Climate change is proven to have had impacted the agricultural productivity, crop choice, and foo... more Climate change is proven to have had impacted the agricultural productivity, crop choice, and food security everywhere in the world. The nature, scale, frequency, and outcome of such impact differ significantly among countries, regions and areas within a country. This study is an effort to empirically investigate theses issues for Malaysia using both primary and secondary data collected from and relevant to the Integrated Agriculture Development Areas in the Northwest Selangor. The results reveal that climate change phenomenon such as natural disaster, drought, flood, pest attack, plant disease, and changing the time of crop cycle have adversely been impacting Malaysian agriculture and its productivity as well as profitability. Despite continuous increases of government subsidy as well as permission only for paddy production, the paddy planting area is decreasing as the agricultural farmers often experience adverse impacts of climatic variation. So, climate change phenomenon is also...
International migration is one of the key components of local economic development in a labour se... more International migration is one of the key components of local economic development in a labour sending country. The returns of migration and remittances play a significant role in the economic development and growth of the source country. The remittance causes a positive Balance of Payment as well as poverty reduction in Bangladesh. These international migrations also have impacts on micro economic issues like local and household economy, which have received very little attention in existing studies. Therefore, to check the issue, this study collected primary data based on a questionnaire survey from 306 Bangladesh workers who are engaged in wage-earning employment in Malaysia during the period of Nov-Dec 2010. This study analysed the data based on the Path Measurement Model. This empirical study found that international migration significantly improves the micro economy of Bangladesh such as house ownership, improvement of economic conditions, donation towards local institutes and ...
Climate and agriculture highly interrelated. Agriculture is highly dependent on the climatic fact... more Climate and agriculture highly interrelated. Agriculture is highly dependent on the climatic factors. The climatic factors as well as other factors that are determined by climate cause vulnerability of agriculture and agricultural production. Using a survey method this study aims to determine the impacts of climatic change on agricultural vulnerability in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA), West Selangor, Malaysia. Results suggest that over the last 5 years vulnerability of the factors like, injurious insects, high temperature, soil fertility loss, and cost of input materials increased greatly due to climatic changes; and the vulnerability of the factors like shortage of rainfall, excessive rainfall, and labor scarcity increased moderately during this period. It is projected that due to climate change agricultural production sustainability will become vulnerable in Malaysia by 2020
The climatic factors are changing very rapidly in Malaysia. Agriculture which depends heavily on ... more The climatic factors are changing very rapidly in Malaysia. Agriculture which depends heavily on climate is becoming increasingly vulnerable to risk and uncertainty. In order to face and manage the situation, farmers are trying in various ways and government and other external agencies are providing several supports to adapt to these climatic vulnerabilities. However, there is still a gap between farmers’ adaptability and climate change. This study analyses paddy farmers’ perception of climatic variations and vulnerabilities and relevant supports and techniques to adapt to the situation. The data were collected through questionnaire survey on 198 paddy producing farmers in the area of Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA), North-West Selangor, Malaysia. This study uses descriptive statistics, ordinal regression, percentile, and scale analysis. The study finds that most farmers do not have a clear perception of the climatic changes and vulnerabilities. Farmers’ adaptation p...
The issues of climate change, agricultural sustainability and poverty in Malaysia are found to ha... more The issues of climate change, agricultural sustainability and poverty in Malaysia are found to have been connected one with other in an interesting and circular way. The quantitative determination of the linkages between these three factors is certainly a difficult task, which is beyond the scope of the present study. This study is thus primarily aimed at reviewing the linkages between climate change, agricultural sustainability and poverty in Malaysia. Some issues requiring further investigation in order to clearly understand the linkages between climate change, agricultural sustainability and poverty have been suggested. These have been developed with particular reference to appraisals concerned with the development and implementation of social policy, programmes and practices relevant to these three issues. The study closes with some concluding remarks
Agricultural contribution to GDP in Malaysia has been declining since 1970. The usages of agricul... more Agricultural contribution to GDP in Malaysia has been declining since 1970. The usages of agricultural land are also gradually decreasing. Even within the total agricultural area, most of the land has been used for industrial crops, and the ratio between industrial crops and food crops is increasing. Paddy is the main food crop in Malaysia, but as a low rate of productivity, farmers are engaged on part time basis. Therefore, it seems necessary to know the socioeconomic characteristics of the paddy farmers, their livelihood, and agricultural sustainability for policy implementation and its evaluation. This study analyzes the current profile of the paddy farmers in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA), NorthWest Selangor, Malaysia based on primary data. The data was collected through a questionnaire survey. Findings of the study suggest policy recommendations and action plans for the improvement of the farmers’ livelihood. The findings of the study are important for the...
