Rice is an important staple food in Asia. However, modernization and rapid development have reduced and threatened the practice, especially maintaining traditional hill rice cultivation, as in this case study by the Iban in Kuala Tatau located in the largest state in Malaysia, called Sarawak. It is important to understand the problems and challenges of this issue to ensure food security among the rural population in Sarawak, particularly the Iban. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss the issues and problems faced by rice farmers in Kuala Tatau, Sarawak. The respondents were Iban farmers in Kuala Tatau; named Sungai Semanok and Kuala Serupai, were selected as it is at a great distance from urban areas named Bintulu, and they still practices paddy cultivation. For the purpose of obtaining the data, qualitative research methods through in-depth interview techniques, group discussion and observation were utilized and the data were analyzed using content analysis. The results showed that the rice sector faced major problems such as the decrease of the number of farmers and a weak system in the distribution of subsidies. However, there were differences shown in results between the two villages as well, which were in term of inadequate agricultural land, and issues on drainage and irrigation system, depending on the distance of the village from urban area, transport facilities, and other issues as discussed in the following section.
This paper attempts to describe some housing issues pertaining to religious and cultural practices in Malaysia. As a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society, residential arrangements are used as a tool to achieve greater social and ethnic mix as envisioned by the government under the New Economic Policy and its Housing Policy. While the aim is for social integration among its population, living with people who do not share similar cultural and religious practices may cause problems too, especially that related to the use of space. This is especially true in urban housing areas where space is scarce and thus does not always cater to the residents' needs. Using a sample of 400 respondents from four urbanized areas of Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor Bahru, we try to understand the respondents' views about their neighbours' religious and cultural practices that differ from theirs. Our findings will be discussed within the framework of cultural acceptance and tolerance as well as to gauge whether the government's policy is translated well by the population.
Malaysia ranks fairly high in the Global Food Security Index, 32 out of 105 countries, which include dimensions of affordability, availability and quality to accessing food. Using the same dimensions, the paper attempts to show whether this ranking is reflected at the local level. Kedah, a state located in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia is chosen for the case study due to high incidence of poverty, the third highest in Peninsular Malaysia. The paper is based from findings in the district of Pendang, Kedah, comparing food insecurity between three Mukim-Mukim Ayer Putih, Mukim Guar Kepayang and Mukim Bukit Raya. All three Mukim have high incidence of hard core poor, as indicated by the e-Sinar online data. The research approach is based on quantitative household survey, using the e-Sinar information as a sampling frame. A total number of 595 respondents were interviewed, 284 in Mukim Ayer Putih, 171 in Mukim Guar Kepayang and 140 in Mukim Bukit Raya. Types of food insecurity are then mapped using the GIS system to analyse the distribution and trends of food insecurity over the study area.
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