Rags to Riches - Engaging Technologies to Eradicate Poverty

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RAGS TO RICHES: ENGAGING TECHNOLOGIES TO ERADICATE POVERTY

description

The AZAM Tani Programme with the overarching goal to increase the income of the hardcorepoor by providing economic assistance to agricultural projects based on cash crop cultivation,fisheries, livestock, processing of agricultural products, agro-based business and agricultureservices. The implementation of innovative technological and management systems showed thatMalaysia has been successful in decreasing the poverty rate from 3.8% in 2009 to 1.7% in 2012.The AZAM Tani Programme implemented by MARDI managed to increase the economic status of54% of 1,760 participants. These participants increased their household income by 40% or higher.Malaysia has taken the bold step of using the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) to transformthe government delivery of services to be more efficient through optimal use of national resourcesand reduce the gap that exists in various public and private organizations. In the blue oceanstrategy approach, the unused land in Sepang owned by the Ministry of Defence that is unsuitablefor conventional agriculture have been successfully transformed into a high-tech agricultural areas.The funding of this project (utilizing the unused land) was provided by the Ministry of Women,Family and Community Development under the Azam Tani Programme. This approach choosesto use a new cultivation technology that involves a soilless production system called “fertigation”.The AZAM Tani Programme with the support of NBOS approach has contributed to the success oferadication of poverty. The achievements have been recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture andAgro-based Industry and The Implementation and Coordination Units (ICU) in the Prime Minister’sDepartment of Malaysia

Transcript of Rags to Riches - Engaging Technologies to Eradicate Poverty

RAGS TO RICHES:ENGAGINGTECHNOLOGIESTO ERADICATE POVERTY

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The AZAM Tani Programme with the overarching goal to increase the income of the hardcore poor by providing economic assistance to agricultural projects based on cash crop cultivation, fisheries, livestock, processing of agricultural products, agro-based business and agriculture services. The implementation of innovative technological and management systems showed that Malaysia has been successful in decreasing the poverty rate from 3.8% in 2009 to 1.7% in 2012. The AZAM Tani Programme implemented by MARDI managed to increase the economic status of 54% of 1,760 participants. These participants increased their household income by 40% or higher. Malaysia has taken the bold step of using the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) to transform the government delivery of services to be more efficient through optimal use of national resources and reduce the gap that exists in various public and private organizations. In the blue ocean strategy approach, the unused land in Sepang owned by the Ministry of Defence that is unsuitable for conventional agriculture have been successfully transformed into a high-tech agricultural areas. The funding of this project (utilizing the unused land) was provided by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development under the Azam Tani Programme. This approach chooses to use a new cultivation technology that involves a soilless production system called “fertigation”. The AZAM Tani Programme with the support of NBOS approach has contributed to the success of eradication of poverty. The achievements have been recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry and The Implementation and Coordination Units (ICU) in the Prime Minister’s Department of Malaysia.

iiInnovative management and appropriate technologiesto eradicate hardcore poverty

Innovative management and appropriate technologies to eradicate hardcore poverty

1Innovative management and appropriate technologiesto eradicate hardcore poverty

INTRODUCTION

The Government Transformation Programme (GTP) was introduced to improve the quality of public sector delivery to achieve vision 2020. Accordingly, the seven National Key Result Areas (NKRA) were created under the GTP initiative. One of the NKRA is to enhance the living standards of low-income households led by the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. Under the NKRA low-income households, there are 49 initiatives that support 12 service strategies. One of these initiatives is the AZAM Tani Programme entrusted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (MOA) as Project Champion across the states in Peninsular Malaysia.

