Middlemen are often accused as unethical and oppressing the farmers. Nevertheless, they remain essential to the value chain of agriculture product. This article aims to examine the ethics of middlemen within the small-scale agriculture sector based on the Theory of Moral Sentiment. This study employs a semi structured interview method with four palm oil fruit entrepreneurs (FD) in Sabak Bernam, Selangor. The interviews are guided by semi-structured questions. The findings indicate that the middleman business possess the element of rational sympathy and benevolence prescribed by the Moral Sentiment Theory. The execution of moral sentiment found in two areas - the commercial and social services. The commercial services consist of normal business activities such as purchase of crude palm fruits (FFB), farm management, selling of farm materials and transportation. Although the activities are fee-based, the smallholders gain benefits from the offered services. On the other hand, the social .....

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