The beef consumption patterns in Malaysia have demonstrated a significant growth over the last several decades (Johari & Jasmi, 2009). The change has been facilitated by a number of factors such as the growth of the national GDP per capita and globalization that increased the demand for mean-based proteins the diet and various convenience foods (Johari & Jasmi, 2009; Victoria University, n. d.).
Even though the production of livestock is one of the biggest industries in Malaysia, the overall demand for beef of the country’s population is rather high and requires products imported from all around the world (Loh, n. d.; Mohamed, Hosseini, & Kamarulzaman, 2013). The challenges and opportunities presented by the challenges faced by the Malaysian beef industry are worth studying as this can help the country develop its international trading relations and address the potential threats to Malaysia and its population.
This paper discusses six studies exploring this subject starting with statistical data, outlining the threats and opportunities, and providing a comparison of the beef industry of Malaysia with those of the USA and Scotland. Some of the concepts and terms that are going to be used in this paper are GDP per capita, cattle, import, livestock, self-sufficiency, beef production.
Literature Review
The study by Johari and Jasmi (2009) called “Breeds and Breeding Program for Beef Production in Malaysia” explored the inadequacy between the demand and production of beef in Malaysia from the point of view of the weak development of the livestock industry in the country. The authors maintained that increasing the number of the quality breeding stock and improving the breeding system will help Malaysia gain more self-sufficiency in this area.
Further, the study by Mohamed, Hosseini, & Kamarulzaman (2013) titled “Analysis of Malaysian Beef Industry in Peninsular Malaysia under Different Importation Policies Scenarios and Rate Management Systems” addresses the lack of domestically produced beef in Malaysia from the perspective of low commercialization of the beef industry.
The authors of this paper state that attracting more private sector investments into the beef production field will speed up its development and make it more efficient. Next, the article by Loh (n. d.) called “Livestock production and the feed industry in Malaysia” emphasizes the important of the livestock subsectors for Malaysian economy.
The author discusses the existing impact of the private sector participation and its positive outcomes such as steady growth in the production of poultry and pig while the cattle-breeding branch is in stagnation. The author’s proposed solution is the increase of beef subsector’s competitiveness not only on domestic but also on the global arena.
The study by Victoria University (n. d.) titled “Imports of Beef into Malaysia Demand Analysis to Assist Australian Export Decisions” underlines the speeding up import patterns of Malaysian beef subsector that have been affected by the national GDP per capita growth. The information provided by this study can be synthesized with that in the article by Mintert, Schroeder, Brester and Feuz (n. d.) called “Beef Industry Challenges & Opportunities” exploring the livestock production in the USA.
The study demonstrates how the United States managed to stimulate their beef production through the attraction of the private sector into cattle-breeding and farming and to increase the beef production per cow through the focused breeding practices. The report of the Quality Meat Scotland (2012) emphasizes that some of the main contemporary challenges faces by meat producing industries are the changing norms of the environmental safety and the shortage of the available lands.
Own Idea and Previous Research
The attraction of private sector capitals is the best way to maximize the revenues and productivity of the beef industry in Malaysia. For that, a crafted promotion of the industry needs to be employed. Since the demand for beef is very high, the producers would be likely to gain huge income domestically.
Besides, this would minimize the money the state spends buying mean from abroad and increase the GDP per capita even more improving the country’s economy.
Gaps in Knowledge
Farming industries are known to be some of the most active environment polluters. The level of the potential pollution of the soil, air, and water caused by the growing beef subsector in Malaysia is currently unexplored.
Knowing how serious the global environment policies are these days, it would be wise to calculate the possible threats to the rapid development of farming in the country. Besides, one more factor worth studying is the lands available for farming in Malaysia, since cattle-breeding industries require large territories.
Conclusion
The studies focused on the geography of Malaysia, and the areas suitable for the future farm building are needed to fill in the gap in knowledge mentioned above. Moreover, the evaluation of the potential environmental impact by means of comparing those of the other countries is likely to provide information concerning the level of the potential pollution.
The policies directed at the minimization of the pollution through the design of rules at the initial stages of beef industry development would help Malaysia gain more self-sufficiency in this field without harming the environment and population.
Reference List
Johari, J. A. & Jasmi, Y. (2009). Breeds and Breeding Program for Beef Production in Malaysia. Web.
Loh, T. C. (n. d.). Livestock production and the feed industry in Malaysia. Web.
Mintert, J., Schroeder, T. C., Brester G. W., and Feuz, D. (n. d.). Beef Industry Challenges & Opportunities. Web.
Mohamed, Z. Hosseini, A. & Kamarulzaman, N. (2013). Analysis of Malaysian Beef Industry in Peninsular Malaysia under Different Importation Policies Scenarios and Rate Management Systems. Pertanika Journals Social Sciences & Humanities, 21(5), 1-16.
Quality Meat Scotland. (2012). Challenges and opportunities facing the Scottish beef industry. Web.
Victoria University. (n. d.). Imports of Beef into Malaysia Demand Analysis to Assist Australian Export Decisions. Web.