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RURAL RESEARCH & PLANNING GROUP (RRPG)THE 5TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AND FIELD STUDY IN MALAYSIA 2014

RURAL POVERTY: POLICY PERSPECTIVE, PEOPLES PERCEPTION AND THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY

SHARIFAH ROHAYAH SHEIKH DAWOOD & SAADIATUL MAHFUZAH ABU HASSAN

INTRODUCTIONGovernment effort:1) New Economic Policy (NEP) - eradicate poverty irrespective of race - restructure the society in order to correct economic inbalances - eliminate the identification of races with economic functions2) National Development Policy (DPN) - underdeveloped - trapped by unemployment and poverty - done through the rural restructuring of the societyFocus on development more concentrated in rural areas that needs to increase the quality of life in the rurality

INTRODUCTIONMain Objectives:Explore the types of programs introduced in the rural villages and its impact to the life of the communitesThree Rural Areas:1) Parit Buntar (Kg Tanjung Tiandang, Kg Kedah, Kg Titi Serong and Kg Simpang Empat )2) Baling (Kg Sera Ulu, Kg Sera Baru, Kg Dalam Wang and Kg Titi Teduri)3) Penang (Seberang Perai Utara)

Methods being used included quantitative (questionnaire survey) and qualitative (informal interview) with the rural communities

- Villagers perceptions on the programs were deemed necessary and important to evaluate the nature of the program, its accessibility and effectiveness to the community being studied in that area

LITERATUR REVIEW: POVERTY ERADICATIONMalaysia:Improving the standards of livingExpanding the tradeCapital and technology flowsLeaving notable progress in poverty reductionMalaysia has indeed achieved the MDGs of alleviating poverty rate well before 2015, poverty had declined from 52.4% in 1970 to 12.4% in 1992 and further reduced to 3.8% in 2009 (Abdul Hakim et al. 2010; Muhamed and Haron, 2011; EPU, 2012)

Elements identified in Defining Poverty:Poverty can be reduced or eradicated to rescue people from social problemsIdentify who are the poor and their social group3) Determine poverty in general for certain community groups

Poor people included:Old people alonePeople with less education living in suburban or rural areasImmigrantsLong term unemployedSingle mothersChildren living 1 poor householdsPrisoners and ex-prisonersAlcohol and drug abusers

According to U. Aziz (1964):Poverty is not getting the enough income to fulfill the basic needs- Nutrition deficit/Malnutrition

LITERATUR REVIEW: POVERTY ERADICATION

LITERATUR REVIEW: POVERTY ERADICATION

Poverty is divided into four types:RelativeAbsoluteStructuralNormative

(See Holman, 1978)

C. Siwar (2001):Economic dimension (lack of basic amenities in terms of income, financial needs or capital)Socio-cultural dimension (poverty culture)Education dimension (mentality and knowledge)Health dimension (malnutrition, hunger, physical and mental disability)

LITERATUR REVIEW: POVERTY ERADICATION

5) Spatial dimension (rural or urban area)6) Gender dimension (women and single mothers)7) Environmental dimension (deteriorating ecology, degradation and pollution

- Rural areas: household is categorized as hardcore poor if their income level below RM666/per month- Urban areas: household with a monthly income of RM2, 000 and accumulated asset of less than RM50, 000 is categorized as urban poor and eligible for the Micro Credit Fund of Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) (Awang Selamat, 2009).

LITERATUR REVIEW: POVERTY ERADICATIONTable 1 shows the Base Line Poverty Level (PGK) set up by EPU for rural and urban area of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak

LITERATUR REVIEW: POVERTY ERADICATIONReference to the EPU data, the PGK for 2009 is standardized in the 10th Malaysia Plan (RMK-10) which is poor PGK RM760 for the household

Meanwhile hardcore poor is RM460 (Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, 2012)

The PGK set up by the Ministry in 2012 is in tandem with the states throughout Malaysia except for Penang whereby between the year 2009-2011, the hardcore poor is RM500 and below, in 2012 is RM600 and below and for 2013 is RM770 and below

Meanwhile the PGK for poor in Penang is RM770 and above (Implementation Coordination Unit, Penang, 2013).

POVERTY IN THE NORTHERN STATES OF MALAYSIAThe analysis revolves around the incidence of poverty in the district of Kedah and Perak

A pilot study was undertaken in two separate villages in Perak and Kedah respectively

Further survey is done to gather data and information regarding district with the highest poverty level in order to examine the spatial inequalities between regions

This is followed by a discussion about the programs provided to the rural communities to eradicate poverty

POVERTY IN THE NORTHERN STATES OF MALAYSIATable 2 shows the statistic for poverty in the districts of Kedah for the year 2011

- The figures shows that the highest statistic for poverty level is for the district of Baling with 1, 572 people and hardcore poor is 2, 113 people as compared to other districtsMeanwhile Table 3 shows the statistic of poverty for 2013

POVERTY IN THE NORTHERN STATES OF MALAYSIA

The following tables show statistic of poverty for Penang in 2011 and 2013 respectively

POVERTY IN THE NORTHERN STATES OF MALAYSIA

Economic Policies in Nigeria:Programs like: Universal Free Primary Education (UPE)Subsidy program for various activities especially agriculture, credit facilities and social services, health services, rural water supply scheme, rural electricity supply by the Rural Electrification Board (REBs)Directory for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI): infrastructural development, focusing on women in the rural villages like for food processing activities, starting new business to improve life style, health and collaboration

POVERTY ERADICATION PROGRAMS

4) Rural community banking, National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Small and Medium Enterprises and family support programs (Oyeranti et al., 2005)

5) Programs provided by government (multi-sectoral program for agriculture, health, education and transportation)

6) The National Directorate of Employment (multi-sectoral program that provides skill enhancement and public work program)

7) Agricultural programs involve the National Agricultural Land Development Authority, the Strategic Grains Reserves Program and the Program for Accelerated Wheat Production

POVERTY ERADICATION PROGRAMS

8) Health sector, programs such as Primary Health Care (PHC) Scheme and Guinea-worm Eradication Program were introduced

9) Programs for education includes Nomadic Education Program to establish education curriculum, training for teachers and infrastructure facilities for school

10) Transportation sector involves the Federal Urban Mass Transit Program providing new public bus servicesPOVERTY ERADICATION PROGRAMS

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD):international financial institution established in 1977 to eradicate poverty and enhance food production

specialized mission is to enable poor rural people to overcome poverty by mobilizing resources to invest in development opportunities for poor rural people, including helping to improve the lives of the communities by building farm and non-farm enterprises that are sustainable and integrated into national and global markets and value chains

aims to empower poor rural women and men in developing countries to achieve higher incomes and improved food securityPOVERTY ERADICATION PROGRAMS

Government strategy:through the Ministry of Rural & Regional Development (KKLW):Income Increment Program (PPP) Training and Career ProgramHousing Assistance Program (PBR)Human Mind Development ProgramBalanced Supplement Food ProgramLocal Community Development ProgramEducation Excellence ProgramChild-care Center Program ASDB-Sejahtera ProgramPROGRAM FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL COMMUNITY IN MALAYSIA

National Development Plan (NDP 1991-2000):to lessen the rate of poverty

Under the Dasar Wawasan Negara 2001-2010:aimed to reduce poverty level to 0.5% in 2005Direct financial assistance was limited especially for the elderly and the disabledThe program for poverty eradication is mostly concentrated in agriculture sector due to the fact that this sector constitutes the highest proportion of poor communitiesPROGRAM FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL COMMUNITY

Amongst the programs implemented were to relocate those who are without land and with small size of land that is non-economical into the scheme for new landThe pioneers were provided with a complete house with electricity and water, able to develop the land in-situ through conservation and land merging

PROGRAM FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL COMMUNITY

Responden detail were obtained from District office of Baling, Parit Buntar and Seberang PraiSome other information was also gathered from the district Penghulu & Welfare Department Committee of the JKKK through the Ketua KampungPrimary data (questionnaire survey and informal interview)Secondary data (from state authorities)From the survey, programs for assisting the rural community for the three states are provided by the Welfare Department (JKM):Assistance for single mothersEducationAssistance for the disabled (OKU)- Of this, important issues are covered for two areas: Baling, Kedah and Parit Buntar, PerakDISCUSSION

Table 6 illustrates the programs in Kedah, Penang and Northern PerakBased on the survey findings, there are 122 respondents and out of this only 25 receive this aid from the governmentWhereas the remaining 97 do not receive any form of aid or government assistant programMost of the government aid program for the communities is received through the Welfare Department (JKM) such as aid for the elderly, single mothers, institution of higher educationMajority gave the feedback on the 1 Malaysia Peoples Aid (BRIM). This is the outcome of the 2012 Budget Presentation: the government announced to give out a one-off cash payment RM 500 to households with an income of less than RM3, 000 a monthDISCUSSION

DISCUSSION

Under the JKM there are various government aid program which is among others the aid for the elderly, aid for children, for the poor and homeless, flood survivors, welfare aid and help for the disabled communities (JKM, 2013)The Table and Figure below show the number of respondents for the field survey in three districts of the state of Perak, Penang and KedahThe number of female respondents outnumbered the male respondents since those women were at home during the time of the interview were doneMost of the male household was out to work at that time, thus the selection of respondents turn out to be female dominated which is about 78 of them as compared to 44 male from the age group of between 21-61DISCUSSION

Female respondents were mainly in the age group of 41-50 (21 of them). Whereas, the highest number of male respondents came from the age group of over 61 years oldThe questions asked was on the type of financial aid given, funding program, how the funding arranged and to what extent the respondents agreed that the aid/program help eradicate poverty in the rural area

DISCUSSION

DISCUSSION

DISCUSSION

DISCUSSION

DISCUSSION

DISCUSSION

This research aims to explore the response of the rural communities in the northern states of the Peninsular Malaysia towards government assistance program to eradicate poverty levelThere are various programs being implemented to help the rural villagers in the form of:financial supportprograms for educationhousing and others

- The level of accessibility towards the program, the effectiveness of the program have actually helped to bring out some of the communities from poverty trap. However there are also some villagers who do not receive enough aid/assistance due to some underlying factors as discussed above. CONCLUSION

Nevertheless, many of the villagers have taken the opportunities given by the government to improve and upgrade their life

It is anticipated that in the long run, more programs can be effectively implemented and more thoroughly evaluated and monitored programs based on the eligibility and condition of the rural people need to be done from the authorities involved

The findings also revealed that the level of access to information needs to be examined and improved especially in terms of the relationship between the Kampong Head (Ketua Kampung) and the villagers. CONCLUSION

More opportunities should be given for the rural people in terms of having access to social media and how this can help educate them more on the types of programs provided by the government and how they can apply for it

There is a need for a more holistic nature in approaching this issue of poverty and how the rural people can be helped out and rescued from further difficulties

It is more of a concerted effort from the government and other bodies as well as the villagers in order to fulfill the need of the rurality and for achieving a more sustainable community in the long term

CONCLUSION

Thank You