For the first time in 30 years, poverty is set to rise. Global institutions warn that millions will be pushed into poverty this year with far-reaching consequences for health, education and living standards.
During this period, most self-employed workers have been affected by income or job losses and reported savings of up to one month. One of the worst affected sectors were agriculture, livestock and fisheries, where 70 per cent of workers have seen their income reduced and 21 per cent have lost their jobs as of end of March.
Natural disasters, like cyclones or floods, demand early preparedness and addressing risks and vulnerabilities before these events occur. The same applies to the current crisis.
Even before the pandemic hit, rural communities in Malaysia already face higher levels of poverty, lower income levels, and lower levels of educational attainment than urban areas.
Over seven million of our population lives in rural towns, villages or settlements. The states of Sabah, Kelantan and Perlis the most financially affected by the partial lockdown have significant rural populations. Rural communities are exposed to the global turmoil but are excluded in multiple ways from what urban households can access leading to widening of existing disparities.
Building resilience, the ability to use resources and recover from shocks without compromising long-term prospects, is essential. Without resilience, vulnerable rural individuals and households fall deeper into poverty and debt, educational opportunity is reduced, leading to even lower capacity to respond to the next shock.
Promotion of decent work is integral to a strong social safety net. Daily wage workers, small farmers and informal workers are the most vulnerable to economic shocks. Working conditions for them does not automatically lead to uplifting of their socioeconomic condition, and retirement savings if any are dismal.
Rural women in particular will benefit from a conducive and supportive environment to upgrade informal work into micro- or small enterprises.
In carrying out its rural development policy for 2030, the government should identify local actors in local government, city councils, civil society, businesses, artists, institutions like universities, to drive community aspirations and inclusive development.
Inclusivity a word that is used widely implies a shift in policy making that is more consultative and conscious of unique characteristics of each rural locality.
Shifting from process indicators to outcome indicators aligned to community needs will need the participation of researchers and public policy specialists. The impact of rural transformation centres should be evaluated from the qualitative perspective of users and businesses over time, beyond aggregate indicators of how many participated in its programs.
Services offered should continue to evolve with the needs of the community. Rural research can help policy design by capturing how different policies link to each other and how they are performing in each location, and to inform planning policies for governments.
The future of rural communities is closely related with that of urban towns and cities, and their resilience to withstand and recover from challenges is essential to the nation as a whole.
2020, Malay Mail