Climate change impacts on agriculture in Africa: Current assessments and the way forward SELVARAJU BERNARDI 2011 (original) (raw)

Information at local scale on impacts of climate variability and climate change are crucial for planning of adaptation strategies and practices in agriculture. There is a diversity of approaches and methods available for understanding the impacts of climate change on agriculture. In general, climate change impact assessments primarily build on the data availability of crop production/yield records, observed climate data, climate change scenarios, hydrological, soil and socio-economic data. In addition, these assessments must be based on an understanding of what future climate will look like and how its variability will affect the biophysical and socio-economic systems associated with agriculture. This paper briefly presents the results of previous assessments for Africa and seeks to identify future priorities with respect to data, methods and tools for climate change impact assessment in agriculture.