KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — The Agro Madani Sales organised nationwide since October 29 this year recorded over RM60 million in sales, which has benefitted more than seven million households.
The Agriculture and Food Security Ministry (MAFS), in a statement today, said the programme, carried out through the relevant departments and agencies, like the Federal Agricultural Marketing Board (Fama), the Farmers' Organisation Authority (FOA) and the Malaysian Fisheries Development Board (LKIM), drew the participation of 54,300 entrepreneurs, exceeding its target of 46,000 entrepreneurs.
"The Agro Madani sales are seen as one of MAFS' "quick win" programmes in helping producers market their products directly to consumers, which directly helps to reduce the people's living costs, especially in food components through prices of 10 to 30 per cent lower than the market prices for selected items,” read the statement.
The ministry also managed to organise 71 per cent of the Agro Madani Sales programme targeted for this year by holding it at 3,569 locations across the country, comprising 401 government complexes, 926 high-density housing areas and 2,242 Fama retail outlets.
Among the special attractions is the sale of selected fresh agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits, chicken, eggs, fish, sugar, and cooking oil, as well as the Madani Combo promotion.
“At the Agro Madani Sales, there is also the Happy Hour sale; Customer Service Counter, Entrepreneur Advisory and Guidance Services and Agricultural Icons," it said.
Apart from that, MAFS also focused on the issues and challenges of food security, supply sufficiency and the increase in living costs.
"Therefore, to deal with this issue, several initiatives have and are being implemented by MAFS, among them fresh agro-food marketing services covering the purchase of agricultural produce from farmers, or the buy-back programme known as the i-BELA, and the Agro Madani Sales programme, which is the lastest, to offer affordable prices to consumers," it said.
MAFS is always committed to ensuring the food supply for the people's needs is always sufficient and guaranteed through the 2021-2030 National Agro-Food Policy and the 2021-2025 National Food Security Policy Action Plan.
"Various initiatives and programmes have and are being implemented to increase the capacity of local food production to reduce the country’s dependence on food imports and at the same time guarantee the country's food security," according to the statement.
Meanwhile, in another statement, MAFS said the National Farmers, Breeders, and Fishermen's Day (HPPNK) 2023 will be celebrated from November 10 to November 12 at Dataran Bulatan Sultan Azlan Shah in Ipoh, Perak.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to open the event, themed "Food Security for the Future" at 1.30pm this Saturday (November 11).
Various programmes have been outlined to enliven the HPPNK 2023 celebration, such as the Mega Agro Madani Sale.
The ministry is targeting 350,000 visitors to attend the HPPNK 2023 celebration.
— Bernama
