Food systems at risk: Transformative adaptation for long-term food security

This report examines how climate change is impacting agriculture and threatening national and global food systems, particularly in climate hotspots, and how these trends are projected to intensify over the coming decades. The report defines and details transformative adaptation for agriculture and why such longer-term, systemic approaches are needed to protect the lives and livelihoods of millions of small-scale farmers and herders. Transformative adaptation in agriculture promotes long-term resilience by continually shifting the geographical locations where specific types of crops and livestock are produced, aligning agricultural production with changing landscapes and ecosystems, and/or introducing resilience-building production methods and technologies across value chains.

Key findings from this report include:

• Strategic investments in resilient food systems are crucial to manage intensifying climate change impacts and feed a global population expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050.
• In some geographical hotspots climate change is already undermining food systems, even where incremental adaptation measures are ramping up.
• Planning for transformative adaptation should center on inclusive, participatory processes that engage a diverse range of stakeholders who may otherwise be marginalized in decision-making, such as women, youth and Indigenous peoples.
• Anticipating, planning for, and expanding financing options through transformative adaptation is critical to averting and minimizing loss and damage; enhancing global food security; reducing risks of displacement, conflict and crisis; and avoiding maladaptation.