The dramatic transformation of rural Malaysia

Malaysian Insider ^ | 10/21/2013 | Rolando T. Dy

[TexGrill]

Inclusive growth is what the Philippines needs. Most of the poor who are left behind in economic growth are in the countryside. They are the coconut farmers, small fishers, upland dwellers and landless farm workers.

This article discusses the Malaysian experience in rural poverty reduction from the 1960s to the 1990s. Specifically, it focuses on two development models: the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda); and the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Felcra).

Philippine experts confuse Felda and Felcra, and the two with the nucleus estate model of Indonesia. Let’s clarify the main difference: Felda develops government forest lands for landless rural families while Felcra consolidates private lands into an economic scale. Both apply the modern plantation management system developed by the private sector to large tracks of lands either former forest lands or private lands.

[TexGrill]

Global business tip

[Oatka]

[Emphasis mine] At the start, Felda schemes were designed as “cooperatives” where instead of each settler owning a defined piece of land, each settler held an equal share in the ownership of the scheme. However, the settlers did not prefer this scheme, as workers who did not tend to the land properly still benefited.

You think governments would have learned by now.