Improving the Resilience of Central Asian Agriculture to Weather Variability and Climate Change

Central Asia is projected to experience significant climate change, combined with increased weather volatility. Agriculture is a key economic sector and a major source of livelihoods for Central Asia’s predominantly rural population, especially for the poor. Agricultural production, being sensitive to weather shocks and climate volatility, may be negatively affected by climate change if no adaptive actions are taken. Climate smart technologies could help in strengthening the resilience of agricultural producers in the region to increased weather variability due to climate change. This study identifies the key barriers and opportunities for a wider adoption of climate smart technologies and also evaluates their potential impacts on agricultural revenues of differentiated groups of agricultural producers, with a focus on the poor. Adoption of climate smart agricultural technologies was found to raise farming profits of both poorer and richer households, although these positive impacts may likely to be higher for richer households. The study also shows that policies facilitating improved access to markets and agricultural extension services, as well as higher commercialization of household agricultural output may increase the adoption of climate smart agricultural technologies in the region.

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