Climate Change Agriculture And Rural Livelihoods In Developing Countries

This book is about climate change and its relation to agriculture and rural livelihoods. It starts by providing a basic understanding of climate change science followed by the relation of climate change to agriculture, the impact of which is discussed based on the particular impact of climate change on plant and animal physiology. The book further discusses the inclusion of the agriculture sector in various international climate change negotiations. It also reviews the cost and opportunities for agricultural projects through international climate change regimes, specifically the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol. With this background, the book finally proceeds to an explanation of the methodologies used to assess the impact of climate change on agriculture and empirically discusses its impact on agriculture and rural livelihoods in Nepal.

Seasonality is a severe constraint to sustainable rural livelihoods and a driver of poverty and hunger, particularly in the tropics. Many poor people in developing countries are ill equipped to cope with seasonal variations which can lead to drought or flood and consequences for agriculture, employment, food supply and the spread of disease. The subject has assumed increasing importance as climate change and other forms of development disrupt established seasonal patterns and variations. This book is the first systematic study of seasonality for over twenty years, and it aims to revive academic interest and policy awareness of this crucial but neglected issue. Thematic chapters explore recent shifts with profound implications for seasonality, including climate change, HIV/AIDS, and social protection. Case study chapters explore seasonal dimensions of livelihoods in Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi), Asia (Bangladesh, China, India), and Latin America (Peru). Others assess policy responses to adverse seasonality, for example through irrigation, migration and seasonally-sensitive education. The book also includes innovative tools for monitoring seasonality, which should enable more appropriate responses.

This book summarizes the evidence from different African countries about the local impacts of climate change, and how farmers are coping with current climate risks. The different contributors show how agricultural systems in developing countries are affected by climate changes and how communities prepare and adapt to these changes.

Facing new challenges with respect to sustainable agriculture and rural development strategies for low-income countries, related to global environmental change and globalization of markets, an interdisciplinary Wageningen University and Research Centre group set out to draw lessons from the DLO-IC projects of the last eight years. In discussing the way ahead and a future agenda, a number of major research challenges, as well as policy questions are outlined.

Climate Change And Challenges In Rural Livelihoods provide the readers with the various effects of climate change and the challenges that it poses to the livelihoods of the people in the rural areas. It also makes the readers familiar with the impact of climate change on the food security of the rural people and draws their attention to some cases in Asia. This book also discusses about the impact of climate change on the poverty, the relation of climate change with the small-scale agriculture, the effect climate change has on the farmers and agricultural workers, the role of climate change in preservation of biodiversity and its impact on livelihoods and the role of climate change on the economic development.

The last decade has seen a growing body of research about globalization and climate change in the Caribbean. This collection is a significant addition to the literature on a topic that is of critical importance to the region. It explores research from a number of Caribbean islands dealing with a range of issues related to agriculture and food in the context of globalization and climate change. Using a broad livelihoods perspective, the impacts on rural livelihoods are explored as well as issues related to community level resilience, adaptability and adaptations. The volume is strengthened by gendered analyses of issues and discussions informed by a diverse range of research methods and methodologies. Scholars of Caribbean studies and studies pertaining to social, cultural, economic and environmental issues facing Small Island Developing States (SIDS) will greatly benefit from this book.

Global climate change threatens human existence through its potential impact on agriculture and the environment. Agriculture is climate-sensitive, and climate variability and climate change have net negative impact on it. Additionally, the agricultural landscape is affected by monoculture and agro-biodiversity loss, soil fertility depletion and soil loss, competition from biofuel production, crop yield plateaus and invasive species. Nevertheless, the global agricultural production system has to meet the food demands from the growing human population, which is set to exceed 10 billion by 2050. This book discusses the impacts of climate change on agriculture, animal husbandry and rural livelihoods. Further, since agriculture, forestry and other land-use sectors contribute about 10–12 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent per year, it argues that agricultural policy must dovetail adaptation and mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. This calls for a reformative and disruptive agricultural strategy like climate-smart agriculture, which can operate at all spatio-temporal scales with few modifications. The book also redefines sustainable agriculture through the lens of climate-smart agriculture in the context of the sustainability of Earth's life- support system and inter- and intra-generational equity. The climate-smart agriculture approach is gaining currency thanks to its inherent positive potential, and its goal to establish an agricultural system which includes "climate-smart food systems", "climate-proof farms", and "climate-smart soils". Climate-smart agriculture provides a pathway to achieve sustainable development goals which focus on poverty reduction, food security, and environmental health.