Over the coming decades, global change will have significant, yet highly uncertain impacts on food and water security.

Adaptation strategies and accompanying policy response options to global change, including options for investment and reform of water allocation, land use patterns, and food trade, are urgently needed and will be vital to improve the living conditions of farmers and rural men and women in the semi-arid, arid, and humid parts of the globe.

The objectives of this project are to understand the impacts of global change on agriculture and water resources at the global, national, and river basin levels, to assess the effects of global change on water and food security in vulnerable rural areas of Africa, particularly rural Ethiopia and South Africa, and to identify adaptation measures that reduce the impacts of global change on these communities. The research results developed will provide policymakers and stakeholders in Ethiopia and South Africa with tools to better understand, analyze, and inform policy decisions for adaptation to global change.

Funding for this research has been provided by the German Government through the Advisory Service on Agricultural Research for Development (BEAF).