When COVID-19 arrived in Sabah in March 2020, and everyone was advised to stock-up for lock-down, people from the Tinuhan and Lapasan Ulu communities in Tuaran District were alarmed to hear at their local supermarket that there was a limit of 10kg rice/family. Newspaper articles reminded us that Sabah now produces only 25% of its rice, and Vietnam, one of our major suppliers, announced it was halting exports. Anyway, where would kampung people get money to buy rice under extended lock-down?

Tuaran was once a major rice producer: the community wondered, why not plant our own rice to feed ourselves? With that initial line of questioning and a group of enthusiastic Sabahans, the Projek Padi began in June 2020 housed by Forever Sabah and with a special grant from Yayasan Hasanah.

Although the communities were hesitant at first about engaging with an NGO, the Projek Padi team was able to connect with 43 former-paddy-farmers in Kampung Tinhuan and Kampung Lapasan Ulu, the largest number we could afford, and assist them to revitalize their abandoned paddy fields, fence against buffaloes, and plant paddy. The Drainage & Irrigation Department quickly stepped in to restore the canal and drainage networks and the seeds of 32 traditional varieties were sourced from farmers in Kota Belud, Tuaran and Kudat.