8 December 2011: The Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has noted that it is helping farmers share information about how climate change may impact production by identifying climate analogues.

The climate analogues work helps regions identify areas around the world where present growing conditions match those that will exist 20 years from now. By helping farmers understand what future growing conditions are likely to be, researchers hope to aid in the transfer of knowledge of proven approaches to adapt to changes in temperature and precipitation.

The climate analogue work offers a tool to compare locations based on similarities in precipitation and temperature, as well as other features such as soil type and social and economic conditions. The CCAFS program will use the tool to facilitate farmer exchanges between sites in East and West Africa and South Asia. The exchanges will also provide the opportunity for CCAFS researchers to understand whether adaptation options are transferable to other locations. The CCAFS program has noted that this is one approach to help develop an inventory of local knowledge for climate change adaptation. [CCAFS Press Release] [CCAFS Publication: Climate Analogues: Finding Tomorrow’s Agriculture Today]