Adaptation for Climate and Sustainable Food Resources
Adaptation for climate and sustainable food resources requires effective adaptation plans to mitigate against various climate risks.
Overview of Adaptation Planning
Plans need to be completed to address extreme weather events and changing climates. And adaptation plans also need to maximize resource sustainability.
Foremost, plans need to mitigate impacts of extreme weather events. For example, during floods livestock and equipment may need to be moved to higher ground. And during extreme heat events livestock needs to be housed in cooler facilities.
Also, changing climates may require the use of varying management techniques. For example, using shorter season cultivars that mature with later planting and earlier harvesting dates.
These shorter season cultivars allow later planting dates in the spring and earlier harvesting dates in the fall.
The growing period may be reduced: i.e., the longer period of planting on May 1st and harvesting on Oct 15th may be reduced to planting on June 1st and harvesting on September 15th.
Steps in Adaptation Planning
Adaptation planning typically outline various similar steps, such as:
- Pre-planning
- Identifying climate change trends: temperatures, rainfall, wind speeds, extremes…
- Assessing climate change impacts
- Risk assessment
- Vulnerability assessment
- Threshold analysis
- Identifying areas and sectors that require adaptation planning
- Assessing Adaptive Capacity
- Identifying opportunities
- Identifying uncertainties
- Formulating the Adaptation Plan
- Presenting and obtaining support, buy-in
- Implementing
- Testing based on scenario
- Measuring, monitoring, updating
- Communicating
Adapting to Climate Change in Agricultural Operations
Agricultural operations can employ various adaptation techniques:
- Using different cultivars
- Developing new crop varieties that are more resistant to drought and disease
- Modifying planting dates where possible
- Developing newer crop varieties that are more resistant to heat
- Improving soil quality
- Supporting higher water retention capabilities by improving soil organic content
- Implementing more efficient irrigation practices.
- Diversifying crop rotations
Crop models can evaluate the benefits of adaptation measures.
And crop modelling plays an important role in projecting how various crops will be impacted by climate change.
Modelling also illustrates how the various impacts may be offset by adaptation measures.
And modelling illustrates what the implications of adaptation actions are for global food security.
International Climate Adaptation Standards
For consistency and completeness, adaptation plans can be formulated based on international standards.
Adaptation plans should assess: Vulnerability, Impacts, Risk, and Adaptive Capacity.
And Adaptation plans should include sections on implementation, monitoring and evaluation, reporting and communication.
Examples from the International Standards Organization include:
- 1. ISO 14090:2019 Adaptation to climate change — Principles, requirements and guidelines
- 2. ISO 14091Adaptation to climate change — Guidelines on vulnerability, impacts and risk assessment
- 3. ISO 14092 Adaptation to climate change — Requirements and guidance on adaptation planning for local governments and communities
For more information, please refer to Education, and:
Global Center for Adaptation, Global Commission on Adaptation, Canada’s Climate Change Adaptation Platform
- Last Modified: May 17, 2024