Addressing the agricultural financing gap in Malaysia via Manihah Agricultural Financing Model: will Islamic banks go the extra mile?

PurposeThis paper introduces the concept of manihah and develops a conceptual framework to address Malaysia's abandoned lands and food security issues.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper based on insights from the existing literature and secondary data on food security, abandoned lands and manihah. Based on the prevailing gaps, the study proposes a conceptual framework of the Manihah Agricultural Financing Model to address Malaysia's abandoned land and food security issues.FindingsThe proposed model can address abandoned lands and food security issues due to the new incorporation of manihah within Malaysia's agricultural and Islamic financial industries' milieu.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a conceptual paper mainly intended to spark a discussion on the potentiality of manihah.Practical implicationsThe paper contends that Islamic banks have a crucial role in furthering the socio-economic development agenda under the value-based intermediation (VBI). The paper will also be an excellent introduction to Islamic bank practitioners in understanding manihah's relevance to their daily operation.Originality/valueThis paper introduces manihah as the potential solution to food security issues by utilizing abandoned lands.