Trade and Climate Change Implications for Food Security

This report examines the complex interlinkages between trade, climate change, and food security in mainland Southeast Asia, with a detailed case study on Cambodia. It argues that food insecurity in the region persists despite surplus rice production due to structural economic weaknesses and vulnerability to external shocks. The author advocates for a holistic, participatory, and long-term policy approach to mitigate the risks posed by climate change and volatile global markets.

• Mainland Southeast Asia produces a surplus of rice and includes the world's two largest rice exporters, Thailand and Vietnam, yet continues to face high undernourishment rates. Between 2004 and 2006, undernourishment affected 25 percent of the population in Cambodia, 19 percent in Lao PDR, 17 percent in Thailand and Myanmar, and 13 percent in Vietnam.
• Climate change poses a significant threat to all dimensions of food security in the Mekong region. Predicted impacts include rising temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and the melting of Himalayan glaciers, which may cause initial flooding followed by droughts. Rising sea levels are expected to be particularly devastating in the greater Mekong delta, where half of Vietnam's rice is produced.
• Trade policies can both support and jeopardize food security. While trade liberalization and membership in the WTO and ASEAN can stimulate economic growth and increase household incomes, the 2008 food crisis demonstrated that countries may react to price spikes by imposing restrictive measures, such as rice export bans in Vietnam and Cambodia.
• The 2008 food crisis led to a proposal to create the Organization of Rice Exporting Countries (OREC), a rice cartel supported by Thailand and Cambodia. Although the proposal did not materialize, the author warns that it could return to the agenda due to predicted high food prices, potentially creating tension within ASEAN and hindering regional integration.
• In Cambodia, the garment industry illustrates how free trade can improve food security by generating employment and remittances for rural families. However, this also creates vulnerability to external shocks; during the 200810 global recession, a fall in demand from the U.S. and EU led to decreased employment and remittances.
• Cambodia has implemented several strategic frameworks to address food security, including the National Strategic Development Plan 20062010 (NSDP) and the Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition 20082012 (SFFSN). The SFFSN specifically attempts to treat food security as a cross-cutting issue across five objectives: increasing availability, accessibility, utilization, stability, and enhancing the institutional environment.
• Cambodia is a leader among least developed countries in utilizing the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to address climate change. As of November 2009, four projects were registered, focusing on environmental protection, income enhancement, technology transfer, and economic benefits.
• The Cambodian National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA), approved in 2006, prioritizes three projects to protect food security: the development of small-scale aquaculture ponds, the promotion of integrated household farming to combat flood and drought, and community-based agricultural soil conservation in the Srae Ambel district of Koh Kong Province.
• The 2008 food crisis in Cambodia saw the price of rice double and the Consumer Price Index reach 18.7 percent in January 2008. Approximately 50 percent of households cut back on food to cope, and school dropout rates in food-insecure households reached 22 percent by June 2008.

APA

Schiavone, A. (2010). Trade and Climate Change Implications for Food Security. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_climate_security_southeast_asia.pdf

Chicago

Schiavone, Antonio. Trade and Climate Change Implications for Food Security. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2010. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_climate_security_southeast_asia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Schiavone |first1=Antonio |title=Trade and Climate Change Implications for Food Security |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2010 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_climate_security_southeast_asia.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{schiavone2010trade, author = {Schiavone, Antonio}, title = {{Trade and Climate Change Implications for Food Security}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2010}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/trade_climate_security_southeast_asia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }