Economics of agricultural adaptation to climate change: Tools for informed decision-making

What are the main criteria to assess the suitability of climate change adaptation tools?

In developing countries, where agriculture is the foundation of the economy; rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, and extreme climatic events are particularly endangering to rural livelihoods and national food security. Adaptation is thus urgently needed to respond to climate change risks and to increase the resilience of agriculture in the future. This policy brief provides a review of the most common methodological approaches to adaptation costing tools. It also offers recommendations on choosing the most relevant and appropriate approach for key stakeholders.

Adaptation costing tools are analytical tools that assess economic impact and prioritize interventions. The most common approaches to adaptation cost analysis are divided into two types; global and national. The brief provides a detailed overview of the methodological tools of each approach. The authors, however, argue that while both approaches provide useful estimates of the economic costs of adaptation, they only do little to support local decision-making.

Last Updated Thursday, May 23, 2013