Top Challenges in Rural Sabah — And How We’re Overcoming Them Together

public relations
Aug 14
3 min read

Updated: Aug 15

Life in rural Sabah is beautiful but far from easy. For many villages tucked deep in the mountains or hidden behind dense jungle, daily life comes with challenges that most city dwellers can hardly imagine. From poor roads to unsafe water, and from food insecurity to limited job opportunities — these obstacles keep many families trapped in hardship.

rural villagers crossing a rapid flowing river to head to their farms

At Hopes Malaysia, we believe every challenge can be turned into a stepping stone when we work together. Here’s a closer look at the top challenges in rural Sabah and how communities are overcoming them with the right support.

1. Poor Accessibility to Basic Services

In many rural villages of Sabah, narrow gravel roads twist through steep hills and thick forest. Broken bridges, landslides, and unreliable transport leave some communities cut off for hours or even days.

Rural villagers crossing bridge as main pathway to farms and children’s route to school in rural Sabah

Reaching a clinic, school, or market often means paying high fares for four-wheel drives or vans — an expense that’s impossible for many families living in poverty. In fact, over 30% of rural households in Sabah live below the poverty line, compared to the state average of 19.5%. For them, even a trip to the nearest town can be a financial burden.

2. Limited Access to Clean Water

While about 75% of rural households in Sabah have piped water, one in four still rely on unsafe water sources like rivers, streams, or rainwater tanks. These are often contaminated, leading to waterborne illnesses, high medical costs, and daily disruptions.

Rural villager collecting unsafe stream water for daily household use in rural Sabah due to lack of safe water access.

Temporary fixes like shared water tankers or rainwater harvesting help, but they’re not long-term solutions. Villagers need sustainable water systems that work year-round, no matter the season.

3. Food Insecurity & Low Income Opportunities

Many rural families survive on RM470–1,000 per month. With rising food prices, that income barely covers the essentials. For Indigenous communities, the situation is even more serious — malnutrition affects 30–60% of children, compared to the national average of just 7.5%.

Rural teenager using scarce water resources to irrigate family farm

With few job opportunities, many households depend on small vegetable plots or occasional wage labour. While these help families get by, they don’t break the cycle of poverty.

4. The Desire for Lasting Solutions

Despite these challenges, rural Sabahans share one common dream — a better future for their children. They use whatever they have to cope: growing small gardens, collecting rainwater, or relying on community aid. But they know these are short-term fixes.

What they truly need are sustainable changes that give them the skills, resources, and infrastructure to thrive for generations.

How Hopes Malaysia is Making Change Possible

This is where we come in. With the support of CSR partners and public donors, Hopes Malaysia works hand-in-hand with rural communities to address these challenges directly:

Reconnecting Villages: We’ve rebuilt over 7,500m of suspension bridges, cutting travel time to markets and clinics by up to 60%.
Repaired rural bridge with recycled tires providing a safe, sustainable crossing path for villagers.
Rural villagers at their newly repaired suspension bridge.
Delivering Clean Water: More than 200km of gravity-fed pipelines now bring safe, natural water to over 50,000 people — replacing unsafe, unreliable sources.
Rural villagers at their water tanks with pipes overflowing with fresh water.
With clean water now available, families can access it directly at home.
Rural woman using gravity-fed water in her home kitchen for household chores.
Improving Food Security: Our sustainable farming programmes help over 900 rural families grow vegetables, rear fish, and boost household incomes by 40% while reducing food expenses.
Rural woman standing among her self-grown, natural vegetables in her garden
Happy rural farmers surrounded by raised beds filled with their healthy, self-grown vegetables.
Rural farmer selling her surplus harvest at the local market for extra income.
Empowering Education: Our English literacy projects help children improve by 75% in proficiency, opening doors to better education and job opportunities.
Rural children with their English books, ready to start class and improve their literacy skills.
June guiding rural students on their books and helping them prepare before class starts.
Rural students reading and going through their English books.

Building a Sustainable Future for Rural Sabah

Every project we run supports global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including: SDG 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption & Production).