Malaysia has seen a high rate of economic growth in past couple of decades hand in hand with an e... more Malaysia has seen a high rate of economic growth in past couple of decades hand in hand with an ever increasing size of population. As a consequence, the issue of sustainable waste management has become an important priority for policymakers and other stakeholders of the society. Although there are potentials to recycle up to 80 per cent of the total dry wastes collected, currently most of them are deposited into various landfill sites. Waste treatment facilities are also insufficient in the country. The government has introduced SWM Act 2007 along with other initiatives to improve the waste management scenario, but more needs to be done to be able to recycle and treat a major portion of the wastes. Based on studies on the state of Selangor in Malaysia, this paper this paper attempts to analyse the waste management scenario of Malaysia and the problems and prospects of waste recycling there. The paper will help the policy makers, waste management strategists, local administrators an...
International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 2017
Purpose Sustainable food security at the household level is one of the emerging issues for all na... more Purpose Sustainable food security at the household level is one of the emerging issues for all nations. Several factors such as social, economic, political, demographic, natural and livelihood strategies cause vulnerability in the status of household food security. This study aims to examine the vulnerability of the factors of household food accessibility and its linkage with the climatic changes in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on primary data collected in the months of July-October, 2012, through a questionnaire survey on 460 low-income households from the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) in Malaysia. The samples were selected from E-Kasih poor household database, based on the cluster random sampling technique. The questionnaire uses a five-point Likert scale, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA F statistics for chi-square two-sample test. Findings The study finds that the vulnerability of the factors of household food acce...
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect impacts of climatic cha... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect impacts of climatic changes as well as the effects of non-climatic factors on household food security in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on primary data collected in the months of July – October, 2012 through a questionnaire survey on 460 low-income households from East Coast Economic Region (ECER) of the country. The samples were selected from E-Kasih poor household database, based on cluster random sampling technique. The statistical estimation was done through two-stage formative path measurement model by using non-parametric bootstrap procedure under Smart PLS. Findings – This study finds that household food insecurity ECER – Malaysia is not only related to social and economic factors, but also statistically significantly linked to the direct and indirect impacts of climatic factors. The policy implications of the study suggest that design of food security programs must be integr...
Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies, 2015
This research, conducted to analyze the level of food security among poor and low‐income househol... more This research, conducted to analyze the level of food security among poor and low‐income households in the east coast economic region of Malaysia, uses primary data of 460 families from the E‐Kasih poor households database, based on a cluster random sampling technique. Food security levels were measured using the United States Agency for International Development Household Food Insecurity Access model. Findings indicate that 52.8% of households are food secure, 23.3% mildly food insecure, 14.3% moderately food insecure, and 9.6% are severely food insecure. These findings are very important to assist policymakers to achieve Vision 2020 and the targets of Malaysian National Plans regarding food security, socioeconomic development, and the alleviation of poverty. The involvement of private sector and community‐based organizations are important to combat short run, seasonal, and event‐related risks, as well as for the development of appropriate mitigation and adaptation options to ensur...
Climate change is proven to have had impacted the agricultural productivity, crop choice, and foo... more Climate change is proven to have had impacted the agricultural productivity, crop choice, and food security everywhere in the world. The nature, scale, frequency, and outcome of such impact differ significantly among countries, regions and areas within a country. This study is an effort to empirically investigate theses issues for Malaysia using both primary and secondary data collected from and relevant to the Integrated Agriculture Development Areas in the Northwest Selangor. The results reveal that climate change phenomenon such as natural disaster, drought, flood, pest attack, plant disease, and changing the time of crop cycle have adversely been impacting Malaysian agriculture and its productivity as well as profitability. Despite continuous increases of government subsidy as well as permission only for paddy production, the paddy planting area is decreasing as the agricultural farmers often experience adverse impacts of climatic variation. So, climate change phenomenon is also...
