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Climate change already affecting food production, expert warns
The change in weather patterns as a result of climate change, such as prolonged dry seasons and extreme rain causing massive flooding, has led to a decline in food production, especially rice.
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In rural Indonesia, especially Kalimantan, we have fewer local farmers with the ability and expertise to produce food at adequate levels. (Courtesy of Randi Julian Miranda/File)
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gricultural experts have called on the government to introduce programs in response to climate change, which has begun to affect food production in parts of the country.
Bustanul Arifin, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Lampung (Unila), said on Tuesday that the government should, for example, establish a mitigation or adaptation plan with concrete measures to minimize the impacts of climate change.
The senior economist said rising temperatures caused by climate change made plants like rice and wheat ripen faster and dry quicker, resulting in a fall in production. With an effective mitigation and adaption plan, the impact of changing weather patterns on farming could be minimized, Bustanul said.
He warned that Indonesia could suffer food scarcity if the government failed to address the impact of climate change.
Read also: Awaiting a morsel of hope, 22 million Indonesians go hungry
The change in weather patterns as a result of climate change, such as prolonged dry seasons and extreme rain causing massive flooding, has led to a decline in food production, especially rice.
“Some people might say this [climate change] is not real, but I am telling this is real. The global temperature has risen for some 100 years [...] The world has experienced drastic increases in [food] prices,” Bustanul told The Jakarta Post.
