RANAU: More than 200 individuals from the interior areas of Sabah have their incomes doubled after attending sustainable agriculture training programmes and zero waste product enterprise.

Mostly women, the participants were from Kota Marudu, Ranau, Nabawan and Tambunan attended the programme aimed at empowering the community, which was jointly organised by Axiata Foundation and Sabah Social Entrepreneurs Association (SOSEA).

"I have learned that through this programme, the participants have succeeded in increasing their household income to 50 percent per month. This is a big improvement that we are also proud of.

"For example, a participant from Kg Bundu Tuhan who followed the Herba Ispirasi Suri programme to grow organic herbs has successfully increased his income from RM400 a month to RM800 a month in six months of participating in this programme," said the foundation chief executive officer Mohamad Kamal Nawawi during a recent graduation ceremony at Kampung Bundu Tuhan here.

He also announced that through the planning of the framework of Program Jalinan Kasih Murni Sabah 2023, the foundation would continue to support SOSEA to implement a digital application programme in marketing for the same community.

SOSEA president Zazila Roslan said apart from herbal products here, the training also covered skills on upcycling corn husks in Kota Marudu into handicrafts; improving rice quality from Tambunan; and producing bamboo products from Keningau and Tambunan.

"As the challenges and obstacles in Sabah are very different from other states, the approach in developing an ecosystem is also very different.

"Therefore (the economic approach to empower the grassroot community) should be guided by five main cores which are food safety guarantee, environmental care, health and social well-being, preservation of heritage; and culture and community empowerment."