CSAG’s expertise in climate-crop modelling and associated experience from the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) facilitated the development of Botswana’s Third National Communications (TNC) report to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The overall aim was to prepare the crop sector chapter to assess the vulnerability of the sector (specifically small scale farmers) to the effects of climate change and develop adaptation strategies. As part of a project team, CSAG focused on climate modelling and data production. The team made use of the AgMIP approach. The approach is able to account for the highly diverse types of systems, and the widely varying biophysical and socio-economic conditions that characterise farms. The approach integrates climate into the crop models and the crop models output are aggregated as inputs to the regional and global economic models to determine regional vulnerabilities, changes in comparative advantage, price effects, and potential adaptation strategies in the agricultural sector. The general AgMIP approach is science base and follows an integration of the top-down and bottom-up approaches of vulnerability assessments.

 

Time frames: 2017

Funder: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Partners: Botswana College of Agriculture (BCA) and Lilongwe University of Agriculture & Natural Resources (LUANAR)

Project Lead: Mrs Thembeka Mpuisang (BCA)

For further details: Contact Dr. Olivier Crespo