This policy note summarizes research exploring the challenges and opportunities associated with building human, organizational, and institutional capacity to respond effectively to the adverse impacts of climate change as they relate to agriculture and rural livelihoods in developing countries.

This policy note summarizes research that explored the perceptions of agricultural households in rural Bangladesh about climate change and their choices of coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) business-asusual projections of agricultural supply and demand anticipate a rise in food prices of most cereals and meats, reversing long-established downward trends. Between 2005 and 2050, food prices for maize, rice, and wheat are projected to increase by 104, 79, and 88 percent, respectively, while those for beef, pork, and poultry will rise by 32, 70, and 77 percent, respectively.

Over the coming decades, global change will have an impact on food and water security in significant and highly uncertain ways, and there are strong indications that developing countries will bear the brunt of the adverse consequences, particularly from climate change. This is largely because poverty levels are high, and developing-country capacity to adapt to global change is weak.

For more than 30 years, China has undergone economic reforms and development that have led to successful economic growth and poverty reduction. The country has also made considerable efforts to reduce the income gap between urban and rural populations, balance regional development, and conserve natural resources. In 2003, IFPRI developed a strategy specifically tailored to its work in China and expanded its national program.

This policy note summarizes research that analyzed the adverse impact of climate-related shocks on farm households’ real per capita consumption and asset ownership over time, as well as factors that exacerbate or ameliorate those adverse impacts.

This issue of the Thematic Research Notes discusses the causes and impact of migration among communities in Africa as well as predicted future migration trends.

Agriculture is vitally important to the world's hungry people, the majority of whom live in rural areas and depend on the land for their food and livelihoods. Yet the increasing fragility of the natural resource base, compounded by global shifts such as population growth, climate change, and energy scarcity, adds to the vulnerability of the world's 800 million food-insecure people. Emerging food and agricultural technologies offer significant promise for advances, but only if they are supported by appropriate policies and institutions.

The recent food crisis, combined with the energy crisis and emerging climate change issues, threatens the livelihoods of millions of poor people as well as the economic, ecological, and political situation in many developing countries. On top of these crises, the decades of shrinking global investment in agricultural research are leading to slower growth in agricultural productivity. Progress in achieving development goals-such as cutting hunger and poverty in half by 2015-has been delayed significantly.

South Asia (SA), including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan, is one of the most populous regions in the world. Agriculture is the backbone of the economies of SA nations and is the main source of livelihood for many rural poor households. While parts of SA have experienced considerable agricultural sector growth in the last half-century, many other regions, including large parts of eastern India and Bangladesh, have lagged behind. Many farmers face water scarcity due to both physical constraints as well as lack of adequate water storage and management