Adaptation to climate change is defined as the range of actions taken in response to changes in local and regional climatic conditions (Smit et al., 2000). Climate change adaptation simply means reducing the vulnerability of people’s lives and livelihoods to risk posed by climate change. Agriculture adaptation measures can be categorised into policy level interventions, technology development and farm level management practices.
The government of Sri Lanka realising the importance of climate change adaptation has taken number of initiatives at policy level to address the concerns of climate change and among the initiatives; the most important is the recently formulated national climate change adaptation strategy. The national climate change adaptation strategy is structured into five strategic thrust areas of which the third thrust area is focused on minimizing climate change impacts on food security (NCCAS, 2010). Sri Lanka ratified UNFCC in 1993 and the Kyoto Protocol in 2002, thereby affirming commitments in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Sri Lanka...
In order to get a comprehensive picture of these issues, this chapter reviews literature on climate change and vulnerability. It begins by defining climate change and analyzing global climate change in general and its impacts on local smallholder farmer’s livelihoods in a developing country such as Zimbabwe. Lastly the chapter also assesses the measures of adaptation which smallholder farmers can use to increase their coping capacity and resilience to climate change and variability.
While the Green Revolution increased food grain productivity and improved food security, further innovation is necessary to increase a sustainable food supply in the face of climate change. The impact of climate change on rice production in Asia is of particular policy interest, according to Gardner, as rice is the most important component in millions of Asians’ diets (133). As the seventeen Asian countries that produce the majority of the rice supply are located at different latitudes and terrains, climate change impact on rice production is diversified and uncertain at this point. The most at-risk region of South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) contains 23 percent of the world’s population, but generates only 2 percent of global income. This region has 40 percent of the world’s poorest people and the greatest number of hungry people. Gardner emphasizes that this region of the world is clearly the most vulnerable, in terms of the number of people likely to be affected, to any depressing effect of climate change on agricultural production
Funding international adaptation to help the world 's most vulnerable peoples adjust to the effects of global warming from which they are already suffering. Adaptation actions will reduce or avoid tensions around such issues as water sources and food shortages, thus alleviating global security problems (The Union of Concerned Scientists, 11).
Global warming elicits a rising sea level, new precipitation patterns, more frequent extreme weather events and higher temperatures resulting in varying effects of the economics of southern Africa, the tropics and especially a downfall in a few island states. Scientists declared the earth’s surface heat will rise roughly by 2-6 degrees centigrade over the next century due to the concentration of greenhouse gases extant in the atmosphere. The only ambiguity is how swiftly climate change will befall, how it will manifest itself in various states and whether human interference can curb the level of global warming and its effects through the next century. (World Bank,
Adapting agriculture to climate change is essential to increase resilience of farmers and other players in the food system. Adapting food systems to climate change will take long-term visioning, targeted research, development of new technologies and human capacity development. Resilience in the farmers’ level will involve implementation of sustainable farming practices, diversification and an increased emphasis on management of the entire agro-ecological
Farming has always been challenging, some years conditions roll in the favor of the farmer; most years the farmer has to do the best possible without full cooperation of nature. Understanding ecological principles and how those principles can be utilized, to improve crop performance, is useful for the farmer. This will surely become even more true as climate change brings new challenges and opportunities within the agricultural industry. Of the many agroecological principles which will have value to farmers, as environmental factors change, adaption will be the most necessary to ensuring food security.
The most immediate issue caused by climate change in Peru is the effect of the change on farmlands and food production in the country. Although agriculture only accounts for about 7 percent of the GDP for Peru, around 23.3 percent of the working population partakes in agricultural practices (US AID, 2011). Farming regions such as Cusco and Piura have experienced a drop in crop production by nearly half in recent years (Hufstader, 2009). Eighty percent of the farmland in these region...
Marks, Danny. "Climate change and Thailand: impact and response." Contemporary Southeast Asia 33.2 (2011): 229+. Academic OneFile. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
Wall, Ellen, and Barry Smit. "Climate Change Adaptation in Light of Sustainable Agriculture." Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 27.1 (2005): 113-23. Print.
