Langit's 2023 Year in Impact

Dear Langit Community,

Thank you for joining us in creating yet another meaningful year in 2023. Your growing appetite and big heart have contributed to actionable impacts within our local food ecosystem. Together, we’ve achieved significant milestones in social impact, as well as progress towards a more delicious and sustainable food future.

We enabled farmers and gained through eating/ gifting delicious produce:

In the past year, we partnered with 60 subsistence farmers and 1 smallholder farmer to bring you your favorite staples—from rice to aromatic spices. Our subsistence farmers are community members who are food-secure with excess produce to sell. By working with Langit, we reduce their barrier to markets, allowing them to turn excess produce into potential income. This approach empowers farmers to rely on their ambition and effort for progress rather than aid.

Your actions of buying, eating, or gifting have benefited:

• 54 traditional heirloom rice farmers from Long Semadoh, Sarawak
• 2 traditional heirloom rice farmers from Tuaran, Sabah
• 2 ginger farmers from Keningau, Sabah
• 2 pepper farmers from Serian and Sri Aman, Sarawak
• 1 pesticides-free rice farmer from Tanjung Karang, Selangor

Cumulatively, we've generated RM144,513.67 in income for our farmer partners. This income enabled farmers to pay for their school-going kids' expenses, add to their family groceries, complete the work-in-progress homes, and so much more. 

What’s exciting this year is your support for Dr. Azman’s pesticide-free Beras Wangi. Transitioning to growing rice in a less toxic manner remains a big challenge for commercial rice farmers. But Dr. Azman is persistent, and thanks to you, we moved 2,256.6 kg this year (from farms to tummies). To continue this growth, we need to reach scale by proving consumer demand, allowing us to support more farmers like Dr. Azman to achieve pesticide-free rice cultivation.  Beras Wangi is now available in unpolished or semi-polished forms.

Coming soon: A community Milling Center

We’ve spent the last 3 years catching up to complete a community milling center in Long Semadoh, Sarawak—a project that truly embodies our dedication. In 2024, we’d love to give you a tour of the space. This statement infrastructure was built by 41 local community members (22 male and 19 female) and contributed to RM50,000 in income. The facility integrates solar systems for complementary power generation and is equipped with Starlink (read our historical moment here), enabling rural digitization and access to digital tools. Once operations begin, the facility will create new job opportunities for the local community, in-situ.

We empowered communities through training:

Aside from connecting farmers' products to markets, we have empowered rural communities. This year, we designed and delivered customized learning modules for aspiring entrepreneurs, benefiting 66 participants from the  Orang Asli community in Pahang and women micro-entrepreneurs in Sabah. 

We brought delicious products to you through collaboration:

Our joy comes from product development and collaboration with aspirational Malaysians and brands. We brought Heirloom rice crackers to life with Heritaste, a second-generation traditional snacks maker in Jenjarom, Selangor. We also introduced delicious 100% fruit jams made using local and surplus fruits in collaboration with restaurateur, Jenifer Kuah, converting approximately 100kg of surplus fruits into beautiful spreads.

In times of reflection, we wondered if our food and consumption choices as consumers can make a change. Looking back at our shared achievements this year, the answer is a loud YES. Our collective effort may seem small, but we believe in taking baby steps and doing what we can as individuals and as a community. As you continue to engage with Langit, we make ripples of impact by supporting local farmers, enabling communities to thrive, and working towards a more sustainable future.

Thank you for being part of Langit’s 2023 journey. We look forward to building more meaningful partnerships in 2024 and beyond. Together, we will continue to eat and gift our way to make a difference.