International migration is one of the key components of local economic development in a labour se... more International migration is one of the key components of local economic development in a labour sending country. The returns of migration and remittances play a significant role in the economic development and growth of the source country. The remittance causes a positive Balance of Payment as well as poverty reduction in Bangladesh. These international migrations also have impacts on micro economic issues like local and household economy, which have received very little attention in existing studies. Therefore, to check the issue, this study collected primary data based on a questionnaire survey from 306 Bangladesh workers who are engaged in wage-earning employment in Malaysia during the period of Nov-Dec 2010. This study analysed the data based on the Path Measurement Model. This empirical study found that international migration significantly improves the micro economy of Bangladesh such as house ownership, improvement of economic conditions, donation towards local institutes and ...
Climate and agriculture highly interrelated. Agriculture is highly dependent on the climatic fact... more Climate and agriculture highly interrelated. Agriculture is highly dependent on the climatic factors. The climatic factors as well as other factors that are determined by climate cause vulnerability of agriculture and agricultural production. Using a survey method this study aims to determine the impacts of climatic change on agricultural vulnerability in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA), West Selangor, Malaysia. Results suggest that over the last 5 years vulnerability of the factors like, injurious insects, high temperature, soil fertility loss, and cost of input materials increased greatly due to climatic changes; and the vulnerability of the factors like shortage of rainfall, excessive rainfall, and labor scarcity increased moderately during this period. It is projected that due to climate change agricultural production sustainability will become vulnerable in Malaysia by 2020
The climatic factors are changing very rapidly in Malaysia. Agriculture which depends heavily on ... more The climatic factors are changing very rapidly in Malaysia. Agriculture which depends heavily on climate is becoming increasingly vulnerable to risk and uncertainty. In order to face and manage the situation, farmers are trying in various ways and government and other external agencies are providing several supports to adapt to these climatic vulnerabilities. However, there is still a gap between farmers’ adaptability and climate change. This study analyses paddy farmers’ perception of climatic variations and vulnerabilities and relevant supports and techniques to adapt to the situation. The data were collected through questionnaire survey on 198 paddy producing farmers in the area of Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA), North-West Selangor, Malaysia. This study uses descriptive statistics, ordinal regression, percentile, and scale analysis. The study finds that most farmers do not have a clear perception of the climatic changes and vulnerabilities. Farmers’ adaptation p...
The issues of climate change, agricultural sustainability and poverty in Malaysia are found to ha... more The issues of climate change, agricultural sustainability and poverty in Malaysia are found to have been connected one with other in an interesting and circular way. The quantitative determination of the linkages between these three factors is certainly a difficult task, which is beyond the scope of the present study. This study is thus primarily aimed at reviewing the linkages between climate change, agricultural sustainability and poverty in Malaysia. Some issues requiring further investigation in order to clearly understand the linkages between climate change, agricultural sustainability and poverty have been suggested. These have been developed with particular reference to appraisals concerned with the development and implementation of social policy, programmes and practices relevant to these three issues. The study closes with some concluding remarks
Agricultural contribution to GDP in Malaysia has been declining since 1970. The usages of agricul... more Agricultural contribution to GDP in Malaysia has been declining since 1970. The usages of agricultural land are also gradually decreasing. Even within the total agricultural area, most of the land has been used for industrial crops, and the ratio between industrial crops and food crops is increasing. Paddy is the main food crop in Malaysia, but as a low rate of productivity, farmers are engaged on part time basis. Therefore, it seems necessary to know the socioeconomic characteristics of the paddy farmers, their livelihood, and agricultural sustainability for policy implementation and its evaluation. This study analyzes the current profile of the paddy farmers in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA), NorthWest Selangor, Malaysia based on primary data. The data was collected through a questionnaire survey. Findings of the study suggest policy recommendations and action plans for the improvement of the farmers’ livelihood. The findings of the study are important for the...