Since 1960s both minimum and maximum temperatures have exhibited a rising trend; with minimum increasing by a range of 0.7-2.0 degrees Celsius and maximum by 0.2-1.3 degree Celsius varying by region and season. Notable also is variability of rainfall patterns such as below normal rainfall in the long rains season and more during the short rainfall season, some regions have recorded more intense rainfall and downpours that have resulted to floods and infrastructural impairments. Extinction or near extinction of flora and fauna, changes in flowering and maturity patterns in crops are all attributable to climate change. These changes have had and are expected to have far reaching impacts on the economic sectors of the economy. Some of the expected sectoral impacts are discussed
It’s impossible for poor rural women and their communities to cope with the effects of climate change when both are perpetually in crisis mode. Their capacity to adapt must be strengthened. Compared to men in poor countries, women face additional cultural, social and economic barriers that make them more vulnerable to climate change. They have limited access to productive assets such as land, credit, and extension services, and they continue to lack voice and decision-making power on agriculture policies and programs. As a result, they are in many cases the first casualties of volatile climate conditions, falling into food insecurity and malnutrition. This reality demands a gender analysis toward climate change mitigation” (Hunger report 22) This being said, our increase in involvement improving women’s rights for education, ability to voice their opinions and breaking cultural norms that restrict them will result in less stress as well as more food. This will break the cycle of poverty. Educating women agriculturally will benefit them and increase their involvement in growing and cultivating produce, which will lead to them selling what they make and gives in increase in their home’s
Global climate change is a two-sided coin; the first argument is perhaps best overly dramatized by the recent movie The Day After Tomorrow, the preverbal we are all doomed aspect of it. The other argument although never made into a movie, is that we will be able to survive quite comfortable, with only some minor modification to our way of life. Although very few in the scientific community can deny the existence of global climate change the argument lies in whether it poses a threat or not. One highly significant aspect to look at would therefore be its effect on agriculture. As the world as a whole continues to struggle with starvation, especially in Africa and parts of Asia, the question at hand is whether or not global climate change is going to shrink the world's population significantly? The answer to this many other questions lies somewhere in between both arguments.
Climate change is one of the major issues surfacing earth over the past century. The earth’s temperature has increased over the years leading to detrimental effects on the economic and life sources of people, especially that of agricultural production and livestock. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary (2014), defined climate change as a change in global climate patterns apparent from the mid late 20th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, (2007) predicts that by 2100 the increase in global average surface temperature may be between 1.8° C and 4.0° C. With increases of 1.5° C to 2.5° C, approximately 20 to 30 percent of plant and animal species are expected to be at risk of extinction. Moreover, the IPCC (2007) purported that climate change has severe consequences for food security in developing countries. There are numerous factors that are solely responsible for this change which are both natural and man-made. Climate change has led to a decrease in quality and quantity of plant produce and livestock because of heat stress, drought and an increase in plant and animal diseases.
The backbone of a stable nation, socially and politically, is agriculture. Agriculture is the largest sector that provides a nation with food and employment. Agriculture is currently being affected by climate change and at the same time it is also a contributor to climate change. The drastic elevations in climate change started from the mid to late 20th century and they have been increasing since then (Boisvenue & Running 2006). Climate change is affecting agriculture by interfering with the efficiency of crop production. Agriculture is facing droughts, flooding, sea level elevations, natural disasters, and health hazards for employees. All of these exponents lead to crop failure that creates famines and food prices to rise. On the other side, agriculture is also contributing to climate change through their output of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints. These are caused by the activities that agriculture engages with such as breeding of livestock, ploughing of fields, deforestation, and the use of pesticides and other agrochemicals. Climate change affects countries differently, mainly due to their ability to adapt and their geographical location. Canada and Russia benefit from the changes in climate while Sudan and Bangladesh are affected negatively, struggling to adapt. Agriculture and climate change are interrelated processes that exist mutually making it harder to reduce one without affecting the other.
...local agriculture and food security, this paper attempts to give an overview of observed and projected climate change in Sri Lanka, its impact on the agriculture sector and climate change adaptation strategies through reviewing recent literature on climate change. To develop appropriate strategies and institutional responses to climate change targeting smallholder farmers it is necessary to have a good understanding about the local farming environment in terms of farmer perception about climate change, key issues faced by farmers in overcoming climate adversities, local knowledge and strengths on climate change adaptation. There is a dearth of such research studies undertaken in Sri Lanka therefore; this paper presents a case study undertaken on a farming community in the intermediate zone to demonstrate how farmers perceive and respond to climate adversities.