As prices skyrocket, Sabah aims to end Bernas’ rice monopoly
Rice isn’t only a staple of Sabah’s indigenous Kadazandusuns. It is sacred to them. Legends have it that its Bambarayon spirit has given them a lifeline. So in a sense, they should be self-sufficient in rice. A Kadazandusun family would have a paddy field and be confident of a good harvest that would give them rice to last for at least a year or until the next harvest. Surplus rice would be stockpiled or given to those who didn’t have any. Not anymore. Paddy acreage and rice production have shrunk so drastically that Sabah has to import almost all of its consumption.
Continue reading “The rice fiasco”
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