Malaysia has seen a high rate of economic growth in past couple of decades hand in hand with an e... more Malaysia has seen a high rate of economic growth in past couple of decades hand in hand with an ever increasing size of population. As a consequence, the issue of sustainable waste management has become an important priority for policymakers and other stakeholders of the society. Although there are potentials to recycle up to 80 per cent of the total dry wastes collected, currently most of them are deposited into various landfill sites. Waste treatment facilities are also insufficient in the country. The government has introduced SWM Act 2007 along with other initiatives to improve the waste management scenario, but more needs to be done to be able to recycle and treat a major portion of the wastes. Based on studies on the state of Selangor in Malaysia, this paper this paper attempts to analyse the waste management scenario of Malaysia and the problems and prospects of waste recycling there. The paper will help the policy makers, waste management strategists, local administrators an...
International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 2017
Purpose Sustainable food security at the household level is one of the emerging issues for all na... more Purpose Sustainable food security at the household level is one of the emerging issues for all nations. Several factors such as social, economic, political, demographic, natural and livelihood strategies cause vulnerability in the status of household food security. This study aims to examine the vulnerability of the factors of household food accessibility and its linkage with the climatic changes in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on primary data collected in the months of July-October, 2012, through a questionnaire survey on 460 low-income households from the East Coast Economic Region (ECER) in Malaysia. The samples were selected from E-Kasih poor household database, based on the cluster random sampling technique. The questionnaire uses a five-point Likert scale, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA F statistics for chi-square two-sample test. Findings The study finds that the vulnerability of the factors of household food acce...
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect impacts of climatic cha... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect impacts of climatic changes as well as the effects of non-climatic factors on household food security in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on primary data collected in the months of July – October, 2012 through a questionnaire survey on 460 low-income households from East Coast Economic Region (ECER) of the country. The samples were selected from E-Kasih poor household database, based on cluster random sampling technique. The statistical estimation was done through two-stage formative path measurement model by using non-parametric bootstrap procedure under Smart PLS. Findings – This study finds that household food insecurity ECER – Malaysia is not only related to social and economic factors, but also statistically significantly linked to the direct and indirect impacts of climatic factors. The policy implications of the study suggest that design of food security programs must be integr...
Review of Urban & Regional Development Studies, 2015
This research, conducted to analyze the level of food security among poor and low‐income househol... more This research, conducted to analyze the level of food security among poor and low‐income households in the east coast economic region of Malaysia, uses primary data of 460 families from the E‐Kasih poor households database, based on a cluster random sampling technique. Food security levels were measured using the United States Agency for International Development Household Food Insecurity Access model. Findings indicate that 52.8% of households are food secure, 23.3% mildly food insecure, 14.3% moderately food insecure, and 9.6% are severely food insecure. These findings are very important to assist policymakers to achieve Vision 2020 and the targets of Malaysian National Plans regarding food security, socioeconomic development, and the alleviation of poverty. The involvement of private sector and community‐based organizations are important to combat short run, seasonal, and event‐related risks, as well as for the development of appropriate mitigation and adaptation options to ensur...
