FEEDING THE WORLD IN A CHANGING CLIMATE: AN ADAPTATION ROADMAP FOR AGRICULTURE

The document argues that global agricultural production has declined by 1-5% per decade over the last 30 years due to climate change, necessitating an urgent transition to climate-resilient systems. It identifies critical risks, including heat stress, extreme weather, and pests, which disproportionately affect smallholder farmers and women in the tropics. The authors propose a roadmap based on five pillars: promoting resilient and low-emission technologies, expanding digital climate information, mobilizing innovative finance, strengthening farmer organizations, and delivering enabling policies. The paper highlights successful examples of 'no regret' options, such as stress-tolerant crop varieties and sustainable intensification, and emphasizes the need for context-specific, participatory approaches to scale these solutions.

• Global agricultural production has decreased by 1-5 percent every decade for the last 30 years, with tropical regions being the most severely impacted.
• Climate change is projected to significantly reduce the area suitable for coffee cultivation by the 2050s, potentially decreasing by half, with Brazil, India, and Nicaragua among the most affected countries.
• Rising carbon dioxide levels are expected to increase carbohydrates in certain crops while reducing other essential nutrients, which may lead to an additional 122 million people suffering from protein deficiency by 2050.
• Rural labor capacity decreased by more than 5 percent between 2000 and 2016 as rising temperatures hindered the ability of laborers to work in fields.
• The document identifies five essential building blocks for a climate-resilient agricultural transition: promoting resilient/low-emission technologies, expanding digital climate information, mobilizing innovative finance, strengthening farmer/consumer networks, and delivering enabling policies.
• Investment in weather and climate information services is starkly unequal; sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia spend approximately US$2 per capita annually, compared to US$16 in Europe. Closing this gap could prevent an estimated US$1.9 billion in agricultural asset losses.
• Scaling stress-tolerant maize varieties across 13 African countries has demonstrated the potential to produce 20 percent more crop than commercial varieties in low-yield environments and double production during severe stress events like the 2015-16 El Niño.

APA

Loboguerrero, A. M., Birch, J., Thornton, P., Meza, L., Sunga, I., Bong, B. B., Rabbinge, R., Reddy, M., Dinesh, D., Korner, J., Martinez-Baron, D., Millan, A., Hansen, J., Huyer, S., & Campbell, B. (2018). FEEDING THE WORLD IN A CHANGING CLIMATE: AN ADAPTATION ROADMAP FOR AGRICULTURE. World Resources Institute. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Global_Commission_on_Adaptation_Discussion_Paper_Agriculture_Final.pdf

Chicago

Loboguerrero, Ana Maria, James Birch, Phillip Thornton, Laura Meza, Ishmael Sunga, Bui Ba Bong, Rudy Rabbinge, et al. FEEDING THE WORLD IN A CHANGING CLIMATE: AN ADAPTATION ROADMAP FOR AGRICULTURE. World Resources Institute, 2018. https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Global_Commission_on_Adaptation_Discussion_Paper_Agriculture_Final.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{loboguerrero2018feeding, author = {Loboguerrero, Ana Maria and Birch, James and Thornton, Phillip and Meza, Laura and Sunga, Ishmael and Bong, Bui Ba and Rabbinge, Rudy and Reddy, Matthew and Dinesh, Dhanush and Korner, Jana and Martinez-Baron, Deissy and Millan, Alberto and Hansen, James and Huyer, Sophia and Campbell, Bruce}, title = {{FEEDING THE WORLD IN A CHANGING CLIMATE: AN ADAPTATION ROADMAP FOR AGRICULTURE}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2018}, url = {https://files.wri.org/s3fs-public/uploads/Global_Commission_on_Adaptation_Discussion_Paper_Agriculture_Final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }