LETTERS: One of my favourite topics of conversation when I meet foreign workers who work in factories and hotels is what would they do when they go back to their countries, when their formal contract of employment ends.

To my surprise, I always get a similar response where they would not need to work in a formal sector in their respective countries, since their village has all the necessary resources to survive.

They have their own farms for growing food, rearing of chickens, cows and goats, which are used for personal or community consumption or sold to the cities through a supply chain.

There is an alternative fallback into their rural ecosystem when there is a rupture or end to employment in the formal economy. 

Interestingly, there is an alternative informal rural economy that is built on the ethos of village-living that provides social security in a real sense, where one takes ownership of one's social interaction and economic activity.

The Covid-19 pandemic has shown how a formal economy in the urban setting could be devastated causing millions to go unemployed, businesses going bankrupt and, far worse, people losing their lives to the virus.

The crisis has shown an imbalanced world obsessed with economic prosperity and growth, forgetting the sense of balance that comes with community solidarity, informal economic activities and integral ecology.

In fact, the three elements of community solidarity, informal economic activities and integral ecology should be the vision of the future built on the principle of subsidiarity where local solutions to local issues are sought.

Are we fostering a sense of community living in our villages and urban housing areas? Are we working on abandoned land in our surrounding areas for community farming, where we could fall on when there is a rupture in the formal economy, such as food inflation?

Are our decisions on day-to-day community living strongly rooted in a consciousness of being part of whole natural environmental systems that need to be nurtured and protected?

Do we need a disastrous pandemic for us to realise the importance of an informal economy that can support some of the most vulnerable in society?

For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, it generates 90 per cent of employment opportunities in some countries.

What about us?

RONALD BENJAMIN

Secretary,

Association for Welfare Community and Dialogue,

Ipoh, Perak

https://www.nst.com.my/opinion/letters/2022/05/797085/sustaining-rural-ecosystem-equally-vital