One of the greatest challenges facing humankind is to minimize the impact of human-induced climate change on the agricultural production and also on the production from livestock, forestry and fisheries sectors. Ever-expanding global population and increased income is likely to generate a several-fold increase in demand for food and fibre by the middle of this century. At the same time the lands and fresh water resources available for expansion of agriculture may be of lower quality than those currently in use. The worst situation arises from a scenario of severe climate change, low economic growth and little farm-level adaptation. In order to minimize possible adverse consequences, like production losses, food price increases, and an increase in the number of people at risk of hunger, the way forward is to encourage more intensive agriculture through the adoption of efficient adaptation techniques, in combination with measures taken to preserve the environment and to use resources more efficiently. The range of adaptation options for agriculture, forestry and fisheries is generally increasing because of technological advances, thus reducing the vulnerability of these systems to climate change. However, in many developing countries technology generation, innovation, and adoption are too slow to sufficiently counteract the increasingly negative effects of climate change. Reducing the vulnerability of agriculture, forestry and fisheries to the adversity of climate extremes will go a long way towards decreasing the long-term vulnerability to climate change. This book, based on the state of art knowledge, represents a major step in understanding the science of various aspects of climate change and their likely impacts on agriculture, livestock, forestry, and fisheries with clear adaptation strategies required to reduce their vulnerability.
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