Current planning priorities in rural villages in Malaysia : learning from the new Malaysian Village Action Plans

Abstract

The Village Action Plan strategy, initiated in Malaysia in 2007, is a federal government initiative intended to help villages design their own plans to assist development. initial work to develop the most appropriate ways of encouraging participation in planning with 17 villages in all parts of Malaysia enables identification of local priorities. A further 200 villages are planned to have constructed their action plans by the end of 2009. This paper is based on the analysis of reports from workshops held in the 17 villages in which action plans have been already been prepared by villagers permits the ientification of common priorities and preoccupations in a range of lacalities in East and West Malaysia. The analysis shows the relative importance given by villagers to improving farming output and its sustainability, protecting village social environment and strengthening livelihoods for all village households. Malaysia's rapid economic progress over recent decades poses special challenges in many rural areas. It is valuable, therefore, to identify rural people's priorities, in particular relating to farming activities and to compare this recent Malaysian evidence with that from some other south-east Asian countries as well as south west China