Malaysia keeps eye on food supply as heatwave seen until August

MALAYSIA expects the scorching temperatures gripping the nation to run through August, with the government on high alert should food supplies be hit.

The situation remains under control for now, but the net food importer is prepared to “ramp up the emergency response” should things take a turn for the worse, said Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, the country’s minister for natural resources, environment and climate change.

“We also buy a lot of agricultural products from Thailand or Vietnam,” Nik Nazmi said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Tuesday (May 9). “So we will monitor the situation and we will see whether it will have an impact on food supplies.”

Asia is in the midst of a blistering heatwave, in line with predictions from climate scientists that 2023 could be the world’s hottest year. That can become a major risk for inflation in the global economy, that is only now seeing price gains cool after a year of dealing with war-induced price shocks.

In Malaysia, where one child died from heatstroke prompting the Health Ministry to issue a public advisory, rainfall may be as much as 40 per cent lower in some areas. That could put palm oil production at risk in one of the world’s biggest producers of the commodity.

An El Nino weather event also looks increasingly likely, and if one kicks in, it could bolster prices of food commodities including palm oil, sugar, rice and coffee. Malaysia’s central bank last week said inflation outlook is tilted to the upside, and unexpectedly raised the benchmark interest rate to ward off any risk of future financial imbalances.

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The meteorology department sees the hot spell lasting another three months, and several short-term measures are already being put into place to mitigate its impact, according to Nik Nazmi. His ministry is working to ensure ample water levels nationwide through the dry season, with Penang state requesting for cloud seeding operations to fill its dams, he said.

“We are also preparing for peat fires and open burning and the haze,” he said. This involves maintaining proper infrastructure nationwide, as well as ongoing discussions with neighbours in South-east Asia.

“Whether we need a stronger collaboration, I think we do,” he said. “But that is something that we’re still working on.” BLOOMBERG