Kota Kinabalu: The government’s Agro Madani sales programme is helping ease the burden of rising living costs by offering essential goods at prices between 10 and 30 per cent lower than the market rate, said Deputy Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Chan Foong Hin.
He said the programme not only benefits consumers but also provides a platform for entrepreneurs under the guidance of Fama to market and sell their products directly to the public.
“The initiative is part of the government’s intervention measures to help the people cope with the increasing cost of food and daily necessities following the global supply crisis triggered by the conflict in West Asia since February this year,” said Chan.
He said this during the Agro Madani Sales cum Parents’ Day celebration for the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary constituency at Taman Ujana Rimba Tropika.
Although Malaysians may not yet feel the full impact of the crisis, Chan warned that shortages involving raw materials and petrochemical by-products, such as plastic packaging, could face supply disruptions and lead to price increases.
He said the government expects a possible wave of price increases beginning in June and beyond, particularly involving food items and other consumer products.
“This is why the government will continue expanding the Agro Madani sales programme to ensure the people can access goods at more affordable prices,” he said.
At the same time, Chan advised the public to practise prudent spending, especially with the Kaamatan festive season approaching.
“I am not saying people cannot celebrate or enjoy themselves, but with prices rising, we all need to spend wisely,” he said.
Among the items sold during the programme were whole chickens priced as low as RM5 together with selected vegetables such as garlic, onions and cucumbers.
Chan said the programme targeted 400 visitors and aimed to achieve sales of about RM20,000.
He added that 5,000 Agro Madani sales programmes will be organised nationwide to promote local products.
According to him, various ministries and agencies have introduced their own sales initiatives with different scopes but sharing the same objective of helping the rakyat and strengthening market access for local products.
“For example, KPKM focuses more on market items such as fish and chicken, while Rahmah sales focus on packaged goods. Kuskop, meanwhile, focuses more on SMEs.
“Although the scopes are slightly different, the objective remains the same,” he said.
Chan also said Mardi contributed six units of its green kit for kitchen garden initiatives.
He said the Mardi-designed kit is user-friendly and includes an indicator showing whether the water level is sufficient.
“Besides the green kit, we are also providing seeds together with soil.
“So we are contributing them to three senior citizens’ associations in Kota Kinabalu, Likas and Luyang to encourage kitchen gardening,” he said, adding that each unit is sold at about RM70 in the market.