To assist the low-income household, the Government Transformation Programme version 1.0 (GTP 1.0 : 2010 to 2012) was set to eradicate poverty by the end of December 2010 and reduce it to 2.8%. Statistics in 2009 showed that 190,000 poor and hardcore poor families were enrolled in the eKasih Programme. The eKasih Programme is the electronic listing of hardcore poor registered under the Prime Minister’s Department of Malaysia. The targeted number of families involved in the 1 AZAM Programme is 47,000 and the GTP 1.0 target was 27,000 families affected by a range of 1 AZAM Programme. For GTP 2.0 (2013 to 2015), a new target has been set to reduce the poor and hardcore poor from 3.8 % to 2.0%. The 1 AZAM Programme setting involved 20,000 participants and the remaining 96,000 participants will be assisted by other programmes such as education and 1 Malaysia People’s Aid.

Four initiatives in the implementation of the 1 AZAM Programme are AZAM Niaga, AZAM Khidmat, AZAM Kerja and AZAM Tani. This programme is implemented by various ministries, departments and agencies. AZAM is the synonym for AKHIRI ZAMAN MISKIN (Ending of Poverty Age). The AZAM Tani is implemented under the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (MOA) by its various departments and agencies. The AZAM Tani Programme was selected by the MOA as the ‘’Champion Project’’ to help the hardcore poor households to increase their income through economic aid in the agriculture sector and agro-based industries.

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BACKGROUND

MARDI has been implementing the AZAM Tani Programme in several states to increase the individual income of 1,730 households by 40%. The AZAM Tani Programme has become one of the Key Performance Indicators (KPI) under the MOA scorecard since 2010. The number of participants involved in the project from 2011 to 2014 is shown in Table 1 and Figure 1.

Table 1 : Number of participants in different states involved in the AZAM Tani

Programme

STATEYEAR

2011 2012 2013Selangor 850 30 -

Perak - 240 80Kelantan - 90 150

Terengganu - 100 50Pahang - - 50Kedah - - 50Melaka - - -

Pulau Pinang - - -Johor - - 40Total 850 460 420

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Objectives of the project are to:

i. increase the income of the eKasih household through economic assistance projects in agriculture and agricultural based industries,

ii. increase the knowledge, skills and competencies of the eKasih household in agriculture through self-reliance and technical training provided by MARDI and

iii. assist in the removal of participants from the shackles of poverty which will be in line with the government’s aspiration to become a high-income developed nation by 2020.

Figure 1 : The number of households involved in the AZAM Tani Programme (2011 - 2013)

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SELECTION OF HARDCORE POOR HOUSEHOLD

The hardcore poor are those earning less than the level of the poverty line income (PLI) for food determined according to the current balance of dietary nutritional requirements of a family released by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Prime Minister’s Department of Malaysia (2012). The hardcore poor of the country are listed in the eKasih Programme from which the participants are selected (Pictures 1 and 2)

Participants of the AZAM Tani Programme consist of:

i. heads and members of hardcore poor households,

ii. single mothers,

iii. people with disabilities,

iv. aborigines and

v. vulnerable groups who were former drug addicts, HIV AIDS and ex-bandits.

Pictures 1 and 2 : Hardcore poor households in Malaysia

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The participants are screened for their potential in terms of their commitments, interests, skills, suitability of the project sites and individual capabilities to carry out the economic activities. The engagement of the officers in the screening process is crucial for the success of the activities to be taken by the participants (Pictures 3 and 4).

Pictures 3 and 4 : Screening process by the officer

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INNOVATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

This programme is the hallmark responsibility of the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) scientists involving social motivation and technology utilisation by the lowest strata of a society. In this programme, a number of innovations were applied in the selection of project activities, structural supports, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) development, technical training, motivation and family financial management. Continuous monitoring and personal coaching of the project activities are also the key elements of this programme (Pictures 5 and 6). In this programme, the participants are given aid in-kind in terms of tools, agriculture inputs and small equipments (Pictures 7 and 8). However, no monetary aid is given to the participants.

