COMMENT | Warming seas, failing harvests: Climate threat to M'sia food

COMMENT | Malaysia’s food crisis is no longer a distant threat. It is already here, playing out in flooded farms, warming seas, and on the dinner plates of ordinary Malaysians.

Across the country, climate change is reshaping how food is grown, caught, and priced.

Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, floods, and droughts are placing unprecedented strain on the food system. In December 2024, severe floods swept through Johor, Malacca, Perak, Kelantan, and Terengganu, destroying more than 100ha of farmland.

Within weeks, vegetable prices surged by 50 to 80 percent for everyday staples such as sawi, bayam (spinach), and kangkung.

Throughout 2025, food prices continued to rise steadily, typically by 2.0 to 3.3 percent depending on...