There are three million hectares of medium and deep flooded areas in Bangladesh which remain inun... more There are three million hectares of medium and deep flooded areas in Bangladesh which remain inundated for four to six months each year during rainy season and render the land unavailable for crop production. This generates the opportunity for managing these waterbodies with community based approaches for conservation and propagation of existing and potential aquatic resources and thereby to enhance water productivity (WP). It also promotes food security and provides additional income to stakeholders involved especially for the poor. Information on WP values, achieved from water uses and water resources, will help to implement effective and concerted management actions to enhance the benefits to the people from these floodplain areas as an integral part of approaches to improving WP. The study has been conducted with objectives of assessing water productivity (WP) of seasonal floodplain waterbodies of Bangladesh and examining the impact of alternative rice fish culture in these deep flooded waterbodies with community based fisheries management approach (CBFM). To attain these objectives, alternating rice-fish culture was introduced in a deep flooded waterbody and results have been compared with that of another waterbody with similar agro ecological environment. Aquatic and terrestrial environmental framework and water accounting framework have been used for assessing WP by aquatic resources and dry season’s boro rice crop, respectively. A range of variables including biophysical (water quality), agricultural (input cost, irrigation water volume, crop yield, fish culture, wild fish catch) and socioeconomic (income, fish consumption, fishing activity) variables have been monitored in both the control and study site. WP by net return on the basis of production cost of aquatic resources is TK 3913 ha-1 of waterbody and dry season’s rice crop including by product is TK 2.87±0.085 m-3 of irrigation water in control site. WP by aquatic resources on the basis of production cost is TK 8016 ha-1 waterbody and dry season’s rice crop including by product is TK 3.42±0.243 m-3 of irrigation water in study site. Results show that net yield of stocked fish per hectare waterbody is 7.53 times higher in study site than in control site due to the intervention of CBFM approach without reducing the wild fish catch. However during dry season, yield of boro rice was estimated to be 1.09 times higher per cubic meter of irrigation water use in study area than control site due to better yield of boro rice crop with less irrigation water requirement. Net WP based on production cost was 1.19 times higher due to the reduction of input cost specially land preparation cost. It has also been observed that CBFM incurs additional income and increases fish consumption for both landowners and landless fishers. So it is evident from the study that alternating rice fish culture in seasonal floodplain area can reduce water use conflict between crops and aquaculture in Bangladesh. If communities are strengthened to overcome obstacles in resource management with effective fundamental and financial supports, community based aquatic resource management approach can serve as a useful tool for increasing WP by enhancing water use efficiency and thus can contribute to current food demand and future food security.
The impacts of both climate change and agricultural practice in Malaysia are generally seen to ha... more The impacts of both climate change and agricultural practice in Malaysia are generally seen to have been connected one with other in an interesting and circular way. The depth of the impacts of the both is certainly difficult to measure as it might require a comparative benefit-cost analysis, which is beyond the scope of the present study. This study is primarily aimed at reviewing the impacts of climate change on Malaysian agricultural sustainability and poverty. Analysis of the study has thus been developed with particular reference to appraisals concerned with the climate change and current agricultural practice and policy. The study reveals that climate change is a major threat for attaining agricultural sustainability in Malaysia as it continuously changes and affects the agriculture in diversified ways. Therefore, good measurement of its impacts on sustainable agriculture is needed to ensure long run agricultural sustainability in Malaysia.
Field of Research: Development Economics, Environmental Economics, Agricultural Economics
Sustainable food security at household level is one of the emerging issues for all nations. There... more Sustainable food security at household level is one of the emerging issues for all nations. There are several factors such as social, economic, political, demographic, natural, and livelihood strategies that causes to the vulnerability of the status of household food security. Therefore examining the vulnerability of these factors is essential to identify the reason and recognize the most vulnerable communities. This study is an attempt to study on the vulnerability of the factors of household food utilization and its linkage with climatic changes in Malaysia. The study is based on primary data collected in the months of July – October, 2012 through a questionnaire survey on 460 low income households from East Coast Economic Region (ECER) in Malaysia. The samples were selected from E-Kasih poor household database, based on cluster random sampling technique. The study found that the vulnerability of the factors of household food utilization has increased statistically significantly over the last five years period due to difference between rural and city food quality, occurrences of natural disasters, incidences of mosquitoes, insects, pest, etc., and diseases like dengue, malaria, heat stretch, cold, skin disease, etc. This study suggests that the food security programs need to be integrated with climatic change adaptation programs to ensure more effective and sustainable household food security in future, especially among the poor and low income group.
Reference: Alam, M.M., Siwar, C., Talib, B., and Wahid, A.N.M. 2016. Climatic Changes and Vulnerability of Household Food Utilization in Malaysian East Coast Economic Region. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sustainable Development and Management, International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Oct 8-9.
The changing natures of climate factors have different impacts on agriculture based on the areas,... more The changing natures of climate factors have different impacts on agriculture based on the areas, periods and crops. In case of Malaysia, climatic changes have adverse impacts on agriculture. Due to climate change here agricultural productivity and profitability is declining. The farmers are the most vulnerable group who are affected both directly and indirectly through the changes of climate. Here income of the farmers is decreasing and government subsidy is increasing due to low productivity of agriculture. As a combined effect, the income inequality among the farmers is increasing. Moreover, climatic changes cause to increase sickness and health hazards of farmers. As a result, farmers’ involvement with agriculture is decreasing. To determine the impacts of climate change on farmers, this study relies on a survey conducted on farmers in the area of Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA), West Selangor, Malaysia. While analyzing the impacts of climate change on farmers, this paper also provides policy recommendations and action plans to cope properly with climate change.
