Agriculture is the economic sector with the greatest exposure to climate change, as it is directly dependent on climatic factors that will affect the volume, quality and stability of food production. In this context, the Global Nature Foundation has carried out the project “LIFE AgriAdapt. Sustainable adaptation of European agricultural systems to climate change” with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation.

The project has contributed to increasing the information available on the vulnerability of the agricultural sector to climate change, through, initially, the publication of a basic reference report, catalogues of adaptation measures and the creation of two crop vulnerability analysis tools at the level of agro-climatic zones and at the level of farms. To this end, work has been carried out with 32 pilot farms (6 arable crops in Castilla y León, 6 industrial tomatoes in Badajoz, 6 extensive cattle farms in the pastures of Cáceres, 6 intensive cattle farms for milk production in Castilla y León and Cantabria, 7 vineyards and 1 orange tree in the Valencian Community) to which a series of sustainable measures for adaptation to climate change have been proposed to increase the number of sustainable measures to adapt to climate change in order to increase the number of sustainable climate change their resilience. With all these results , a “Didactic Training Module on Adaptation to Climate Change in the Agricultural Sector” has been generated.

Some of the main conclusions obtained in the project are that although the water deficit is one of the main impacts that will affect the Mediterranean agricultural sector, heat waves, drought spells and high temperatures are also climate risk factors, which in some cases cannot be combated with more water, which will also be less available in the near future. For this reason, it is necessary to implement adaptation measures, ranging from efficiency, through the redesign of farms, to crop substitution. It has been proven that agricultural practices that ensure a better soil structure, with greater porosity and organic matter content, are more resilient than more intensive practices on soils. In the intensive livestock sector, measures must be aimed at combating heat waves with the design of facilities adapted to these conditions.

In order to disseminate this information, the project has been presented at 16 events and conferences, with more than 800 participants. An international platform for LIFE projects on Adaptation to Climate Change in the agricultural and forestry sectors of the Mediterranean Region has been organized with 110 participants.

To consult the information about the project, as well as the documentation and reports of the same, it is recommended to visit its website.