Integrating agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP–Ag): Uruguay

This country case study on Uruguay is one in a series that describes the steps taken to formulate and implement National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), with a particular emphasis on adaptation in agriculture (incl. forestry, livestock and fisheries). The agricultural sector is a mainstay of the Uruguayan economy, contributing seventy per cent of exports and seven per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The sector has experienced a period of rapid growth, intensification and modernization over the last decade.

Agricultural production remains vulnerable to climate change and climate variability, with extreme events such as floods and droughts becoming more intense. Projections indicate that there will be an increase in the duration of heatwaves and a significant increase in the intensity of the precipitation this century. Uruguay has developed an advanced suite of climate change policies, strategies and plans. The country has committed to ambitious and quantified sectoral mitigation targets to be achieved by 2030. In 2016 the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (MGAP) began the process of developing a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) specifically for the agricultural sector (Agriculture NAP). The formulation of the NAP was finalised in 2018.

This series aims to provide national policymakers with valuable information from colleagues and counterparts in Asia, Africa and Latin America who are on the same NAP journey to address the multiple challenges posed by climate change.