Pictures 5 and 6 : Group assembly and continuous monitoring by the officer

Pictures 7 and 8 : Small equipments

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The model shown in Figure 2 is strongly supported by excellent work culture that has always been practiced by scientists of MARDI. A task force has been established to implement and monitor the performance of the programme. A key component of this programme is based on implementing the activities using appropriate technologies suggested by MARDI scientists based on participant’s capabilities. Programme participants are also able to choose activities easily and quickly according to the local environment and therefore be able to generate income quickly (quick returns to investment) (Figure 3).

In this model:

i. Project activities selected must produce results quickly (Quick Return) between 3 and 6 months of implementation, provide good returns, produce products/services that are marketable, viable and sustainable.

ii. Implementation of the contract farming, mentor-mentee and anchor concepts are recommended.

iii. For individual project activity, priority should be given to selected participants. Project selection should be based on the interests, capability and skills of the participants.

iv. For the project activity managed by the anchor, participants are passive recipients of dividends selected from the non-productive hardcore poor consisting of single parents, the disabled and the elderly.

Figure 2 : Model of the project

Figure 4 shows that 38% of the participants preferred choice for quick returns was the category of processing agro-based products. Seventeen percent preferred agriculture services which required a small capital while 9% preferred agro-based business.

Figure3:ProjectactivitieswithinthescopeofAZAM Tani Programme

Figure 4 : Main cluster of project implementation

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AgricultureServices

Food & BeveragesBusinessFood Processing

Livestocks

Agrotourism

FisheriesCrops

Agro-basedBusiness

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INNOVATION with APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES

Appropriate technologies used in the project activities refer to technologies that are cheap, easy to learn, suitable for target groups, labour intensive, suitable for small scale, environmentally friendly and easy to handle and maintain (Figure 5).

Figure 5 : Appropriate technologies

Picture 9 : Application of appropriate technologies in processing agro-based products

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Picture 10 : Application of appropriate technologies in crop planting

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EFFECTIVENESS

The pie chart below shows the achievement of 54% of the participants who successfully increased their incomes. The remaining participants required more training and motivation to improve their potential (Figure 6).

Implementations of technology innovation and management showed that the percentage of poverty decreased from 3.8% in 2009 to 1.7% in 2012.

The chart below (Figure 7) shows that 75% achieved an income above the poverty level in 2013.

Figure 6 : Achievement of the project innovation

Figure 7 : Achievement of the project in 2013

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TRANSFERABLE LESSONS LEARNT

The approach of this programme through various methods ranging from a tendency for participants to choose a project, capital, inputs other than infra, motivational, technical training (physical and spiritual) and financial management has proven to be a process innovation in poverty eradication projects and serves as a model to implement eradication in other programmes (Pictures 11 and 12).

Picture 12 : Financial management training

Picture 11 : Inputs more than infra

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The strategy described above has proven to be beneficial to the target groups and can serve as a model for the civil service. Technology innovation towards the application of appropriate technologies has proven to be successful in mitigating poverty as expected by the National Key Result Areas (NKRA). Thus, the implementation of these projects has shown a reduction in poverty in the hard-core poor from 3.8% (2009) to 1.7% (2012).

Knowledge and innovation are indicators and keywords to the transferable lessons learnt to eradicate poverty in Malaysia. Experience of implementing the project has provided some guidance in implementing projects involving the poor. The commitment of participants been proven to be one of the most important factors to contribute to the success of the economic activities of the project (Picture 13). The selection method is certainly not based on the analysis of the potential of an area of ongoing efforts to earn income.

MARDI’s project has managed to increase the economic status of most of the participants selected through an increase in revenue. Different approaches adopted by MARDI and determined by the participants, development of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the project by members of a committed task force, infrastructure cost savings and the use of mature seeds have been effective in determining the success of the project. These will provide guidance in the implementation of poverty eradication projects in future and inspire other participants to be able to take advantage of the assistance given by the government to reduce poverty.

Picture 13 : Commitment of participants

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Engaging rural labour for high value-added economic activities on unused government lands

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Malaysia has taken the bold step of using the Blue Ocean Strategy to transform the government delivery of services to be more efficient through optimal use of national resources and to reduce the gap that exists in various public and private organizations.

