The Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries is partnering with local e-commerce platforms such as Ourfarm, Dropee, Farm2Table and CP3 to develop the farming sector, connect farmers to businesses to ensure access to market and eventually improve the state of food security in the country.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Industries Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee said the e-platforms will help to create a new ecosystem in the agriculture industry. One of its partners, a leading regional low-cost airline AirAsia, has created a platform called as Ourfarm to directly connect food producers including farmers to businesses such as hotels, restaurants and catering. Ourfarm is a digital distribution platform backed by AirAsia’s eco-system of cargo, logistics, payment, business and consumer base, which enables the wholesale purchase of fresh produce at a lower price. Currently the platform is supporting 1,000 government contract farmers as well as owners of private farms. AirAsia is also planning to expand the platform to support farmers, transport the fresh produce and sell the items within the South East Asia region, looking to begin in Singapore by this year.
The ministry is also working with Dropee, a leading business to business (B2B) e-commerce marketplace in Malaysia to boost the distribution of food such as rice, meat, fish, vegetables, and fruits during the country’s movement control order period. Through Dropee’s platform, the food sellers are able to access logistics, financing, and insurance support from its key partners. The company aims to reach over 90,000 farmers and fishermen in Malaysia to leverage its B2B platform.
Apart from collaborations with local companies, the Ministry has also established its own e-commerce platforms such as Nekmatbiz for fish products and Agrobazaar for fresh produce. Datuk Seri Dr Ronald stated that the Malaysian government has allocated MYR 700 million (USD 164 million) under the short-term Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) to facilitate the digital transformation of small-medium businesses in online market opportunities.
(Sources: The Star Online; The Malaysian Reserve; Digital News Asia)
