement towards certification and procurement of business signage.
The Johor State Agro -Food Industry Dialogue Tour Program 2022, this time targets a total of 100 participants consisting of Young Agropreneurs in the agro-food sector covering the fisheries, crops, livestock sub-sectors, and the entire agro-food chain along the agro-food sector value chain.
Through this dialogue session, it also involves the Young Agropreneurs, as well as industry players in the agro-food sector, and the involvement of departments and agencies under MAFI as well as other agencies with an interest in the agro-food sector.
In an effort to help the target group, the Ministry also implements the Rezeki Tani Program, with the aim of increasing the income of participants through the assistance of economic projects in the field of agriculture and food/agro-based industry. The target group of program participants consists of the poor and low-income groups who are registered in the eKasih System. Recipients need to carry out quick-win projects, which are projects that provide results in a short period of between three (3) to six (6) months and have the potential to provide good returns. The maximum assistance rate allocated to each participant is RM10,000 in the form of in-kind and training.
The Ministry hopes that through this program, the aspirations, hopes, and mandates of the Government/MAFI are conveyed to industry players and especially young agroprenuers to succeed/support the modernization and productivity of Food Security for Malaysian Families.
