Climate change is set to shift food production centres and change the power dynamics of food supply and demand. Notwithstanding the general foreboding of doom and gloom from climate change, are there likely benefits from global warming?

While the common narrative of the impact of climate change paints a global doomsday scenario, the real repercussion on food security varies. Some positive effects of climate change include the possibility that a warmer climate will open up new areas for farming in the North and the South, in terms of latitude, for farmers.

The unequal impact of climate change on food security is all too evident. Countries located in the tropics will bear the brunt of climate change while countries in the developed North are likely to benefit from it. The negative climate impact on food production from heat stress and erratic precipitation patterns resulting in drought or flooding, is likely to reduce yields in Southeast Asia.

… Goh Tian is an Associate Research Fellow and Jonatan A. Lassa a Research Fellow at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.