PM CALLS ON MUSLIM COUNTRIES TO INVEST IN AGRICULTURE

By Mohd Nasir Yusoff

JAKARTA, March 2 (Bernama) -- Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, noting that
the largest number among the 15 per cent of the world's undernourished
population are Muslims, has urged Muslim countries to invest in the development
of agriculture and food industry.

The Malaysian prime minister told public and private sector leaders at the
World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) here on Monday that the growing number of
undernourished people could no longer be ignored.

Quoting statistics, he said, the number of undernourished people had
increased from 842 million in 1990 to 963 million in 2008, with 160 million were
living on an income of less than 50 cents a day.

"The financial crisis has further eroded the purchasing power of the poor
who spend 50 per cent to 70 per cent of their income on food," he said.

He noted that growth in agricultural productivity had been stagnating due to
underinvestment in agricultural technology and rural development, and that
global cereal production had plummeted since 2000, jeopardised further by the
increasing volatility in climate.

He warned that if the trend continued, the Muslim world would not be able to
feed its growing population in the near future.

Urging the Muslim world to capitalise on the urgent need for greater
investment
in the development of agriculture and food industry, Abdullah, who is WIEF
Foundation patron, said the high food prices should have provided incentives for
policymakers, farmers and investors to pump funds to increase agricultural
production and productivity.

He said that at the summit of eight developing Islamic countries in Kuala
Lumpur last week, he had urged the private sector to invest in large scale
agro-based industries such as large-sized fertiliser plants or seed banks either
through joint ventures or partnerships.

"To a certain extent, this has been done. But due to the credit crunch,
investors have become reluctant to invest more in food due to the extreme
volatility of prices, not to mention the vagaries or uncertainties of the
weather," he said.

Farmers who expanded production when prices were high subsequently suffered
huge losses when prices fell thereafter, he said, adding that currently,
agricultural production in developing countries was at an all time low.

"The onus before us therefore is to establish effective public-private
sector
partnership as a way forward in meeting the food crisis. It is crucial to get
investments back into agriculture but it is also important to protect the
wellbeing of the farmers.

"We need to use technology to boost production and at the same time, we need
to ensure that farmers have better access to national market centres so that
they are not overwhelmed by more organised retail businesses," he said.

The prime minister said the muslim world can take a lead in ensuring that
the produce of farmers were guaranteed a place in the competitive marketplace,
and be duly rewarded.

"This is another instance where the private sector can respond to this
urgent need and come in with large-scale investments," he said.

An adversity, he said, could be turned into an opportunity to benefit the
Muslim world.

There could be many opportunities waiting to be discovered, he said.

Abdullah hoped that the 5th WIEF forum here would be able to contribute to
such discoveries.

"The WIEF must do its part to make a difference to the lives of millions of
people, particularly the Muslims, around the world and we can certainly begin to
do that here in Jakarta," he said.

The forum was opened by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Also present were Musa Hitam, the chairman of WIEF, and Tanri Abeng, the
co-chairman and Indonesian national organising committee.

-- BERNAMA