Sabah Names Five Districts As Food Production Valleys

KOTA KINABALU, April 27 (Bernama) -- Sabah has identified five districts, Keningau, Tenom, Nabawan, Tongod and Tambunan, as food production valleys to bolster food supply security and stabilise local market prices, said Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

He said the initiative, led by the state government through the Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA), is designed to make the best use of land for large-scale food production.

He added that it is one of the state government's medium- and long-term strategies to address mounting cost-of-living pressures, especially on food prices.

"For instance, high-impact projects such as the Keningau Integrated Livestock Centre, which focuses on rearing beef cattle for local markets.

"These initiatives should cut our dependence on imported meat and dairy while helping to steady market prices," he said, replying to a question from Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal (Warisan-Senallang), who asked about the state government's immediate measures to shield people from rising cost-of-living pressures, during the question-and-answer session at the Sabah State Legislative Assembly today.

Hajiji added that the state has allocated RM102.86 million under the 13th Malaysia Plan for food security projects in agriculture, livestock and fisheries, stressing that boosting domestic production is key to shielding people from global price swings that directly hit living costs.

At the same time, he said the state government is promoting subsistence farming through the Kebun Dapur programme to help households cut daily expenses.

“This initiative does more than cut daily expenses. It also boosts households’ resilience to price shocks and any food supply disruptions,” he said.

Hajiji said the state will continue strengthening the local food production ecosystem, supporting agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries with various incentives, noting that this integrated approach is vital to keeping food supplies stable, sufficient and affordable amid global economic uncertainty.

He added that targeted cash aid is being channelled through the Program Sentuhan Kasih Rakyat (SYUKUR), which provides monthly assistance for 12 months to 100,000 recipients and is expected to rise to 140,000 under an allocation of RM339.16 million to directly ease living‑cost pressures.

-- BERNAMA