Jason Loh and Rosihan Addin are part of the Malaysian research team at Emir Research independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations. The authors published an article in The Malaysian Insight news domain that addresses the rural poverty issue and how its eradication can improve agriculture and support food security.

Authors are inclined to believe that a self-sufficient agricultural state planning demands concerted and sustained regulations and acting far beyond the formulation of national strategical policies. Striving for an appropriate balance between a country’s domestic needs and export potential is stressed as an important aspect of establishing a sustainable scheme of “import-substitution” agriculturalisation and export-orientated agriculturalisation.

The authors mention also the significance of agricultural “protectionism” in developing private sector resources to thrive in providing agricultural produce that allows sustaining the country’s food security. The government, authors conceiving, tackles the issue of speculation and financialization of food products in its attempt to protect an agricultural sector, as part of the agenda to eradicate rural poverty. They are proposing to set future contracts on which both the food producer and the markets depend for price stability to prevent devastating effects of the financial crisis, as in the case of the 2018 slump.

The original of the article is here: https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/384570