Sekinchan is a small town in the Malaysian state of Selangor that is one of the leading producers of rice in Malaysia. Thus, earning it the nickname of “The rice bowl of Selangor“.However, the environmental awareness level of the farmer is low; this can be proven by the findings in the research done by the Khazanah Research Institute, which was only 2.3% of the total number of farms in Malaysia were registered under the Malaysian Good Agricultural Practice (MyGAP) in 2016 (Omar et al., 2019.). Unsustainable agriculture will negatively impact the environment, like the carbon emission released from rice husk and rice straw; it will destroy the environment and affect the climate. For example, clearing land for agricultural production contributes significantly to climate change because the carbon stored in intact forests is released when cut or burned (WWF, 2020). Also, there are 0.48 million tonnes of rice husk produced annually from our country, which is needed to tackle. Hence, we would like to create a sustainable community among Sekinchan villagers by educating them on making agricultural waste a valuable product.

Vision: 

• To create a sustainable community among Sekinchan villagers by making valuable products from agricultural waste. 

Mission: 

• In order to achieve our vision, our mission is to: 

1. Provide the skills of upcycling agro-waste via physical workshops.
2. Turn agro-waste collected present in the community into usable items, reducing the amount of agro-waste present in the community of Sekinchan.
3. Cultivate a circular economy among the Sekinchan community. 
4. Create awareness of the environmental issue via talks, exhibition, and social media platforms

• Preparation
  • Paper Making Kit Workshop
    • Purchasing, Packaging and Distribution

• Composting Demonstration
  • Sourcing Demonstration Personnel 

• Sustainable Agriculture Webinar
  • Speaker Sourcing

• Virtual Activities
  • Presentations, Virtual Activity Planning

• Activities
• Sustainability Workshop:
  • Sustainable Agriculture Webinar

A webinar to introduce the current importance and challenges of sustainable agriculture. 

• Composting Demonstration

A demonstration on composting activities to utilise waste products such as food waste and grass cuttings, 

• Paper Making Kit Workshop

The core activity of the project, showcasing the steps and procedure to make paper from available agricultural waste, such as rice straw. 

• Point System Challenge: Point System Challenge is a competition explicitly organised for group competition to ensure the participants stay active throughout the program. Hence, it is a continuous assessment to access them, and the result will be announced at the end of the program. 

• Sharing Session: This sharing session is the last program before the closing, where every participant will present their progress and share their experience throughout the program. For example, they can share what they have learned from the program and their challenges throughout the journey. 

• Appreciation Challenge: Participants are required to write a short message on the papermaking and send it to someone to appreciate them; this program is to give a platform for the youths to showcase their appreciation to someone. 

• Agrowaste Upcycling Workshop (Physical):A 2 days physical workshop will be conducted at Sekinchan to enhance the learning experience of making paper from agro-waste. The community at Sekinchan will be given a hands-on activity to learn the ways of turning rice straw into paper and souvenir. 

Expected Outcomes:

• Youths gain shared knowledge and practices on agricultural waste. 
• Environmental awareness among youths towards agricultural waste and practices have been increased. 
• Sustainability awareness and practices of agriculture waste of youths have been increased.