Re-structuring of rural institutions for agricultural and rural development in Malaysia

Abstract

The development of smallholding agriculture and the rural economy, as part of the national efforts to restructure society and to eradicate poverty, is vital for the following reasons: (a) the smallholding sector utilises a major proportion of the nation's land resources i.e. 63 percent of the total cultivated area. (b) the smallholding sector is responsible for the nation's food production, and is thus important in achieving self-sufficiency in food requirements; (c) 71.2 percent of the nation's population live in the rural areas. The population directly dependent on smallholding agriculture is about 3.0 million; (d) since the rural sector is characterised by low income and poverty, it is therefore the target group of rural development policy as a separable and distinct component of the country's general development strategy.