Climate change presents a profound challenge to food security and development. Negative impacts from climate change are likely to be greatest in regions that are currently food insecure and may even be significant in those regions that have made large gains in reducing food insecurity over the past half-century. Adaptation in the agricultural sector is being given a high priority within this effort because of the inherent sensitivity of food production to climate and the strong inter-linkages that exist between climate, agriculture, and economic growth and development.

This strategic framework serves to guide and support the operational response of the World Bank Group (WBG) to new development challenges posed by global climate change. Unabated, climate change threatens to reverse hard-earned development gains. The poorest countries and communities will suffer the earliest and the most. Yet they depend on actions by other nations, developed and developing. While climate change is an added cost and risk to development, a well-designed and implemented global climate policy can also bring new economic opportunities to developing countries.

The main objective of the Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) in Nepal is to identify opportunities for enhancing the overall performance of select environmental management systems through improvements in the effectiveness of institutions, policies, and processes.

A conceptual flash flood early warning system for developing countries is described. The system uses rainfall intensity data from terrestrial microwave communication links and the geostationary Meteosat Second Generation satellite, i.e., two systems that are already in place and operational. Flash flood early warnings are based on a combination of the Flash Flood Guidance method and a hydrological model.

Researchers of ICARDA are slowly improving towards participatory and community-based approaches to incorporate users’ perspectives. This not only increases the efficiency and effectiveness of agricultural research, but delivers what farmers want. Development of integrated crop-livestock production systems in the low-rainfall areas of West Asia and North Africa has shown the importance of the community approach in the sustainable management of collective property resources, such as rangelands and water. This approach has been widely adopted by national programs in dry areas.

CCAFS got off to a strong start in 2011, releasing high?profile scientific results and helping achieve, in collaboration with multiple partners, a significant outcome in the global climate change negotiations. The full set of reports from Centers, Themes and Regions on which this CRP synthesis report is based are available here.

The 2011 Annual Report describes the achievements in each of the six rivers basins and how they are each responding to a well-defined development challenge. Stories and highlights from the basins elaborate on the messages.

There are real needs and opportunities for well-targeted research and development to improve the livelihoods of farmers while at the same time addressing natural resource constraints. The suitability and adoption of interventions depends on a variety of bio-physical and socio- economic factors. While their impacts -when adopted and out-scaled- are likely to be highly heterogeneous, not only spatially and temporally but also in terms of the stakeholders affected.

The 2013 business plan of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) lays out the key activities in 2013, situated within the larger strategic framework of CCAFS.