The Foods of Southeast Asia

A modern bottling facility: Southeast Asia combines many opposites.

Climate Change as a Risk Factor

Still, a relatively high share of the region’s population continues to live in poverty, sometimes with too little to eat. There is often a contrast between cities and the countryside. In Vietnam, for example, a higher percentage of city-dwellers consumes highly processed foods, with a 10-point difference in the share of these foods in their diets compared to rural residents. The highly processed foods represent 40 percent of the urban diet versus 30 percent in the countryside. This is related to the increase in prosperity. It is one of the region’s paradoxes that the farm sector will continue to depend on a workforce from an economically disadvantaged social class.

Climate change is another factor: Rising sea levels are salinizing and muddying soil that has been fertile until now. Droughts and typhoons have led to crop failures. This is increasing the pressure on the local food industry, which is being asked to produce more for a steadily growing population and meet the demand for basic nutrition. It is clear that there is a growing need for industrial farming, technological innovation and greater efficiency in the food industry. The region has certainly made considerable progress in rice production in recent years. (Southeast Asia not only consumes great quantities of rice – it is responsible for 40 percent of the crop's global exports.) But experts are already warning that Indonesia and the Philippines will soon be unable to produce enough rice to feed their populations. The situation in aquaculture seems to be similar. Four ASEAN countries are among the world's top 10 fish exporters: Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines. The segment is expected to continue to grow, but rising sea temperatures pose a risk. Rice and fish are still important as basic foods but will not be sufficient in the future. So, a change in eating habits could prove helpful.