Cooperatives encouraged to carry out urban farming - Noh Omar

SHAH ALAM: Cooperatives are encouraged to carry out urban farming, especially on idle or abandoned land as one of the ways to generate additional income, as well as to improve the standard of living of their members, especially the B40 group.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said the concept of urban farming is also in line with the Cabinet's decision to give approval for use of abandoned land for non-permanent farming activities to generate income for the local community.

"With the involvement of cooperatives in urban farming, it indirectly helps to increase the output of agro-food products.

"Efforts to establish cooperatives that carry out urban farming are also in line with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob's announcement on the RM100 million allocation under the Agrofood Fund to increase the country's food security, as well as in line with the government's jihad against middlemen campaign," he said.

He said this after the launch of Kebun Koperasi Keluarga Malaysia and Kobuniti Agro Park in conjunction with the Selangor Keluarga Malaysia Aspirations (AKM) Tour here today.

According to Noh, there are currently 3,262 cooperatives in the country that are involved in agriculture and agro-based industry, with 10 percent of them carrying out urban farming.

Earlier, Noh opened the Koperasi Kebuniti Selangor Berhad (KOBUNITI), covering 6.07 hectares at Section U12 Cahaya Alam here.

The cooperative provides sites for the asnaf and B40 groups as well as the local residents to carry out agriculture activities as a hobby or to generate income.

-- BERNAMA