Key words: Climate Change; Income Equality, Health Hazard; Agriculture; Paddy; Malaysia
Purpose: Sustainable food security at the household level is one of the emerging issues for all n... more Purpose: Sustainable food security at the household level is one of the emerging issues for all nations. It is expected that the patterns of household resilience factors and adaptation practices have a strong linkage with household food security. The aim of this study was to seek an effective technique of adaptation for food security and the required types of support for adaptation to food insecurity among the poor and low income households in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach: This study was based on primary data that were collected in Jul-Oct 2012 through a questionnaire survey among 460 poor and low income households from the Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu states of Malaysia. The samples were selected from E-Kasih poor household database based on a two-stage cluster random sampling technique. The study considered household food security as household food availability and food accessibility, and ran ordinal regressions to find out the linkages of household food security with household resilience factors, adaptation practices, and expected support for adaptation to food security. Findings: The study concludes that several resilience factors and adaptation practices were statistically significant to household food security, and several external supports were statistically and significantly needed to ensure household food security. Therefore, to ensure sustainable household food security in Malaysia, the food security programs needs to be integrated with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climatic changes adaptation programs, and the involvement of relevant stakeholders are crucial. Originality/value: This study is a pioneer work based on primary data that empirically measured the linkages of household food security with household resilience factors, adaptation practices, and expected support for adaptation to food security in Malaysia. This study also discussed some issues related to the climate change linkage, which would help future climate change research. The findings of the study will be beneficial for all the stakeholders, including policy makers related to the food security and climate change adaptation.
Mitigation and Adaptation for Global Change, Vol. 17(4), pp. 415-423, 2012. (ISSN 1381-2386; Publisher- Springer)
The climatic factors in Malaysia have been changing very rapidly affecting agricultural productiv... more The climatic factors in Malaysia have been changing very rapidly affecting agricultural productivity and farmers’ sustainable livelihood. Agriculture which depends heavily on climate is becoming increasingly vulnerable to risk and uncertainty. In order to face and manage the situation farmers are trying in various ways to adapt to these climatic vulnerabilities. This study analyses paddy farmers’ perception of climatic variations and vulnerabilities and focuses on the techniques they use to adapt to the situation. It uses primary data collected through a questionnaire survey on the paddy farmers in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA), North-West Selangor in Malaysia. Through a descriptive analysis of the data, the study finds that most farmers do not have a clear perception of the climatic changes and vulnerabilities. Farmers’ adaptation practices to the climatic vulnerability are mostly based on their common sense responses. It suggests that farmers need necessary training and support from the government and international agencies to make them able to effectively adapt to the climatic vulnerability and avert any adverse effect on their socioeconomic sustainability and national food security.
Climate and agriculture highly interrelated. Agriculture is highly dependent on the climatic fact... more Climate and agriculture highly interrelated. Agriculture is highly dependent on the climatic factors. The climatic factors as well as other factors that are determined by climate cause vulnerability of agriculture and agricultural production.. Using a survey method this study aims to determine the impacts of climatic change on agricultural vulnerability in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA), West Selangor, Malaysia. Results suggest that over the last 5 years vulnerability of the factors like, injurious insects, high temperature, soil fertility loss, and cost of input materials increased greatly due to climatic changes; and the vulnerability of the factors like shortage of rainfall, excessive rainfall, and labor scarcity increased moderately during this period. It is projected that due to climate change agricultural production sustainability will become vulnerable in Malaysia by 2020.
