Adapting global agriculture to a changing climate: spatial aspects of challenges and threats
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61308/DWUJ9010Keywords:
adaptation, agriculture, climate change, policies, strategiesAbstract
The global agricultural system is facing many challenges arising from climate change, and this, in turn, is making adaptation increasingly difficult. Climate change poses a significant threat to global agriculture, affecting crop yields, livestock productivity, and farmers’ livelihoods.
This article examines the complex spatial dimensions of these challenges and threats, recognizing that the impacts of climate change on agricultural systems are far from uniform across the globe. From changing precipitation patterns and increasing extreme weather events to rising temperatures and changing growing seasons, agricultural production faces a complex web of interconnected vulnerabilities. Although the biophysical consequences of climate change are well documented, understanding and addressing these challenges requires a sound economic perspective. This article explores the challenges that climate change poses to agriculture
and highlights innovative solutions being developed to address these issues. Socio-economic factors, such as access to resources and information, play a critical role in determining farmers’ ability to adapt. Despite these challenges, there are many examples of innovative and effective adaptation strategies being applied globally, and drawing on experiences from different countries, these can be successfully implemented. The proposed study aims to analyze, summarize and compare the multifaceted impacts and challenges posed by climate change on global agriculture, with a specific focus on their spatial dimensions, and to explore effective adaptation practices implemented in different countries.
References
Abegunde, O, V. & Obi, A. (2022). The Role and Perspective of Climate Smart Agriculture in Africa: A Scientific Review. Sustainability, 14, No 4: 2317. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042317.
Acevedo, M., Pixley, K., Zinyengere, N., Meng, S., Tufan, H., Cichy, K., ... & Porciello, J. (2020). A scoping review of adoption of climate-resilient crops by small-scale producers in low-and middle-income countries. Nature plants, 6(10), 1231-1241. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-020-00783-z
Aleksandrov, V., Veselinov, N., Kazandjiev, V. (2023). The Changing Climate of Bulgaria - Data and Analyses. NIMH-BAN.
Ali, S., Ghosh, B. C., Osmani, A. G., Hossain, E., & Fogarassy, C. (2021). Farmers’ climate change adaptation strategies for reducing the risk of rice production: evidence from Rajshahi district in Bangladesh. Agronomy, 11(3), 600. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11030600.
Aryal, J. P., Sapkota, T. B., Khurana, R., Khatri-Chhetri, A., Rahut, D. B., & Jat, M. L. (2020). Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: adaptation options in smallholder production systems. Environment, development and sustainability, 22(6), 5045-5075. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00414-4.
Bantilan, M. C. S., & Mohan, G. (2014). Adaptation to Climate Change in Agriculture in Selected Asian Countries: Insights from micro-level studies and implications for policy. http://oar.icrisat.org/7649/.
Buda, A. R., Williard, K. W., Schoonover, J. E., & Srinivasan, M. S. (2015). Featured Collection Introduction: Agricultural Hydrology and Water Quality. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 51(4), p. 877-882. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12343.
Campbell, B. M., Vermeulen, S. J., Aggarwal, P. K., Corner-Dolloff, C., Girvetz, E., Loboguerrero, A. M., ... & Wollenberg, E. (2016). Reducing risks to food security from climate change. Global food security, 11, 34-43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2016.06.002.
Cho, S. J., Ding, J., McCarl, B. A., Yu, C. H., Cho, S. J., Ding, J., ... & Yu, C. H. (2011). Economic impacts of climate change on agriculture: adaptation and vulnerability. Climate Change: Socioeconomic Effects, 307-324. https://doi.org/10.5772/24590
Feng, X., Liu, M., Huo, X., & Ma, W. (2017). What motivates farmers’ adaptation to climate change? The case of apple farmers of Shaanxi in China. Sustainability, 9(4), 519. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9040519.
Gangopadhyay, P. K., Khatri-Chhetri, A., Shirsath, P. B., & Aggarwal, P. K. (2019). Spatial targeting of ICT-based weather and agro-advisory services for climate risk management in agriculture. Climatic change, 154(1), 241-256. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02426-5.
