Written by Alysia Yu Xuan, a research intern at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS)

Food aid is regarded as a lifeline for plenty of Malaysians from across backgrounds, whether they are from the B40, M40 or T20 community. Times are undeniably tough in the Malaysian market, with more facing unemployment and running out of personal savings to fall back on after more than 17 months in various phases of lockdown. Having food baskets sent over to families in need makes a difference in ensuring that they have food on their tables and their children need not go hungry for the day. 

The governments on all levels, federal, state, and local, have been injecting funds to mobilise food aid-related initiatives on each respective tier. In the recent PEMULIH economic stimulus package (ESP), the previous Perikatan Nasional (PN) government announced an allocation of RM300 thousand each for the 220 Members of Parliament (MP), totalling up to an estimate of RM66 million as well as RM 10 million for the Orang Asli to be spent on food baskets. According to the Ministry of Finance (MoF), 438,376 food baskets have been distributed to the vulnerable group as of the first week of July 2021. At the state level, the Selangor state government, in its Pakej Kita Selangor 2.0 financial aid package, allocated an additional RM3.28million to continue its food aid effort across its 56 constituencies.  While at the local/municipal level, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and Shah Alam City Hall (MBSA) have each organised food banks with the support of the Selangor state government as well as donations from corporate bodies. 

These foodbanks are faced with a series of hurdles throughout their operation, from the strategy and planning phase to the execution stage. There are three main issues to be highlighted in the existing foodbanks: overcrowding, items to be included in the food baskets and cross-referencing aid recipients in the system. 

The current operation of most foodbanks requires aid recipients to collect their food aid physically at a common location such as community halls. Crowd gathering at such public places risks turning into potential Covid-19 clusters due to the unforeseen non-compliance to Covid-19 guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health (MOH). Not long ago, media outlets reported that police were present at the foodbank organised by Muar MP Syed Saddiq’s office to disperse crowds waiting in line to receive their food aid due to the overwhelming attendance. 

Food aid, in general, consists of non-perishable items. An excellent example would be the 13-item food list directive that came with the RM300 thousand allocation for the MPs. The food list includes rice, cooking oil, flour, condensed milk, rice vermicelli, canned sardines, and biscuits. RM100 is allocated to each food basket- including the 13 food items, packaging, printing, and logistics. 

Non-perishable items are easier to distribute to the recipients but overlook the needs of the vulnerable communities. Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh and Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming raised the issues on the lack of nutritional observances and inflexibility in distributing the food aid, while Subang MP Wong Chen suggested for food vouchers to be given out instead, to save on logistical cost and adhering to Covid-19 guidelines. Most MPs wanted a more flexible directive to enable them to implement the food aid programme that suits the demography in respective constituencies. 

With foodbanks mushroomed across the country, it is difficult to track and cross-reference individuals from the vulnerable community who have received food aid from those who have not due to the decentralised database across the various entities that provide food aid. There are individuals who have decided to take advantage of the existing loopholes, depriving aid for those desperately in need. A staff working in a local food bank shared that while many food aid applicants have been honest and declared that they had received aid from other entities, some did not declare and proceed to receive food aid from multiple entities. 

There are limitations and shortcomings to government-led food aid initiatives. Perhaps it is worthwhile to consider the potential contribution by including civil society organisations (CSOs) in the picture. CSOs consists of local communities, membership organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and faith-based groups that devote their time to doing groundwork on the grassroots level. Their aim since prior to the pandemic has been to close the widening gap left by government policies within the society. CSOs fund their cause through donation drives during the year and respond whenever communities need them. This meant that CSOs understand the community that they work with and have a comprehensive network of support systems and volunteers.

They continue stepping up their groundwork throughout the various phases of lockdown and provided support to the vulnerable communities accordingly. With the support and funding from the government, both the government and CSOs could increase their capacity and ultimately share the applicant database to ensure that the food aid reaches communities in need. Though there were no reports on the progress of collaboration between the PN government and CSOs, the PRIHATIN and PENJANA ESP did see an allocation of RM25 million and an estimate of RM5.4 million, respectively, to NGOs to support vulnerable communities.  

Therefore, in addressing the current setbacks regarding food aid, the government should organise frequent engagements with CSOs to better comprehend the current needs of the people and drafting out policies that benefit and safeguard all layers of society. It is crucial that the government recognise the value of CSOs and work together to propose feasible solutions and strategies to lift vulnerable communities during this crisis ahead of us.