In contrast to the Red Ocean Strategy that enables an individual or an industry to exploit the existing demands to the fullest, the Blue Ocean Strategy allows individuals or industries to innovate and create new demands although there is no guarantee of success. The Blue Ocean Strategy is uncontested market space, unlocking new demands and making the competition irrelevant.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak urged Malaysians to apply the elements of the Blue Ocean Strategy in the public administration to improve its performance (Straits Times, 14 September 2012). Malaysia is targeting economic growth that can be achieved by multiplication of resources through various initiatives by the Blue Ocean Strategy. There are six key principles that should be followed to ensure the success of the Blue Ocean Strategy:

1. Reconstruct market boundaries,

2. Focus on the big picture not the number,

3. Reach beyond existing demands,

4. Get the strategic sequence right,

5. Overcome key organizational hurdles and

6. Build execution into strategy.

The National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) is a programme at the national level which contributes to new ideas to change the thinking and perception and to translate useful practices that benefit the public service and communities through the approach of strategic logic called Value Innovation (VI) (Figure 1) in the government delivery systems. Value Innovation (VI) is achieved through alignment of the whole government system (utility, price and cost) activities that integrates both government sector functional and operational activities by maximizing the usage of resources/facilities/assets and minimizing the ‘silo’ mindset.

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The success of the Blue Ocean Strategy depends on the organization’s success in achieving the innovation whose value can only be achieved when the production cost can be reduced and the buyers improved simultaneously. Cost reduction is done by removing and trying to reduce the factors that cause competition while the buyers increase by adding and creating new elements that have not been offered in the market.

In Malaysia, over 80 ministries and agencies are collaborating to formulate and execute extraordinary cooperation through NBOS. The concept of the Blue Ocean Strategy is currently being implemented in numerous agricultural projects in Malaysia. Under NBOS 3, Engaging Rural Labour for High Value-added Economic Activities on Unused Government Land, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry (MOA) collaborated to develop idle land for agricultural purposes using financial support from AZAM TANI Programme under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.

As one of the agricultural expert under MOA, MARDI has been appointed as the leading agency to implement and to ensure sustainability of the project to achieve targeted goals; the land use and skill development among youth and pensioner. During project planning, MARDI has encountered several issues such as poor soil condition, floods and lack of initial development fund. However, with the ongoing cooperation between MARDI with over 10 agencies and organizations such as Department of Agriculture (DOA), National Agriculture Training Council (NATC), Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (FAMA), National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM), Irrigation and Agricultural Drainage Division [Bahagian Pengairan dan Saliran Pertanian (BPSP)], National Seed Association and several other agency/company as listed in Table 1, all the issues raised have been addressed and the unused land has been transformed to agricultural development area (Picture 1) with rockmelon crop cultivated using a fertigation system.

Figure 1 : Value innovation

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Table 1 : Inter-agency collaboration

AGENCY ROLESMARDI Lead agency

AZAM TANI Financial and TraineeNATC, IP (DOA) Trainee

FAMA MarketingMOA Project owner

MINDEF LandPublic Works Department (JKR) Farm roads

NAHRIM / BPSP Water qualitySepang District Council, Sepang District

and Land Offices Development and Project Planning

Melonaire Sdn. Bhd Anchor companyNational Seed Association Reference for Melon varieties

This project is carried out by the Melonaire Sdn. Bhd., a company that act as an anchor company to run the project provided that they agreed to train any interested parties with the fertigation system adopted. This collaboration not only emphasizes business by the private sector but also provide platform for trainings and technology transfer from the government to the youth and pensioner.

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With commitment from all parties involved in this project, 7 acres of unused government land under MINDEF located at PT 188, Sepang was develop within 12 months. The development involves preparation of the area by clearing the land and by installating the greenhouse infrastructure and fertigation system. As the leading agency, MARDI plays significant roles in technology transfer to both the industry and the communities to increase the productivity of agricultural and agro-based industry. Therefore, MARDI has started the selected practical and cost effective technologies (greenhouse and fertigation system) and potential commodities such as rockmelon to achieve the targeted goals. The use of greenhouse is the most effective method because the greenhouse facilities that are being developed can be used for a long-term period (estimated 10 years).

