More than 3.5 billion people2 — around half the world’s population — have rice as their staple food. In Asia, people often eat rice two or three times a day, obtaining 30 to 70% of their dietary energy from it3 .In 2014, 31% of the global rice harvested (from about 48 million hectares) was from Southeast Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia,Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, TimorLeste and Viet Nam4 (Figs. 1 & 2).But the production of rice is threatened by climate change, land degradation, water scarcity, and over-exploitation of natural resources. Combined, they put at risk the security of farmers’ livelihoods and food supply in Southeast Asia. Temperatures are increasing, causing heat stress in rice. Sea levels are rising, leading to salinization of once-fertile, ricegrowing river deltas. Extreme weather — such as storms, floods and droughts — is more frequent and severe and destroys rice crops or disrupts planting seasons5.
Publication year
2017
Authors
Wangpakapattanawong P; Ratnamhin A; Finlayson, R.; Sinclair, F.; Öborn I
Language
English
Keywords
agroforestry, rice, climate change, land degradation, natural resources
