Planning and costing agriculture's adaptation to climate change. Synthesis Report.

Abstract

This study informs decision makers by providing key messages from analyses carried out at three levels. At the conceptual level, the study develops an approach for planning and costing agricultural adaptation, which can be used by decision makers at global and country levels. At the country and local levels, the study provides five case studies that present local evidence that helps shape national adaptation planning, with indicative costs for the key adaptation functions and actions identified in the short and long terms. At these two levels, the study employs the conceptual approach developed earlier, and informs country level decision makers and the global community.

At the global level, the study provides a map of the global policy processes in the climate change arena and those in the agricultural development arena and analyses the emerging issues from both sides that should be considered when developing a new climate change agreement that takes agriculture into account. The flow of the sections is as follows:

Section 2 provides a review of climate change, agriculture and food security thereby putting the whole study into the general context of the issues around climate change and agriculture.

Section 3 presents a review of previous work on costing climate change adaptation, providing a background and reference for discussing the approach used in this study in order to address the gaps and weaknesses in preceding studies.

Section 4 develops a framework for planning and costing adaptation in agriculture that takes into account different agricultural systems, levels and timescales of adaptation, and local climate change information. This section also presents the procedures or steps used in undertaking country-level research, including policy analyses, downscaling of climate models, and local surveys.

Section 5 presents summaries of the case studies carried out in five countries.

Section 6 presents the global policy framework that is likely to shape a new climate change regime, and the extent to which agriculture is currently integrated. It also includes an overview of the key processes and players, bringing together agriculture and climate change from their respective angles.

Section 7 summarises the key messages from the entire study and their implications for policymakers. Detailed country studies are presented as separate standalone reports.

Citation

Chambwera, M.; Downing, T.; Cabot Venton, C.; Dyszynski, J.; Crawford, V.; Butterfield, R.; Kaur, N.; Birch, T.; Bezabih, M.; Loga, D. Planning and costing agriculture’s adaptation to climate change. Synthesis Report. International Institute for Environment and Development(IIED), London, UK (2011) 132 pp.

Planning and costing agriculture’s adaptation to climate change. Synthesis Report.

Published 1 January 2011