Hillel, D. (2011). An overview of soil and water management: the challenge of enhancing productivity and sustainability. Soil Management: Building a Stable Base for Agriculture, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.2136/2011.soilmanagement.c1.
Idawati et al. (2018). The implication of climate adaptation and mitigation research: capacity adaptation of rice paddy farmers to climate change. IOP Publishing, 200, p. 012041-012041. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/200/1/012041.
Kim, I., Elisha, I., Lawrence, E., & Moses, M. (2017). Farmers adaptation strategies to the effect of climate variation on rice production: Insight from Benue State, Nigeria. Environment and Ecology Research, 5(4), 289-301. https://doi.org/10.13189/eer.2017.050406.
Lal, R. (2013). Climate‐strategic agriculture and the water‐soil‐waste nexus. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 176(4), 479-493. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.201300189.
Lal, R. (2019). Eco-intensification through soil carbon sequestration: Harnessing ecosystem services and advancing sustainable development goals. Journal of Soil and water conservation, 74(3), 55A-61A. https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.74.3.55a.
M. Tahat, M., M. Alananbeh, K., A. Othman, Y., & I. Leskovar, D. (2020). Soil health and sustainable agriculture. Sustainability, 12(12), 4859. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12124859.
Mardiyati, S., & Natsir, M. (2021, March). Literacy and adaptation strategy of rainfed lowland farmer on climate change risk in Takalar Regency. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 681, No. 1, p. 012080). IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/681/1/012080.
Neupane, J., & Guo, W. (2019). Agronomic basis and strategies for precision water management: A review. Agronomy, 9(2), 87. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9020087.
Ologeh, I., Adesina, F., & Sobanke, V. (2020). Assessment of farmers’ indigenous technology adoptions for climate change adaptation in Nigeria. In African handbook of climate change adaptation (pp. 1-13). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42091-8_28-1.
Orimoloye, I. R., Zhou, L., & M. Kalumba, A. (2021). Drought disaster risk adaptation through ecosystem services-based solutions: way forward for South Africa. Sustainability, 13(8), 4132. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084132.
Ozor, N. (2011). Difficulties in adaptation to climate change by farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria. African Journals OnLine, 14(2). https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v14i2.64127.
Patle, G. T., Kumar, M., & Khanna, M. (2019). Climate-smart water technologies for sustainable agriculture: A review. J. Water Climate Change 11 (4): 1455-1466. https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2019.257.
Pello, K., Okinda, C., Liu, A., & Njagi, T. (2021). Factors affecting adaptation to climate change through agroforestry in Kenya. Land, 10(4), 371. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10040371.
Rohde, M., Reynolds, M., & Howard, J. (2019). Dynamic multibenefit solutions for global water challenges. Conservation Science and Practice, 2 (1), e144.
Shah, A., Nazari, M., Antar, M., Msimbira, L. A., Naamala, J., Lyu, D., ... & Smith, D. L. (2021). PGPR in agriculture: A sustainable approach to increasing climate change resilience. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 5, 667546.
Sova, C. A., Grosjean, G., Baedeker, T., Nguyen, T. N., Wallner, M., Nowak, A., ... & Lizarazo, M. (2018). Bringing the concept of climate-smart agriculture to life: insights from CSA country profiles across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. https://doi.org/10.1596/31064.
Turebayeva, S., Zhapparova, A., Kekilbayeva, G., Kenzhegulova, S., Aisakulova, K., Yesseyeva, G., ... & Saljnikov, E. (2022). Development of sustainable production of rainfed winter wheat with no-till technologies in Southern Kazakhstan. Agronomy, 12(4), 950. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12040950.
Viswanathan, P. K., Kavya, K., & Bahinipati, C. S. (2020). Global patterns of climate-resilient agriculture: A review of studies and imperatives for empirical research in India. Review of Development and Change, 25(2), 169-192. https://doi.org/10.1177/0972266120966211.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Economics and Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
