Lockdowns digitise farmers - 8th June 2020

The South East Asian agricultural industry, stricken by coronavirus lockdowns, has turned to e-commerce for solutions to the problem of how to get their produce to customers under lockdown.

When authorities in Malaysia issued a Movement Control Order (MCO) to cease all trade in wet and wholesale markets across the country, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of freshly harvested produce had to be thrown away by farmers.

Luckily, e-commerce websites have stepped in to provide a digital solution to this challenge by providing an online platform connecting suppliers and consumers directly. For many farmers, this is their first foray into the world of online trading.

Shoppers have seen a new area constructed in the country’s popular Lazada online shop, for the first time putting consumers in touch with those growing their food. Due to the success of this website, which has seen 1.5 tonnes of vegetables sold daily since the first weekend of lockdown, Lazada have since branched out into other areas. People's seafood and everyday grocery needs are now catered for by MyFishman and Mymarket2u respectively. Beyond this lifeline to the farmers and fishermen of the country, the platform has also set up another page where people can make donations to help support local communities.

Similar measures have been taken in other South East Asian Countries. In Indonesia, farming cooperative Rumah Sayur Group saw most of their regular business of supplying restaurants and supermarkets dry up overnight. They’ve since looked to the internet to assist their members in selling their produce, saving not only their business but also preventing vast quantities of freshly harvested food from going to waste.

The agricultural industry in South East Asia is steeped in tradition, yet the Covid-19 pandemic has provoked an unprecedented transformation. Many are left wondering whether these changes are permanent, or if people will come flooding back to the markets once lockdowns have been lifted.