Extreme flooding has put three Indonesian provinces — Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra — at risk of crop failure, according to BPS-Statistics Indonesia.

What's happening?

Last November, Southeast Asia was struck by torrential downpours and deadly floods, displacing and killing thousands, The New York Times reported.

In some Indonesian regions, these floods have had far-reaching effects. Rice-planting conditions in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra have worsened. 

In a January press conference reported by the Indonesia Business Post, Pudji Ismartini, deputy for distribution and services statistics at BPS, said that over 11% of agricultural land dedicated to rice planting within those provinces is at risk of crop failure. She cited extreme weather as the main reason behind this crisis, namely the development of three tropical cyclones.

"These systems significantly increased rainfall intensity over Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra, leading to widespread … disasters," Ismartini said at the press conference, per IBP.

Why do these extreme weather events matter?

Aside from the direct devastation, these floods have had long-term consequences that could impact not only rice farmers' livelihoods, but also the rest of the country. The affected provinces experienced high inflation levels, which Ismartini attributed to the rising cost of staples like rice. 

"The inflation in these three provinces was driven primarily by rising commodity prices as a direct impact of the hydrometeorological disasters in late November 2025," she said, per IBP.

This news from Indonesia is just the latest in a series of weather-related crop failures across the globe. For example, unusual weather patterns in Ukraine, including a drought and early frost, led to huge losses of grain. Drought has also caused Moroccan farmers to lose massive amounts of wheat; they say they haven't had a good year since 2000.

What's being done about it?

At the BPS press conference, Ismartini predicted that the rice harvest in the affected fields will be impacted for the next three months.

To help mitigate the damage, Central Java Governor Ahmad Luthfi has encouraged city governments to apply for crop failure insurance, according to Tempo.

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