KOTA KINABALU, Apr 21 - Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has obtained aRM70,000 grant to study the impact of socio-economic changes on oil palmsmallholders in Sabah and Sarawak.The grant, from the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganisation (Unesco), was won by a team from the university’s Ethnographyand Social Development Research Unit.

Unit head Associate Prof Fadzilah Majid Cooke said there was little knownabout smallholders.

"Much attention is given to oil palm plantations but relatively little isknown about the smallholders," she said.

"Yet, these two sectors are linked in terms of labour and production."

She said the study would also examine the complexity of non-farming workamong smallholder households.

"Interesting examples of off-farm work include the involvement of women invalue-added food production and marketing such as bottled honey andpickles. Young men meanwhile are involved in the transport sector whichforms a vital link between rural and urban areas," she said.

Fadzilah has also received an invitation to be a scientific adviser to theInternational Foundation for Science (IFS) of Sweden.

Such advisers are recruited from around the world to assist the IFS indisbursing grants.

The role of advisers is to evaluate research proposals from capable youngscientists and to make recommendations based on their potential.