MOTIVATION
Building Climate Resilience in the Agriculture Sector of Asia and the Pacific
Climate change will have significant negative impacts on agricultural potential in developing countries in Asia and the Pacific; this is an important problem in a region where 2.2 billion people rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Food security already poses a challenge for many countries in the region, and slowing agricultural productivity and declining income growth due to climate change will only further exacerbate existing problems. Given agriculture’s prominent role in employment, economic development, and global food security, adverse impacts on agriculture are of particular concern.
OUTCOMES
In 2009, IFPRI and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) published Building Climate Resilience in the Agriculture Sector of Asia and the Pacific, a book with a clear message to development practitioners and policymakers on the threats from climate change and how to cope with them, as well as understand the opportunities that might arise with efforts to mitigate climate change. The analysis of climate change scenarios shows that cultivable areas for key staple crops will decline significantly and food prices will increase sharply, with negative consequences for health and nutrition. The book shows that the most vulnerable countries to climate change in Asia and the Pacific are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Nepal while Bhutan, China, Pakistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam have a significant level of vulnerability as well.
The publication and results were used by ADB in preparation for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meetings in Copenhagen in December 2009 and in an assessment of the impact of climate change on agriculture and policy responses. The book informed the debate through six specific messages to the region’s governments on ways to address climate change.
1. Climate change will have negative impacts on agricultural production and food security throughout Asia and the Pacific.
2. Agricultural adaptation funding is required for all countries in the region. Assistance should be targeted to those countries most vulnerable to climate change.
3. Several important adaptation and mitigation measures should be implemented despite remaining uncertainty regarding climate change impacts.
4. The global agricultural trading regime should be opened so that the risks associated with climate change can be shared and resilience increased.
5. Regional cooperation among governments in Asia and the Pacific needs to be improved to ensure effective implementation of national adaptation and mitigation strategies and implementation of current and future funding mechanisms to address climate change.
6. Agricultural adaptation and mitigation strategies must be incorporated into the ongoing international climate change negotiations to ensure the creation of appropriate incentive mechanisms.
