The paper identifies the current coping strategies for climate variability by the chronically poor in India and highlights some of the barriers to and opportunities for successful adaptation.

This discussion paper is based on micro-level analysis of adaptation that focuses on tactical decisions farmers make in response to seasonal variations in climatic, economic, and other factors in Southern Africa.  The document is based on a cross-section database of three countries: South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The data used in this study was collected as part of the Global Environment Facility/World Bank Climate Change and African Agriculture Project.  The key findings from this study include:

An analysis of climate change issues in the Mediterranean region with an emphasis on Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries (SEMCs). SEMCs appear to be more vulnerable to climate change as they are more exposed to accelerated desertification, soil aridity and water scarcity, with economic structures that are more strongly dependent on natural resources. Technical and financial capacities are also too limited to help implement large-scale adaptation options.The document emphasises that energy lies at the heart of the climate change issue highlighting the following points:

 Climate change will cause a net drop in food production. This editorial argues that genetically modified (GM) crops have an important role to play in addressing the impending climate-related food crisis. The author asserts that GM crops can help to tackle the emerging food crisis in three ways:

Food insecurity is one of the major threats that the people of Malawi face. 90% of Malawian farmers are smallholders who face a host of challenges in their farming activities, including:

small land size
poor soils
high cost of farm inputs
erratic rainfall
lack of appropriate technology
lack of market for crops
high prevalence of HIV/AIDS
lack of skills and knowledge
shortage of government extension workers

This report provides background and advice on the integration of biodiversity considerations into the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

The paper gives an overview of the ways in which climate change will impact rural societies, in particular poor farmers in developing countries.It predicts that Africa will be hardest hit because of its heavy dependence on agriculture, existing degraded soils and high poverty and tight budget constraints.
The authors cover the following areas and suggest steps that farmers, policy makers, and researchers can take to minimise losses and adapt to climate change:

For more than a decade, the proportion of internationally supported public investment directed at agriculture and the rural sector in developing countries has been declining. Moreover, this is occuring at a time in which the process of globalisation is changing patters of trade and investment, placing agricultural producers and communities under tremendous pressure to adapt in order to survive. Hunger is still prevalent.

CROPWAT 8.0 for Windows is a computer program for the calculation of crop water requirements and irrigation requirements based on soil, climate and crop data. In addition, the program allows the development of irrigation schedules for different management conditions and the calculation of scheme water supply for varying crop patterns. CROPWAT 8.0 can also be used to evaluate farmers" irrigation practices and to estimate crop performance under both rain fed and irrigated conditions.

CROPWAT 8.0 for Windows is a computer program for the calculation of crop water requirements and irrigation requirements based on soil, climate and crop data. In addition, the program allows the development of irrigation schedules for different management conditions and the calculation of scheme water supply for varying crop patterns. CROPWAT 8.0 can also be used to evaluate farmers" irrigation practices and to estimate crop performance under both rain-fed and irrigated conditions.