June 17, 2026

Sabah to provide one-off feed aid to small-scale pig farmers amid rising pork prices

The assistance targets farmers rearing fewer than 50 pigs, a segment the state government says has previously been excluded from livestock support schemes.

Sabah to provide one-off feed aid to small-scale pig farmers amid rising pork prices

The assistance targets farmers rearing fewer than 50 pigs, a segment the state government says has previously been excluded from livestock support schemes.

The Sabah state government will provide one-off animal feed assistance to small-scale pig farmers to help reduce operating costs and increase production, according to Sabah Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Industry Minister Datuk Jamawi Jaafar.

The aid will target farmers rearing fewer than 50 pigs. Jamawi said the segment had previously been excluded from livestock assistance schemes, which had covered cattle, goat, chicken and fish farmers but not small-scale pig producers. The Sabah Department of Veterinary Services has been instructed to prepare a special allocation to implement the feed assistance.

Jamawi said the support is intended to ease pressure on consumers facing sharply higher prices for pork products, citing sinalau bakas, a popular smoked pork product, now selling at around RM47 (approximately US$10) per kilogramme. He attributed part of the price increase to reduced wild boar supply following a hunting ban imposed two years ago, which the state government continues to maintain to allow the wild population to recover from a previous swine fever outbreak.

To meet domestic demand, the state has authorised six companies to import pork, including from Denmark and Norway. Each importer is permitted to bring in two containers, with around 10 containers arriving each month to supplement local supply.

- The Star