Annual Meeting of the American Association of Geographers, April 6-10, 2020, Denver, CO
Organizers: Asif Ishtiaque (University of Michigan) and Saleh Ahmed (Boise State University)
Climate change impacts on agricultural systems have prolonged effects on food security, poverty, and livelihoods (Wheeler & Barun 2013). In the coming decades, farmers will experience a variable amount of yield losses depending on the locations (Long et al. 2006, Müller et al. 2011, Knox et al. 2012), which might force further food insecurity, poverty, and even engender social and political tensions across geographies. Therefore, farm-level adaptations to climate change are increasingly important. Some adaptation strategies are proven useful to negate climate change impacts substantially as they can increase crop production by up to 18% (Deryng et al. 2011, Challinor et al. 2014). In addition to individual initiatives by farmers, the institutional structure, mechanisms, functions need to facilitate the adaptation process in a more equitable manner (Challinor et al. 2014). One of the major challenges of studying adaptation is that it is very much context-dependent, and not a one-size fits all phenomenon. Adaptation actions and the factors that influence them may vary across regions, cultures, and/or agro-ecological zones (Berry et al. 2006, Adger et al. 2009). Agricultural adaptation has been studied for quite some time, yet, despite having numerous efforts to understand farmer’s adaptation, there is a lack of critical insights on how adaptation strategies are shaped by various social, economic, cultural, political, and managerial/institutional factors. Without considering the dynamic linkages and dependencies between climate and society, which can help to understand how institutions can facilitate or create obstacles for farmers’ adaptations, or how socio-cultural determinants promote or prohibit adaptation initiatives, adaptation efforts can cause further vulnerability and marginalization.
This session invites papers on the broad theme of climate change adaptation in agricultural systems. Possible themes and topics may include but not limited to:
- Institutional dimension of adaptation in agriculture
- Economics of agricultural adaptation
- Biophysical, socio-economic, cultural factors influencing agricultural adaptation
- Barriers, limits, and opportunities of agricultural adaptation
- Effectiveness of adaptation actions
- Adaptation governance in agricultural systems
- Incremental and transformational adaptation in farm livelihoods
- Individual or collective adaptation initiatives and their impacts
If you are interested in presenting in this session, please send your abstract of no more than 250 words, along with your name, affiliation, email address, to asis@umich.edu and salehahmed@boisestate.edu by October 30.
Reference cited:
Adger, W. N., Dessai, S., Goulden, M., Hulme, M., Lorenzoni, I., Nelson, D. R., & Wreford, A. (2009). Are there social limits to adaptation to climate change?. Climatic Change, 93(3-4), 335-354.
Berry, P. M., Rounsevell, M. D. A., Harrison, P. A., & Audsley, E. (2006). Assessing the vulnerability of agricultural land use and species to climate change and the role of policy in facilitating adaptation. Environmental Science & Policy, 9(2), 189-204.
Challinor, A. J., Watson, J., Lobell, D. B., Howden, S. M., Smith, D. R., & Chhetri, N. (2014). A meta-analysis of crop yield under climate change and adaptation. Nature Climate Change, 4(4), 287.
Deryng, D., Sacks, W. J., Barford, C. C., & Ramankutty, N. (2011). Simulating the effects of climate and agricultural management practices on global crop yield. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 25(2).
Knox, J., Hess, T., Daccache, A., & Wheeler, T. (2012). Climate change impacts on crop productivity in Africa and South Asia. Environmental Research Letters, 7(3), 034032.
Long, S. P., Ainsworth, E. A., Leakey, A. D., Nösberger, J., & Ort, D. R. (2006). Food for thought: lower-than-expected crop yield stimulation with rising CO2 concentrations. Science, 312(5782), 1918-1921.
Müller, C., Cramer, W., Hare, W. L., & Lotze-Campen, H. (2011). Climate change risks for African agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(11), 4313-4315.
Wheeler, T., & Von Braun, J. (2013). Climate change impacts on global food security. Science, 341(6145), 508-513
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Asif Ishtiaque
School for Environment and Sustainability
University of Michigan
asis@umich.edu
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