Severe weather events across Southeast Asia in late 2025 underscored the region’s exposure to climate-related risks. Cyclones and typhoons triggered flooding and landslides across ASEAN, highlighting the urgent need to strengthen resilience and disaster preparedness.
The Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) held a talk on 16 March 2026 on “Beyond the Storms — Climate Adaptation and Resilience in ASEAN Agriculture” featuring perspectives from Mr Tomi Haryadi, Director, Food, Land, and Water Programme, World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia and Dr Sonny Domingo, Senior Research Fellow, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS). The dialogue was moderated by Mr Simon Tay, Chairman, SIIA.
The talk followed an expert workshop held earlier in the day by the SIIA, as part of the ASEAN Think Tanks Summit (ATTS) series.
Lessons Learned from the 2025 Disasters
Mr Tomi shared his personal account of the floods in Sumatra, as he was in the area when the disaster occurred. On 25 November, his planned six-hour journey through West Sumatra turned into a 15-hour trip due to the flash floods and landslides.
By early December, official figures reported at least 962 casualties and nearly 300 people missing in Sumatra, with over 1.5 million displaced between November and January. Economic losses exceeded IDR 51.7 trillion (SG$3.9 bn), alongside widespread damage to homes and infrastructure. Recovery remains a major challenge. Based on current provincial financing mechanisms, it could take decades for some areas to fully rebuild.
The severity of the disaster was driven by a combination of interrelated factors. Extreme rainfall was compounded by existing forest loss in Sumatra, meaning that the area’s natural flood mitigation was already weakened. The absence of vegetation accelerated surface runoff, leading to faster and more destructive flood flows.
Commenting on the recent disasters from a wider regional view, Dr Domingo said ASEAN will face increasingly complex environmental threats over the next decade, with countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines ranked among the top 10 highest risk countries on the WorldRiskIndex.
While the frequency of extreme weather events has not significantly increased due to climate change, Dr Domingo said their intensity or severity has risen. ASEAN must prepare for even worse disasters in the future.
Moving Forward
Dr Domingo highlighted a persistent gap between information producers, policymakers, and end users like farmers. While weather and climate data is increasingly available, it is often not translated into actionable insights. Bridging this gap requires localised real-time forecasts, improved digital and mobile access, and stronger extension services, alongside better communication channels and institutional support.
Mr Tomi identified three priorities for resilience building. First, resilient infrastructure is essential, including not only irrigation systems and storage facilities at farms, but also the transport networks needed to bring goods to market. Second, capacity building at the farm level remains a major gap, with smallholders having limited access to climate-smart practices. Third, better financing mechanisms are needed to support recovery and adaptation, including risk financing and agricultural insurance.
Building Back Better
In the Q&A and discussion with event participants, both speakers agreed that recovery must move beyond short-term rebuilding towards a “build back better” approach. Of course, this is difficult. Dr Domingo said there have been calls in the Philippines to create a Department of Disaster Risk Management at the federal government level, so the country can start building long-term institutional capacity in this area to build on lessons from previous disasters.
The discussion also underscored the vulnerability of smallholder farmers, for instance in Indonesia where around 40 per cent of agricultural land is thought to be managed by smallholders. Fragmented landholdings, limited access to knowledge, and lack of economies of scale, make resilience-building difficult. Mr Tomi said farmers often lack access to insurance and financial tools to support recovery, while the financial sector has limited incentives to invest in climate-resilient agriculture.
Regional Cooperation
Dr Domingo said ASEAN has many frameworks for agricultural sector development and disaster management, such as the ASEAN Food, Agriculture and Forestry (FAF) Sectoral Plan (2026–2030), the ASEAN Multi-Sectoral Framework on Climate Change and Food Security (AFCC), and the ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve (APTERR).
However, implementation of these plans is constrained by gaps in financing and in translating preparedness from policy to the ground level. Dr Domingo stressed that “ASEAN is key” in coordinating regional responses and there is room to further strengthen cooperation on these issues.
