Deep Roots

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] 149

Transforming rags to riches:

ending the age of poverty

Dr Mohamad Roff Mohd Noor, Dato’ Dr Sharif Haron and Rohani Md Yon,

Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute

he Ma l a y s i an Fede r a l Go v e r nmen t ’ s

Transformation Programme was introduced to

improve the quality of public sector delivery to

achieve vision 2020 and one of the seven National Key

Result Areas is to enhance the living standards of low-

income households. Among the low-income key result

area initiatives is the Akhiri Zaman Miskin (AZAM) Tani

project (akhiri zaman miskin means ‘ending the age of

poverty’). The project is entrusted to the Ministry of

Agriculture and Agro-based Industry to be implemented

across the states in Peninsular Malaysia.

Implementation of the AZAM Tani project is headed by

the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and

Agro-based Industry, Dato ‘Mohd Hashim bin Abdullah and

implemented by all 11 departments and agencies under the

Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry. One of

the agencies that is entrusted to implement this project

is the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development

Institute (MARDI).

The specific objective of the project is to improve the

income of the hardcore poor through economic assistance

in activities such as crop planting, fisheries, livestock,

processing of agricultural products, agro-based businesses

and agriculture services.

Low-income people are classified in three groups:

hardcore poor, poor and vulnerable to poverty. The meas-

urement in poverty level is based on per capita monthly

income of each member of the family or the so-called

poverty line income (PLI ). Based on the 2007 PLI, the per

capita income of the hardcore poor is below RM100, for

the poor it is between RM100 and RM160 and for those

vulnerable to poverty it is between RM161 and RM232.

The focus of this project is to help eradicate the hardcore

poor and the poor.

MARDI was requested to implement this project by

the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry in

August 2009. The project gave new responsibilities to

MARDI in the management of a poverty eradication project

in three parliamentary areas of Batu Pahat, Johor; Alor

Food processing equipment given to a participant

A participant selecting cucumbers for sale

Image: MARDI

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