Workshop on climate change and its impact on agriculture

Purpose

To enhance the capacity of policymakers in obtaining reliable climate information, choosing planning tools, interpretation of risks, and application of resulting knowledge for mainstreaming climate change adaptation in agricultural sectoral planning.

Background

Climate change and agriculture are interrelated processes. Agriculture is sensitive to climate variability and weather extremes, such as droughts, floods, and severe storms. The forces that shape climate are also critical to farm productivity. Global warming is projected to have significant impacts on conditions affecting agriculture, including temperature, precipitation, and glacial run-off. Rising carbon dioxide levels will also have effects, both detrimental and beneficial, on crop productivity. The overall effect of climate change on agriculture will depend on the balance of these effects. Assessment of the effects of global climate changes on agriculture might help to anticipate and adapt farming to maximize agricultural productivity.

At the same time, agriculture produces significant effects on climate change, primarily through the production and release of greenhouse gases, but also by altering the earth's land cover, changing its ability to absorb or reflect heat and light. Land use change such as deforestation and desertification, together with the use of fossil fuels, are the major anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide; agriculture itself is the major contributor to increasing methane and nitrous oxide concentrations in earth's atmosphere. Such impacts of farming on climate change need to be mitigated to promote green productivity and sustainable agriculture.

The workshop will consist mainly of presentations and discussions of resource papers and country reports, and group discussions.

The topics to be covered during the study meeting are:

- Climate change and agricultural productivity;
- Models for forecasting the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity;
- Land use policy measures to cope with climate change;
- Agro technologies for mitigating adapting to climate change; and
- Adapting farming to the climate change: successful examples.

Objectives

The objectives of the workshop are:

- To understand key developmental risks posed by the climate change on agriculture and the required actions to be taken by decision makers and planners to address these risks.
- To create awareness of the tools, methods and policies available to assess the impacts of climate change on agriculture and key adaptation strategies and modify them according to the specific needs of countries.
- To exchange experience and empirical evidence of assessment techniques that lead to successful adaptation programs and measures across key vulnerable areas and stakeholders.

Outputs

The event will have the following outputs based on presentations and discussions during the workshop:

- Improved capacity of participating countries to acquire and analyze necessary climate information, design and implement climate change adaptation measures at sectoral level;
- Identification of appropriate impact assessment tools and adaptation action plans;
- Policy statements by senior officials and summary of proceedings.