Enabling agriculture’s transformative capacity to respond to climate change in the long run

Agriculture is increasingly exposed to climate risks that challenge the sustainability of existing production systems in many regions of the world. Developing new transformative adaptation capabilities of agricultural production systems is essential. Yet, there is uncertainty as to what constitutes transformation, as well as to the role of government in fostering systemic change. This report addresses these challenges via a systematic literature review exploring examples of agricultural transformation in response to climate change. This paper frames transformative adaptation as a function of the depth (extent of change from the “current system”), breadth (scale of adoption), and speed (pace of implementation) of change. The findings highlight lessons from past efforts, identify barriers to transformative adaptation, examine how public policy can effectively address these challenges, and offer valuable insights to improving the climate-resiliency of agricultural systems.