Agricultural Adaptation to Climate Change

This book deals with one of the
major challenges facing human society and its governments, climate change and
variability. The principal objective of the
book is to explore how agricultural production through the actions primarily of
farmers, including peasant farmers, adapt to these changing circumstances, what
the limitations of adaptation are, how the process of adaptation varies between
different territories (e.g. developed countries versus developing countries),
and what are or can be the most effective roles for actors other than the
farmers, including different levels of government and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) such as professional associations of farmers and community
organizations.

The
principal argument is threefold: 1) while there are significant differences
between territories and countries in terms of the capacity of farmers (and the
other actors) to engage in capacity building to be able to adapt effectively to
climate change and variability, 2) the critical roles are those played out by
the farmers themselves, but that 3) other actors can play an important role in
accompanying farmers in their adaptation process, providing relevant and
strategic information, counseling them and facilitating networking and meetings
when appropriate. This effectively means that without engaging in the local
adaptation processes governments can really only play effective roles by
working with other actors at the local and regional levels. When it occurs, it
can be very effective, but when it does not, farmers are left to their own
devices (and even then, many are able to use their own creativity and local
knowledge to survive and continue to develop).

Essentially
therefore, the secondary argument that is followed throughout the book is that
adaptation is essentially a social process that requires an understanding of
social processes and dynamics in each farming community and territory. It
involves an understanding, for instance, of information diffusion processes in
the different farming communities and territories, which provides a set of
tools to promote and facilitate the adoption process in the context of
adaptation to climate change and variability.