What is happening to
Agriculture?

Agriculture is a sector that ultimately reaps what it sows; being both a source and victim of climate change impacts in its quest to feed a world population that is growing large and hungry.

example — Farmers at the Nilwala River Basin in Sri Lanka introduced new rice varieties and adopted innovative rice cultivation techniques.

Between 10%-50% of South Asia’s crop production could be lost by the end of the century due to global warming. Climate-smart agriculture is an important step to putting farming and rural economies on a resilient path!

South Asia consists of 5.6% of the world’s total agricultural area, and nearly 700 million people are directly dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods.

The region is prone to various climate events like temperature increase, rainfall variability, drought, and floods.

Climate-related hazards incur significant losses to arable land, livestock safety and wellbeing, and revenue due to their impacts on the availability of crops.

What do the experts say?

Climate change impacts can cause crop reductions of up to 10% for staple crops like rice and more than 10% for others like millet and maize in South Asia.

The agriculture sector is threatened in South Asia due to climate change events, high population, increasing demand for food, and poverty. Food production in South Asia needs to increase by at least 60% in the 2050s to meet rising food consumption.

Climate smart agriculture (CSA) is an approach that helps to guide actions needed to can help transform and reorient agricultural systems to effectively support the development and ensure food security in a changing climate.

Climate-smart agricultural practices can help achieve a paradigm shift to efficiently use resources, protection, and conservation of the natural systems.

Without urgent attention to climate-resilient agricultural practices, climate change will have a huge impact on poverty and food insecurity in the country both now and in the future.

South Asian countries like Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal are committed to implementing climate-smart agricultural strategies through their NDCs.

Several other plans and strategies aimed to enhance the agricultural system, protect the environment and reduce climate impacts have been adopted to achieve food security.

Is this information sufficient?

Yes

No

What do you need to know about Agriculture?

Bypass all the climate clutter and avoid tedious, lengthy web searches by taking note of the following short and important climate change figures for Agriculture: