Right to Food, A Rising Challenge for Malaysia

By Nur Aimidiyana Zuher KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 (Bernama) -- As Malaysia continues to record impressive economic growth and good results in poverty eradication, the importance of achieving the right to food has become a challenge. The right to food is a human right recognised under international law, which protects the right of all human beings to feed themselves in dignity, either by producing their food or by purchasing it. Realising the importance of this issue, the Malaysian government has initiated a move to get to the root of the problem with the assistance of the United Nations (UN). Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the right to food was invited to prepare preliminary reports on several aspects that revolve around the human rights category including the right to food. During his nine-day visit to the country, De Schutter, who held consultations with a range of ministries and consulted broadly across civil society, giving special attention to Malaysians who were in vulnerable situations, such as the indigenous groups. In his preliminary findings, De Schutter had listed out challenges, which Malaysian government would need to give extra attention as well as prepare plans to overcome the arising problems. POVERTY, FOOD INSECURITY In his findings on Malaysia, De Schutter said for a fast-emerging economy like Malaysia the challenge is to ensure that no one is left behind and cut off from the benefits of development. “The challenge is to ensure that the right to food is realised for everyone in the country," he said. Malaysia was lauded by the UN for its impressive strides in reducing poverty since independence in 1957 and its ability to emerge as an upper middle-income country with a high human development index. According to De Schutter, between 1995 and 2012, the aggregate rate of Malaysian poverty witnessed a reduction from 8.9 to 1.7 per cent and urban poverty from 3.7 per cent to 1.0 per cent, and rural poverty from 15.3 per cent to 3.4 per cent. “The number of people living in hardcore poverty, unable to meet their basic food needs, had decreased from 0.7 percent in 2009 to 0.2 percent in 2012,” he said. FROM ‘FIRST-GENERATION’ TO ‘SECOND-GENERATION’ DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES As Malaysia moves towards a high-income country, it has set its target and developed policies like the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and Government Transformation Programme (GTP) to push ahead. According to De Schutter, Malaysia had to ensure that growth was not achieved at the expense of the environment and the rights of vulnerable groups in the society, such as the indigenous communities and migrant workers. "Malaysia has made impressive progress towards the reduction of poverty and has improved on all socio-economic indicators. As Malaysia moves towards becoming a high-income country, the country must address what may be called 'second-generation' development issues," he said. The second-generation development issues include resilient and sustainable food systems, minimum wage, social protection and the rights of indigenous people, he said. He added it is time now to address these challenges to further move the country towards this target. TOWARDS RESILIENT AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS In order to achieve the right to food, De Schutter said Malaysia would need to move towards more resilient and sustainable food system. "In this respect, Malaysia has made much advancements in recent years though some areas require further attention and remained challenging. MINIMUM WAGE UN also commended the adoption of minimum wage in Malaysia, which it said could help to ensure a higher standard of living for the working poor across the country. De Schutter said the current rate for the minimum wage of RM900 (US$273.88) a month in the Peninsular and RM800 (US$243.45) in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, which was enforced on Jan 1, 2013, is still quite low in comparison to the poverty line defined by the government itself based on the basic needs of households. "I would hope the National Wages Consultative Council would in time increase the level of the minimum wage,” he said. SOCIAL PROTECTION During his first official visit to the country De Schutter also pointed social protection is an essential means of access to food for those unable to work or produce their own food. He said Malaysia has generally prioritised employment-oriented schemes that seek to assist individuals in entering and remaining in the workforce. “For example 1Malaysia Stores which aim to provide access to wide range of basic foods at a reduced price and 1Azam programme to lift low-income households out of poverty,” he said. However, he welcomed the efforts by all levels of government to ensure access to an adequate standard of living and access to adequate food. De Schutter's report would be presented to the 47 member Human Rights Council on March 10, 2014 in Geneva, Switzerland. -- BERNAMA