Looking Beyond the Horizon: How Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Responses Will Reshape Agriculture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Description

This volume presents a synthesis of the multi-country collaborative program of analytical and advisory activities titled Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Change in European and Central Asian Agricultural Systems. The book describes the experiences of four countries: Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) Macedonia, Moldova, and Uzbekistan that examined each system capacity to cope with climate variability. The goal of this book is to bring together the lessons learned and recommendations from the country-specific work, and provide guidance on the approach and methodology for others who wish to pursue similar analyses elsewhere in the Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region or anywhere else in the world.

The recommendations reflect the results of three interrelated activities conducted by the World Bank team in collaboration with local partners: (i) quantitative economic modeling of baseline conditions and the effects of certain adaptation options; (ii) qualitative analysis conducted by the expert team of agronomists, crop modelers, and water resource experts; and (iii) input from a series of participatory work - shops for farmers in each of the countries key agro-ecological zones (AEZs).

The analysis showed that, in many cases, water availability for irrigation will be severely curtailed by climate change, and crop yield will be reduced by 20-50 percent by 2050. The book also highlights different climate change adaptation options devised by national experts and a World Bank team for each of the four countries. The adaptation options include practical measures such as improvement of crop varieties, investment in irrigation infrastructure, dissemination of timely and reliable weather forecasts to farmers, nutrient management and soil conservation, and livestock health and nutrition.

 

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