We forgot water in the food security equation

Filepic/The Star

A CLOSER look at the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) 2020 shows how Malaysia’s water resources are significantly at risk, jeopardising the country's ability to improve self-sufficiency in food security. This is an outcome of Malaysia’s current economic practices, and the situation calls for better water resource protection and management, and, ultimately, the nationwide implementation of the circular economy.

As concisely put by The Economist, “water security is food security”, and “managing water resources shapes how we feed the world today and in the future”. In this regard, we should be worried. Malaysia scored “very weak” at a mere 18.5% in the “oceans, rivers and lakes” indicator, which is critically below the world average score of 60.4%.