Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Climate Change and Food Security pp 133–153Cite as

Food Security and Adaptation to Climate Change: What Do We Know?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Advances in Global Change Research ((AGLO,volume 37))

Abstract

The potential for agricultural systems to adapt to climate change is at once both promising and poorly understood. This chapter reviews possible producer and consumer responses to a changing climate, the ability of these responses to offset otherwise negative impacts on food security, and the role of public and private institutions in investing in adaptation where individual responses are insufficient. Accumulated evidence suggests that wealthier societies and households will be better able to adapt to a changing climate because of their greater availability of alternatives and their ability to take advantage of them. Accordingly, investments that improve options for the poor, such as improved agricultural production technologies, financial instruments, and off-farm income opportunities, will likely be critical for adapting food security to a changing climate.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alston J M (2000) A meta-analysis of rates of return to agricultural R&D: ex pede herculem? Int Food Policy Res Inst IFPRI

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnett BJ, Barrett CB et al (2008) Poverty traps and index-based risk transfer products. World Dev 36(10):1766–1785

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett CB, Maxwell DG (2005) Food aid after fifty years: recasting its role. Routledge, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Battisti D, Naylor RL (2009) Historical Warnings of future food insecurity with unprecedented seasonal heat. Science 323(5911):240

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Beinhocker ED (2006) The origin of wealth: evolution, complexity, and the radical remaking of economics. Harvard Business School Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Birkhaeuser D, Evenson RE et al (1991) The economic impact of agricultural extension: a review. Econ Dev Cult Change 39(3):607–650

    Google Scholar 

  • Collier P, Conway G et al (2008) “Climate change and Africa. Oxford Rev Econ Pol 24(2):337

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper PJM, Dimes J et al (2008) Coping better with current climatic variability in the rain-fed farming systems of sub-Saharan Africa: an essential first step in adapting to future climate change?” Agric Ecosyst Environ 126(1–2):24–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin R, Tsigas M et al (1995) World Agriculture and climate change: economic adaptations. Economic Research Service, US Department of Agriculture

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis B, Winters P et al (2007) Rural income generating activities: a cross country comparison. ESA Working Paper 68. FAO, Rome

    Google Scholar 

  • Dercon S-R (2002) Income risk, coping strategies, and safety nets. World Bank Research Observer 17(2):141–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Falcon WP, Naylor RL et al (2004) Using climate models to improve Indonesian food security. Bull Indones Econ Stud 40(3):355–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faurès J, Hoogeveen J et al (2002) The FAO irrigated area forecast for 2030. FAO:14, Rome, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer G, Shah M, van Velthuizen, H (2002) Climate change and agricultural vulnerability, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Vienna, 160 pages

    Google Scholar 

  • Fisher A, Hanemann M et al (2007) Potential impacts of climate change on crop yields and land values in US agriculture: negative, significant, and robust. University of California, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Gine X, Townsend R et al (2008) “Patterns of rainfall insurance participation in rural India.” World Bank Econ Rev 22(3):539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanemann WM (2000) “Adaptation and its measurement.” Climatic Change 45(3):571–581

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs PR, Sayre K et al (2008) The role of conservation agriculture in sustainable agriculture. Philos Trans R Soc B: Biol Sci 363(1491):543–555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoddinott J, Kinsey B (2001) “Child growth in the time of drought.” Oxford Bull Econ Stat 63(4):409–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inocencio A, Kikuchi M et al (2007) Costs and performance of irrigation projects: a comparison of Sub-Saharan Africa and other developing regions. International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka

    Google Scholar 

  • Jayachandran S (2006) Selling labor low: wage responses to productivity shocks in developing countries. J Polit Econ 114(3):538–575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kandlikar M, Risbey J (2000) Agricultural impacts of climate change: if adaptation is the answer, what is the question? Climatic Change 45(3):529–539

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobell DB, Ortiz-Monasterio JI et al (2005) Analysis of wheat yield and climatic trends in Mexico. Field Crop Res 94(2–3):250–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lobell DB, Burke MB et al (2008) Prioritizing climate change adaptation needs for food security in 2030. Science 319(5863):607–610

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Maccini S, Yang D (2008) Under the weather: health, schooling, and economic consequences of early-life rainfall. NBER Working Paper

    Google Scholar 

  • Maddison D (2007) The perception of and adaptation to climate change in Africa. World Bank, Washington, DC

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Maredia MK, Byerlee D et al (2000) Impacts of food crop improvement research: evidence from sub-Saharan Africa. Food Policy 25(5):531–559

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mendelsohn R, Nordhaus WD et al (1994) The impact of global warming on agriculture: a Ricardian analysis. Am Econ Rev:753–771

    Google Scholar 

  • Meze-Hausken E (2004) Contrasting climate variability and meteorological drought with perceived drought and climate change in northern Ethiopia. Climate Res 27(1):19–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ngigi SN, Savenije HHG et al (2005) Agro-hydrological evaluation of on-farm rainwater storage ­systems for supplemental irrigation in Laikipia district, Kenya. Agric Water Manage 73(1):21–41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ortiz-Ferrara G, Joshi A et al (2007) Partnering with farmers to accelerate adoption of new technologies in South Asia to improve wheat productivity. Euphytica 157(3):399–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pandey S, Bhandari HS et al (2007) Economic costs of drought and rice farmers’ coping mechanisms: a cross-country comparative analysis. International Rice Research Institute

    Google Scholar 

  • Pardey PG, Beintema NM (2002) Slow magic: agricultural R&D a century after Mendel. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Pardey PG, Beintema N et al (2006) Agricultural research: a growing global divide?. IFPRI, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Reilly J, Schimmelpfennig D (2000) Irreversibility, uncertainty, and learning: portraits of adaptation to long-term climate change. Climatic Change 45(1):253–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig MR, Binswanger HP (1993) Wealth, weather risk and the composition and profitability of agricultural investments. Econ J 103:56–78

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenzweig C, Parry M et al (1993) Climate change and world food supply. University of Oxford, Environmental Change Unit, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Smit B, Blain R et al (1997) Corn hybrid selection and climatic variability: gambling with nature? Can Geogr 41(4):429–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tadross MA, Hewitson BC et al (2005) The interannual variability of the onset of the maize growing season over South Africa and Zimbabwe. J Clim 18(16):3356–3372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas DSG, Twyman C et al (2007) Adaptation to climate change and variability: farmer responses to intra-seasonal precipitation trends in South Africa. Climatic Change 83(3):301–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tubiello FN, Rosenzweig C et al (2002) Effects of climate change on US crop production: simulation results using two different GCM scenarios. Part I: wheat, potato, maize, and citrus. Climate Res 20(3):259–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Washington R, Harrison M et al (2006) African climate change: taking the shorter route. Bull Am Meteorol Soc 87(10):1355–1366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2005) Managing agricultural production risk: Innovations in developing countries. World Bank, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2008) Investment in agricultural water for poverty reduction and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2008) World development report: agriculture for development. World Bank: 386, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Cline, William (2007) Global Warming and Agriculture: Impact Estimates by Country. Peterson Institute, Washington DC, 201 pages

    Google Scholar 

  • Stefan Dercon (2002) Income risk, coping strategies, and safety nets. World Bank Research Observer 17(2):141–166

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Marshall Burke & David Lobell

Authors
  1. Marshall Burke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David Lobell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stanford University, CA, USA

    David Lobell  & Marshall Burke  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Burke, M., Lobell, D. (2010). Food Security and Adaptation to Climate Change: What Do We Know?. In: Lobell, D., Burke, M. (eds) Climate Change and Food Security. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 37. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2953-9_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation