Publication: Looking Beyond the Horizon : How Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Responses Will Reshape Agriculture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia
Date
2013-03-22
ISSN
Published
2013-03-22
Author(s)
Sutton, William R.
Srivastava, Jitendra P.
Neumann, James E.
Abstract
This volume presents a synthesis of the
multi-country collaborative program of analytical and
advisory activities titled reducing vulnerability to climate
change in European and Central Asian (ECA) agricultural
systems. Climate change and its impacts on agricultural
systems and rural economies are already evident throughout
the ECA region. Adaptation measures now in use in the
region-largely piecemeal efforts-would be insufficient to
prevent impacts on agricultural production over the coming
decades. Interest is growing among governments and many of
their development partners to gain a better understanding of
the exposure, sensitivities, and impacts of climate change
at the farm level, and to develop and prioritize adaptation
measures to build resilience to the potentially adverse
consequences. Agricultural production is inextricably tied
to climate, making agriculture one of the most
climate-sensitive of all economic sectors. In many
countries, such as the four examined in this work, the risks
of climate change for the agricultural sector are a
particularly immediate and important problem because the
majority of the rural population depends either directly or
indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods. The risks
of climate change cannot be effectively dealt with and the
opportunities cannot be effectively exploited without a
clear plan for aligning agricultural policies with climate
change, for developing key agricultural institution
capabilities, and for making needed infrastructure and
on-farm investments. However, an important advantage of the
innovative approach developed for this assessment is that it
can be applied to gauge the climate change risks and
opportunities of any country's farming systems, and it
can be used to define and prioritize practical adaptation options.
Citation
“Sutton, William R.; Srivastava, Jitendra P.; Neumann, James E.. 2013. Looking Beyond the Horizon : How Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Responses Will Reshape Agriculture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Directions in development : agriculture and
rural development;. © Washington, DC: World Bank. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/13119 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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