Key words: Climate Change; Vulnerability; Agricultural Sustainability; Paddy; Malaysia
Agricultural contribution to GDP in Malaysia has been declining since 1970. The usages of agricul... more Agricultural contribution to GDP in Malaysia has been declining since 1970. The usages of agricultural land are also gradually decreasing. Even within the total agricultural area, most of the land has been used for industrial crops, and the ratio between industrial crops and food crops is increasing. Paddy is the main food crop in Malaysia, but as a low rate of productivity, farmers are engaged on part time basis. Therefore, it seems necessary to know the socioeconomic characteristics of the paddy farmers, their livelihood, and agricultural sustainability for policy implementation and its evaluation. This study analyzes the current profile of the paddy farmers in the Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA), North-West Selangor, Malaysia based on primary data. The data was collected through a questionnaire survey. Findings of the study suggest policy recommendations and action plans for the improvement of the farmers’ livelihood. The findings of the study are important for the policy makers and relevant agencies.
Key words: Land ownership; Crop choice; Yield; Machinery; Dependency ratio; Paddy; Malaysia
Sustainable food security at household level is one of the emerging issues for all nations. There... more Sustainable food security at household level is one of the emerging issues for all nations. There are several factors such as social, economic, political, demographic, natural, and livelihood strategies that causes to the vulnerability of the status of household food security. Therefore examining the vulnerability of these factors is essential to identify the reason and recognize the most vulnerable communities. This study is an attempt to study on the vulnerability of the factors of household food availability and its linkage with climatic changes in Malaysia. The study is based on primary data collected in the months of July – October, 2012 through a questionnaire survey on 460 low income households from East Coast Economic Region (ECER) in Malaysia. The samples were selected from E-Kasih poor household database, based on cluster random sampling technique. The study found that the vulnerability of the factors of household food availability has decreased statistically significantly over the last five years period in Malaysia for the factors of effectiveness of food distribution process, road and transportation facility for food distribution process, availability of expected food in the local market, sufficiency of expected food in the local market, and stability of food supply in market. The mean values of the current status of the factors of household food availability differ significantly at 1% significance level from the scenario of 5 years ago. However, most of the cases climatic issues were found less responsible for the changes of these factors. Though Malaysia is adversely affected by climatic change, the factors of food availability are not affected yet remarkably. This study suggests that the food security programs need to be integrated with climatic change adaptation programs to ensure more effective and sustainable household food security in future, especially among the poor and low income group. Moreover, a proper monitoring agency is required to ensure consistent supply of food in the rural and remote areas, especially at the time of natural calamity or off season.
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Papers by Chamhuri Siwar
Field of Research: Development Economics, Environmental Economics, Agricultural Economics
Keywords: Climatic Changes, Household Food Security, Food Utilization; Vulnerability, Poverty
Reference: Alam, M.M., Siwar, C., Talib, B., and Wahid, A.N.M. 2016. Climatic Changes and Vulnerability of Household Food Utilization in Malaysian East Coast Economic Region. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sustainable Development and Management, International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Oct 8-9.
Key words: Climate Change; Income Equality, Health Hazard; Agriculture; Paddy; Malaysia
Design/methodology/approach: This study was based on primary data that were collected in Jul-Oct 2012 through a questionnaire survey among 460 poor and low income households from the Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu states of Malaysia. The samples were selected from E-Kasih poor household database based on a two-stage cluster random sampling technique. The study considered household food security as household food availability and food accessibility, and ran ordinal regressions to find out the linkages of household food security with household resilience factors, adaptation practices, and expected support for adaptation to food security.
Findings: The study concludes that several resilience factors and adaptation practices were statistically significant to household food security, and several external supports were statistically and significantly needed to ensure household food security. Therefore, to ensure sustainable household food security in Malaysia, the food security programs needs to be integrated with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climatic changes adaptation programs, and the involvement of relevant stakeholders are crucial.
Originality/value: This study is a pioneer work based on primary data that empirically measured the linkages of household food security with household resilience factors, adaptation practices, and expected support for adaptation to food security in Malaysia. This study also discussed some issues related to the climate change linkage, which would help future climate change research. The findings of the study will be beneficial for all the stakeholders, including policy makers related to the food security and climate change adaptation.
Key words: Agricultural Sustainability; Climate Change; Climatic Vulnerability; Adaptation Technique; Farmer; Paddy; Malaysia
Key words: Climate Change; Vulnerability; Agricultural Sustainability; Paddy; Malaysia
Key words: Land ownership; Crop choice; Yield; Machinery; Dependency ratio; Paddy; Malaysia