KUALA LUMPUR: Leveraging its technologies and logistics edge, Lazada Malaysia aims to help local agricultural businesses to digitalise and to match urban demand for fresh produce and groceries during the Movement Control Order (MCO).

This is part of Lazada Malaysia three initiatives, including a partnership with three non-governmental organisations (NGO) to facilitate the donation of funds through digital giving in support of front liners and those in need.

Further, the e-commerce platform has also pledges its long-term support to e-commerce entrepreneurs and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia.

Lazada is helping to connect Cameron Highlands farmers and started selling their vegetables online since last Thursday after creating a special sales and delivery service to help them salvage their produce from being discarded.

“Lazada read about Cameron Highlands farmers who had to throw away their fresh produce due to supply chain issue during MCO. We immediately reached out, figured out the tech and logistics, and got them onto the Lazada platform in less than 48 hours,” Lazada Malaysia chief executive officer Leo Chow said.

Aside from vegetables, others that were forced to dump their produce due to transport issues included fruit growers and fishermen.

“It was frustrating that we had to discard our produce due to difficulties in securing transport services to bring the goods to other states during the movement control order (MCO)”, said Jay Mu of Woon Chin & Sons Agriculture.

Last weekend, the farmers had sold 1.5 tonnes of vegetables each day from Friday to Sunday.

Responding to the high need for fresh produce and groceries during the MCO, Lazada created a special ‘Cameron Farmers’ section, alongside its MyFishman for seafood supplies and Mymarket2u for other grocery needs to fulfill customer’s demand since early February.

“We are happy to see that through our platform, the affected farmers, fishermen and SMEs are able to maintain their source of income, without worrying about rental and utility overheads, or even manpower needed for delivery fulfillment.

“It is encouraging to see the success of Cameron Farmers store, which further affirmed our commitment to helping more stakeholders of the eCommerce ecosystem during this time,” Leo said.

Lazada has also partnered with three NGO partners namely Mercy Malaysia, Malaysian Red Crescent Society and UNICEF onto its digital giving platform LazadaForGood, to help Malaysian in the frontline and those in need of aid.

Through the platform, Malaysians can support local communities and causes in need through direct donations where they are assured of secure online payments.

“We are grateful that our NGO partners have placed their trust in Lazada. We stand together, committed to serving and empowering the Malaysian community in all the ways that we can.

“The only way to truly fight this pandemic is through our collective efforts, and as one country,” Leo said.

Proceeds from all public’s donation will be matched with an additional contribution of RM415,000 by Lazada Malaysia to support these organisations’ on-ground work which covers funding to purchase medical equipment and protective gears for medical front liners, funding to support vulnerable groups like B40 who are affected by loss of jobs and providing manpower to reach out and support vulnerable groups mentally affected by COVID-19.

Lazada echoes the government’s economic stimulus mission and pledges to support close to 25,000 e-commerce entrepreneurs and small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia during the pandemic.

“The e-commerce industry and Lazada Malaysia plays an integral role in protecting jobs while bolstering Malaysians’ confidence, and stimulate the nation’s economic growth,” Leo said.

Through its ongoing partnership with the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (MDTCA) in August last year, Lazada is on track to rollout new trade activities and training programs to increase the adoption of e-commerce amongst local SMEs, and support the government’s ‘Buy Malaysian’ campaign with more initiatives coming along in the following quarters.