48 Farmers and Growing!
OACurrently, there are 48 Orang Asli (OA) farmers at the OA Organik farm, an increase from 36 farmers (at the end of 2019). And the number is growing!
In the past, each household earned an average total income of RM500 per month from combined income sources of rubber-tapping, palm oil/forest produce collection, or contract work. However, with their little plots of farm ranging from 500-10,000 square feet, the full time OA farmers now earn RM600-RM2,400 monthly while the part-timers RM200-RM500.
Let’s welcome the twelve new farmers who joined the OA Organik farm project in the last 10 months:
Majid (right)
With local and international funding support, Yayasan Kajian Masyarakat dan Pembangunan Masyarakat (YKPM) which facilitates the OA Organik project is able to expand support to the OA farmers.
The recent grant from the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) has enabled the new farmers to receive farm training and regular hands-on coaching in the many intricacies of organic farming.
Repetitive hands-on and practical training consolidate learning for the OA farmers. Moreover, in improving local farming solutions, our training approach continually evolves for it incorporates indigenous knowledge and the OA’s culture and practices.
