Strengthening intersectoral linkages forms the key issue in the revitalization of agriculture and industrial growth, which would also contribute to solving the low incomes and underemployment problems of the agricultural sector. Although maximizing existing and potential linkages and multiplier effects within and between sectors has been identified as a strategy for the manufacturing sector (Fifth Malaysia Plan, 1986:333), much has to be done to tap the full potential of the dynamic contribution of the agricultural sector in the industrialization process.
The experience of establishing these linkages (agriculture-industry linkages) in some of the countries of the region, particularly in China, the Republic of Korea and Thailand, show that the strategy is not only essential but also feasible (United Nations, 1990:91).
The expansion of agro-based industries would lead revitalizing the agricultural sector, through improvements in the value-added of export crop commodities, expanded utilization of agricultural by-products for livestock feeding, and increased off-farm income-earning opportunities. Being relatively labor-intensive manufacturing establishments, they have considerable scope of absorbing underemployed labor from the traditional agricultural smallholdings. The development of these industries is not only advantageous from the perspective of absorbing
surplus labor but also for linking agricultural production with the future growth of the manufacturing sector. In this case, the food processing industry is expected to contribute significantly towards employment creation and rural income generation. The Annual Report of the Sectoral Task Force on the Food Processing Industry (1990/91)) noted that this industry has the potential for forward and backward linkages with agriculture, packaging, refrigeration, processing, equipment and machinery industries. To maximize the use of local resources, large scale integrated agricultural projects could also be promoted and develop in order to achieve
economies of scale in both production and marketing. Some of the large-scale integrated food processing projects identified are; fruit cultivation and processing of juices and purees, processing of animal feed, meat production and processing, aquaculture, and vegetable cultivation. Therefore, this implies the great potential for import substituting food processing industry as well as for the use of local resources for food processing (United Nations, 1990).
In conjunction with this, there is a need to increase the locational incentives to encourage agro-based industries to locate their industries in the rural areas. An improved transport and communications network would improve this situation. If rural industrialization is to be boosted for the future, there is a need to provide stronger locational incentives to attract industries to the rural areas.
The role of private sector is crucial for the revitalization of agriculture. Traditionally, their role has been in the development of tree crop agriculture for export, like rubber, oil palm and cocoa (Siwar, 1995:17). However, continued uncertainties in commodity prices, problems of high labor costs and low returns for some crops like rubber have contributed to the relative stagnation of private sector investment in agriculture. Therefore, private sector investment in food production, processing and aquaculture has to be encouraged. The study also shows that the strategy on changes in the structure of settlement involving the relocation and consolidation of the scattered traditional homesteads and villages into centralized and well planned settlements
has not been achieved. Land is a major constraint in restructuring and regrouping the scattered villages and creating new rural growth centers. Furthermore, the increasing pressures on land lead to a competitive demand/supply and conflicts in future land use. Therefore, an integrated physical and land use planning and management is believed to be a possible alternative to achieve the resolving of such conflicts and to move towards more effective and efficient use of rural land.
To be successfully adopted, planning for sustainable use of land must take full account of the characteristics of the land, available resources and social and economic factors of the environment within which planners make their decisions. The immediate challenges here are to optimize achievement of the objectives and to satisfy the needs of the actual land user and the community to which he or she belongs.
However, there are often conflicting objectives which require appropriate platforms for negotiation and decision making at all relevant levels. At village level, it is very important to create the capacity to coordinate activities and decide on land use development priorities. Other institutional forms need to be established or incorporated such as elected village land use committees, district planning committees and within PERDA itself. This is in order to deal with the overall and long-term interests of the community as a whole and the region of PERDA
specifically. In this process, the element of people’s participation and their contributions are essential prerequisite. Goulet in Deborah Eade (ed.) (1997:59) notes that “….participatory development claims to be holistic, taking into account a community’s emotional, psychological, cultural and spiritual needs as well as its physical needs.”
Related to the above policy implication, a creation of spatial-linkages is essentially required. A region is not just a system of functional diversified settlements but also a network of social, economic and physical interactions. The process of interactions are formed by linkages among settlements. Therefore, regional planners and policy-makers must be concerned about the effectiveness of these process on interaction and ways that provide a maximum amount of access to the population of the region. For example, once a new set of linkages is introduced into a rural market system, it can trigger a set of circular and cumulative changes that promote further growth and change (Avrom Bendavid-Val, 1991).
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