Dynamic linkages between climatic variables and agriculture production in Malaysia: a generalized method of moments approach

Climate change continues to pose a threat to the agricultural sectors worldwide, jeopardizing food and nutritional security, which is a critical component of the sustainable development agenda. Consequently, this study attempts to examine the impact of climatic variables (CO2 emissions, energy resources, rainfall, temperature, fossil fuel consumption, and humidity) on agricultural production of rice, cereals, vegetables, coffee, and agriculture value added (as a percentage of GDP) in the Malaysian context. To this end, this study applied a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator on the data obtained from the metrological station Malaysia, Department of Statistics Malaysia and World Development Indicators (WDI) spanning the period 1985-2016. The results revealed that temperature and energy consumption negatively and significantly affect rice and vegetable production, while the negative effect of rainfall, temperature, fossil fuel consumption, and humidity on cereal production is insignificant. The results also confirmed that CO2 emissions have a negative and significant impact on coffee production. Likewise, temperature, energy consumption, and fossil fuel consumption exhibit a negative and significant influence on agriculture value added. These observations evidenced the adverse effect of climate change on various agricultural products in Malaysia. Therefore, in order to ensure robust and sustainable agricultural output in Malaysia, policymakers as well as environmentalists should work together to formulate appropriate adaptation strategies.