This paper reviews the studies from various disciplines and countries on the impacts of climate change on food security and its four dimensions, namely food availability, accessibility, food utilisation and the stability of food systems. Reviewed literature has shown that the impacts of climate change on food security would be devastating. If any of these four dimensions of food security is affected, the impacts will vary from local to global. However, most of the studies have focussed on food availability, so the other three dimensions of food security were not given due attention. This paper, therefore, reviews the impacts of climate change in all food security dimensions based on a narrative review approach. In summary, the impacts of climate change at the micro-level, involving households’ food access and utilisation, and food stability were still less discussed and understood as compared to food availability issues. This review consequently emphasises the importance of future researches on climate change and food security to concentrate on other dimensions of food security.

This study aims to investigate the contribution of leading key players for maintaining and increasing the quality of paddy industry in Malaysia. The Ministry of Agriculture and Argo-based Industry (MOA) plays a key role in improving the production of paddy and welfare of the farmers in this country by doing the transformation within the agricultural sector. Hence, in order to ensure the successful implementation and fulfilment of direction from Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (FELCRA), Department of Agriculture (DOA), Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) and Farmers Organisation Authority (FOA) involve greatly in Malaysian paddy production chain with each agency playing different roles. BERNAS acts as the main regulatory body in the production chain. It does so by ensuring the stability of rice trade within the country as well as its distribution. By way of qualitative methodology, this study conducted in-depth interviews with six key informants on their respective agency’s contribution to paddy industry in Malaysia. We also conducted a review of the agencies’ web page and previous literature on respective agencies. This research found that the farming area is divided into two major sections; the granary area and non-granary area. The granary area is the area recognized by the government as the main paddy production area and the non-granary area is the opposite of this recognition. This research provides substantial information about the roles of key players in Malaysia paddy value chain, especially MADA and Farmers Organisation Authority and discusses current issues, initiatives and suggestions in relation to the paddy industry.

Our modern society is becoming increasingly reliant on transportation networks, as well as the interdependent infrastructures and technologies that interact with them. The increasing complexity and interconnectedness of infrastructure networks make them susceptible to impact not only directly from external shocks but also indirectly from the failure of dependent infrastructures. This research study was conducted in Padang city, one of the most disaster-prone areas in Indonesia. Based on the literature review, it is no doubt that research study on seismic risk assessment is insufficient and outdated. In fact, a study about the interdependency between Critical Infrastructures (CIs) is yet to be done in this region. In this study, there are two approaches used for data gathering which is by surveying existing CIs using Google Earth and by an online questionnaire survey via Google Form. Based on the qualitative survey, a functionality rating method is done to obtain the level of outage/loss functionality which is an indicator for the damage occurred to the structure and infrastructure. Following that, a seismic risk analysis was conducted to assess the interdependency between investigated CIs and facilities. Respondents’ judgement from the questionnaire were used to identify the base criticality of each critical infrastructure. Based on the qualitative survey, the level of loss in functionality for the substation and the telecommunication tower is rated as “High”, but the loss in functionality for the water supply system is rated as “Moderate”. Moreover, the findings used from the respondents’ judgements were used to establish the initial level of criticality for each vital infrastructure. According to the findings, hospitals, power substations, and communication towers all have a criticality level of “5-Vital”, while police stations and fire stations both have a “3-medium” criticality rating. Eventually, the results of this assessment of interdependence are displayed in a criticality map, which shows how the interdependency relationship affects the initial criticality of a certain upstream infrastructure. Understanding the potential consequences of infrastructure failure, especially in regard to dependent infrastructures, can help emergency response teams formulate more targeted strategies for managing risks. As a consequence of this, the resilience of the wider community is improved, which contributes toward the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11: Sustainable cities and communities particularly in reducing disasters and people in vulnerable situation.

The Malaysian government established the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification primarily as a response to critics against the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), chief among which is to urge the Malaysian government to play a more proactive role in protecting local palm oil producers. The aim of this study is threefold: (1) to identify why the Malaysian government creates MSPO; (2) to understand how Malaysian actors push for the MSPO; and (3) to investigate the current state of MSPO. We conducted nine expert interviews and four in-depth interviews with oil palm small holders. The study finds that the policy regarding palm oil in Malaysia is predominantly top-down in nature. The study concludes that the establishment and implementation of local palm oil certification standard as an alternative to the RSPO is not as straight-forward and more awareness among the smallholders on the importance of getting certified by MSPO is crucial. MSPO may establish a more effective and clearer line of communication between the federal government and the oil palm producers at the local level specifically small holders. The federal government, state agencies and MPOB needs to create awareness among the smallholders on the importance of getting certified by MSPO. Keywords: Actors, governance, MSPO, palm oil, perspective, sustainability