OCT 30 — In most developing nations worldwide, reducing poverty is the top priority for sustainable development. Poverty is a multifaceted phenomenon affecting many aspects of societal and human conduct. Demographic factors significantly influence poverty, especially location-related factors such as rural vs. urban. Rural poverty is more common because of its distance and other various features of hardship, particularly in emerging nations. Conversely, although urban poverty appears less severe than rural poverty, it is essential because of its complexity and the rise in urban population.
According to the most recent DOSM study, 12% of people in rural areas and 3% of people in urban areas, respectively, live below the poverty line. These figures demonstrate that rural poverty rates are still more significant than those in urban areas in Malaysia.
While high living expenses and unemployment are frequently the causes of poverty in metropolitan areas, poor infrastructure, a lack of work prospects, and restricted access to essential services are the leading causes of poverty in rural areas.
This problem stems from differences in infrastructure. Many rural populations need access to safe drinking water, healthcare, and dependable energy. These difficulties restrict economic prospects and maintain rural households’ poverty cycle.
Besides, many rural populations depend primarily on agriculture for their income, but dropping commodity prices, especially for rubber and palm oil, have hurt rural earnings.
On the other hand, although the economy is expanding in cities like Penang and Kuala Lumpur, exorbitant housing costs are forcing many low-income families into poverty.
As Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mentioned, the government is committed to reducing the income difference between rural and urban inhabitants from 0.57 in 2022 to 0.67 in 2025.
To realise this goal, the prime minister stated the government would increase service delivery to guarantee people’s well-being and support rural economies by expanding infrastructure and service supply.
In addition, numerous programmes and initiatives aimed at boosting the business ability of rural entrepreneurs will be implemented in response to the demands of regional industries.
The government currently uses two measures to combat poverty: raising income and enhancing living standards and access to basic services for the impoverished in both urban and rural areas.
This is especially crucial as Malaysia’s population is transitioning from an ageing population to an aged population, as it is projected to reach 15% over the age of 60 by 2030.
Accordingly, being poor and becoming farther away from the resources and amenities that help older people age gracefully and dignifiedly is a cause for concern regarding ageing.
With the ageing population in Malaysia, there’s a need to take note of what other nations have learnt about providing infrastructure in both urban and rural locations to support independent and integrated living for senior citizens.
As a result, a national strategy integrating the public and corporate sectors, academics, civil society groups, community-based organisations, and local communities would need to boost the execution of programmes aimed at eradicating poverty, primarily rural and urban poverty. Integrated planning and urban-rural development strategies leverage smart systems when considering urban concerns holistically and incorporating rural issues into the urban system.
A smart system, also known as an intelligent system, is a management platform that combines institutional coordination with information technology to provide synergistic links that effectively facilitate programme execution.
To facilitate smart systems, it is necessary to have a strategic policy for sustainable urbanisation and urban-rural integration, which can be done by integrating current urban areas with balanced regional and rural development.
In this way, the government can lead the way in maximising cross-sector synergies to enhance urban-rural integrated development based on a common understanding of how urbanisation and economic growth can be achieved in a way that is socially, environmentally, and financially viable.
* Professor Suhaiza Hanim Mohamad Zailani is director of the Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies, Universiti Malaya and may be reached at [email protected]
** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