Picture 1: NBOS 3 has successfully transform an idle land into a productive land

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Rockmelon crop was first planted in February 2012 and the yield was harvested on 26 April 2012. Through close monitoring of the project implementation and hands-on training at Test Bed, phase 1 of this project has managed to accomplish 10 crop cycles with a production of 73.4 metric tonnes of rockmelon with an average yield of 10 - 12 metric tonnes per cycle (Figure 2). Cost of production for every cycle is shown in Figure 3. This project has managed to successfully train 17 youths as young agricultural entrepreneurs (agropreneurs) where two of them have managed to have their own rockmelon farms with a monthly income of RM5,000.

Figure 2 : Production of rockmelon for 4 cropping cycles

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The successful completion of Phase 1 has led to Phase 2, that involves 5 active and 25 passive trained veterans from Malaysian Armed Forces Veterans Affair Department. The phase 2 project has started on January 2014 and the first harvest was done in March.

Implementation of this project in a strategic area (near Kuala Lumpur International Airport), has gained a lot of attention from various interested parties

Figure 3 : Cost production of rockmelon growth under rainshelter using fertigation system

including the young entrepreneurs to venture into the agriculture sector. Key objectives of this project have already been achieved, which results in increasing food production in the country, helping families with low income and producing many young agropreneurs. In addition, the project has created opportunities for agro-tourism.

The success of this project is not only measured by the production but also by the numbers of engaging communities trained with the technology for high value-added economic activities to build self-reliance among participants to enhance their competency. MARDI has decided to engage with new participants/ agropreneurs every 6 months or 15 agropreneurs each year. This project has also successfully enhanced collaboration among the government agencies by maximizing the usage of resources/facilities and breaking the silo in performing works.

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Table 2 : Production NBOS 3, Sepang

Production 1 July 2012Season 1

Item Amount ( RM )1 Preparation of planting medium 1910.00

2 Nursery 1381.503 Foliar fertilizer / Pesticides 221.534 Compound Fertilizer 5550.005 Water 500.006 Electricity 2000.007 Labour 7200.00 TOTAL 18763.03

Total Production 10,366.77 kgTotal Sale RM36,025.20Total Cost RM18,763.03Net Profit/3 months RM17,262.17Income/month RM5,754.04

Production 2 December 2012Season 2

Item Amount ( RM )1 Preparation of planting medium 150.002 Nursery 1180.003 Foliar fertilizer / Pesticides 221.534 Compound Fertilizer 5550.005 Water 500.006 Electricity 1952.907 Labour 7200.00

TOTAL 16754.43

Total Production 10,042.00 kgTotal Sale RM34,807.70Total Cost RM16,754.43Net Profit/3 months RM18,053.27Income/month RM6,017.75

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Production 3 May 2013Season 3

Item Amount ( RM )1 Preparation of planting medium 540.002 Nursery 1180.003 Foliar fertilizer / Pesticides 221.534 Compound Fertilizer 5550.005 Water 500.006 Electricity 1943.557 Labour 7200.00 TOTAL 17135.08

Total Production 10,745kgTotal Sale RM39,936.50Total Cost RM17,135.08Net Profit/3 months RM22,801.42Income/month RM7,600.47

Production 4Season 4

Item Amount ( RM )1 Preparation of planting medium 150.002 Nursery 1180.003 Foliar fertilizer / Pesticides 221.534 Compound Fertilizer 5550.005 Water 500.006 Electricity 3793.557 Labour 7200.00

TOTAL 18595.08

Total Production 10,822.00kgTotal Sale RM39,942.40Total Cost RM18,595.08Net Profit/3 months RM21,347.30Income/month RM7,115.76