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EPAR

Focus — Climate Change

Climate variability and the environment are central to agricultural outcomes. EPAR’s past and current work on this topic includes:

  • Agriculture & the Environment (EPAR Technical Report #254): This overview introduces a series of EPAR briefs in the Agriculture-Environment Series that examine crop-environment interactions for a range of crops in smallholder food production systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and South Asia (SA). The briefs cover the following important food crops in those regions:

    The research in these briefs formed the basis for an article, Environmental impacts and constraints associated with the production of major food crops in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia published in Food Security in 2015.

  • Crops Climate Change: Executive Summary (EPAR Technical Report #118): This report combines analyses from four previous EPAR briefs regarding the effects of climate change on the production of crops in Sub-Saharan Africa. The crops under evaluation were:

    In addition, this brief presents new analysis of the projected impact of climate changes in SSA.

  • Climate Change Impacts on Smallholder Farmers (EPAR Technical Report #386): This research brief offers findings on observed or measured changes in precipitation and/or temperature, on five biophysical pathways and systems including: variable or changing growing seasons; extreme events; biotic stressors; plant species density; richness and range; impacts to streamflow; and impacts on crop yield.
  • Profile of Tanzanian Farming Households in Five Sub-Regions (EPAR Technical Report #281): This research project examines the traits of Tanzanian farmers living in five different farming system-based sub-regions: the Northern Highlands, Sukumaland, Central Maize, Coastal Cassava, and Zanzibar.
  • Current Status and Growth Trajectory of International Climate Finance (EPAR Technical Report #285): This brief gives a concise overview of financial flows directed at climate change mitigation and adaptation globally and in developing countries, with an introduction to climate finance accounting such that climate financial flow volumes can be compared to aid volumes in other sectors.
  • Herbicide Resistant Cassava (EPAR Technical Report #200): This report investigates the potential environmental and socio-economic benefits and costs of glyphosate resistant cassava, drawing on the literature for glyphosate resistant crops that are in current use, including maize, soybeans, sugar beets and canola (rapeseed).
  • Environmental Implications of Livestock (EPAR Technical Reports #155-158): This series identifies environmental impacts related to either climate change and air pollution, land degradation, biodiversity, or water resources. We review environmental analyses on the general and species-specific impacts and discuss two types of interventions to mitigate the negative and enhance the positive environmental impacts of livestock: (1) biophysical interventions directed at natural resource components of farming systems, and (2) socio-political-economic interventions directed at individual incentives, policies and institutions:
  • Alternative Energy Pumps to Irrigate Smallholder Farmers’ Land: What is the State of the Art? (EPAR Technical Report #102): This brief provides an overview of state-of-the-art alternative energy pumps, including technologies available and implementation lessons learned from China, India, Africa, South America and other regions.
  • Sustainable Agricultural Productivity Presentation and Recommended Readings(EPAR Technical Report #103): This presentation reviews and presents definitions and theories around incorporating sustainability into agricultural productivity. We review ecological, social, and economic sustainability and examine agricultural productivity through the lenses of nutrition, gender, environment, and climate change.
  • Environmental Impact of Agricultural Technologies (EPAR Technical Report #65): The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the impacts of agricultural technologies and practices on ecosystem services such as soil fertility, water, biodiversity, air, and climate. The report describes the environmental impacts of different aspects of intensive cropping practices and of inputs associated with intensification.
  • Agriculture and Climate Change (EPAR Technical Report #59): Part I of this report examines the biophysical and economic potential of mitigating agriculture and land use GHG emissions, and provides a summary on the current and projected impact of global carbon market mechanisms on emission reductions. Part II discusses the role of agricultural offsets in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and proposed agricultural adaptation activities in Africa and other developing countries