KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 9 — Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu today pledged to raise more funds to help local coffee growers amid a domestic boom in drinkers and cafe culture.

He acknowledged that existing assistance from his ministry is inadequate and that it is about time coffee be recognised as an important economic crop domestically.

"The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security does not provide subsidies for coffee growers but the government does give assistance and incentives through development projects,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat this morning.

Coffee has grown more popular among Malaysians over the years, with more saying they consume the highly caffeinated drink over tea.

But locally-produced coffee is still very small relative to other countries within the South-east Asian region, like Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.

"Under the 12th Malaysian Plan, RM4.5 million was allocated for 270 local growers for five years. I myself think this is too little and we will double efforts to raise funds,” said the minister also known as Mat Sabu.

Coffee consumption among Malaysians have risen steadily over the last 10 years but saw major spikes since 2019, peaking at 850,000 bags of 60kg coffee that year.

In 2022, Malaysians consumed 48 million kilograms worth of coffee.