By Olivia Miwil
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah must move towards producing and exporting high-value finished products to maximise returns from its agro-food sector, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
He said developing and strengthening downstream activities was an important strategy to maximise value along the agro-food supply chain, while increasing the income of agro-entrepreneurs and strengthening food security.
"We need to shift towards producing downstream products with high added value.
"This will directly improve the well-being and standard of living of our farmers, growers, smallholders and fishermen by increasing the economic value of their agricultural produce," he said after officiating at the launch of the Lumi Borneo Latex Pillow here.
His speech was delivered by Sabah Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister Datuk Jamawi Jaafar.
Hajiji said strengthening downstream activities would also create employment opportunities, particularly for local youths.
"Certainly, these downstream or processing activities will require manpower in production, packaging, logistics, marketing, quality control and other related activities.
"This will also create opportunities for local entrepreneurs to participate," he said.
Hajiji added that the Sabah government would continue to support all sectors, including the state's rubber industry, to enable them to grow while providing better returns to rubber smallholders.
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