The Limits of Conservative Reform: Agricultural Policy in Malaysia

Abstract

Many developing countries exhibit a dualistic society where a modern industrial urban sector co-exists alongside a very traditional rural sector. If the rural sector is not modernized, it becomes a significant impediment to the overall economic and political development of the nation. Political leaders in Malaysia, recognizing that a modern argicultural sector is needed to provide food for a growing population, to generate foreign exchange neededfor investment, and to maintain a stable political base for the ruling group, have constructed an agricultural reform package that was intended to eliminate rural poverty, increase productivity, and reduce inequities in the distribution of wealth. Unfortunately, the Malaysian reforms do not constitute a comprehensive agrarian reform programme. The results are massive food imports, a more unequal distribution of the wealth and a potential for rural unrest. Bruce Drury