Halal and Thayyib Agriculture in Brunei Darussalam: Current Constraints and Future Potentials

Abstract

The growing demand for Halāl food is increasing every day, because of this it further emphasizes the importance of having Halāl and Thayyib agriculture to meet the demand for Halāl food. Halāl and Thayyib agriculture is a set of farming activities that follows the Islamic principles, where close observation is being made to ensure that all activities involved on the farm are (1) legal or permissible, following the (2) cleanliness and (3) safety regulations. These measures are taken so as to achieved ‘Halāl and Thayyib’ agricultural produces. It is the aim of this study to examine the implementation of Halāl and Thayyib agricultural practices among farmers in their daily agricultural activities and also to explore the current constraints and future potentials of Halāl and Thayyib Agriculture in Brunei Darussalam. To achieve this, qualitative methods namely structured interviews and document analysis have been adopted for data collection. Major findings revealed three important points on Halāl and Thayyib agriculture in Brunei Darussalam. First and foremost, it was found that the daily practices of all farmers among the respondents are in line with the Halāl and Thayyib agricultural practices. Secondly, it was found that all respondents unanimously agreed that these factors namely, 1) pests and diseases outbreaks, 2) high dependance on imported raw materials 3) less involvement of local laborer especially the younger generation to venture into agriculture, 4) poor data collection and 5) poor field management are the five main constraints of Halal and Thayyib Agriculture in Brunei Darussalam. Thirdly, it is identified that 1) opportunities for large scale farming, 2) use of quality seeds/breeds, 3) use of high technology and, 4) improvements in research and development (R&D) are the major contributors to the potentials of Halāl and Thayyib agriculture in Brunei Darussalam.