Climate change is making extreme weather such as heatwaves, droughts, floods, and typhoons more frequent and severe, and these events are pushing food prices higher around the world. A recent study found that global food inflation surges are increasingly linked to climate‑driven impacts with staples like rice, vegetables, onions, and coffee suffering sudden price jumps after disasters.
The Philippines, being one of the most climate‑vulnerable countries, relies heavily on agriculture, which supports a large portion of the labor force. Extreme weather events, such as typhoons Carina and enhanced monsoon rains in 2024 caused more than 4 billion pesos in agricultural losses and wiped out nearly 70,000 metric tons of crops, including rice and corn. El Ni&ntilde;o in 2024 also brought widespread drought and crop failures affecting tens of thousands of hectares and leading to rising prices for necessity foods such as rice and vegetables.
Because of these problems, there's less food to go around, prices rise, and it becomes harder for poor families to afford basic meals. Both city and rural areas feel the impact. With the goal of reducing this, the Philippine government has declared food emergencies, released stored rice, and lowered taxes on imported food but prices are still high.
What steps can the government and we, as individuals, do to minimize the damage of natural disasters? Just a food for thought.