Climate change adaptability of cropping and farming systems for Europe: (Climate-CAFÉ project)

Introduction: Prospective studies showed that the European agriculture will be impacted by climate change (CC) with different effects depending on the geographic region. The ERA-Net+ project Climate-CAFE (call of FACCE-JPI) aims to improve the “adaptive capacity” of arable and forage based farming systems to CC through a gradient of adaptation strategies.

Methods: The adaptation strategies are evaluated at cropping and farming systems as well as regional levels for nine “Adaptation Pilots” along a North-South climate gradient in the EU. Three categories of strategies are evaluated: i) Resistance strategies that seek to maintain the status quo through management actions that reduce perturbations due to CC; ii) Resilience strategies requiring systemic adaptation at field and farm level for increasing the adaptive capacity after a climate disturbance; iii) Transformative strategies addressing needs and possibilities for re-configuration of cropping and farming systems. The strategy evaluation will reveal synergies and trade-offs among objectives and their indicators at different scales under GIEC climatic scenarios. Since adaptation is context-specific, the project is based on “Adaptation Pilots” and local networks of researchers, advisors and farmers, representative of regional cropping and farming systems. The proposed adaptation strategies are co-designed with stakeholders in “adaptation pilots” and are based on various levers such as: ecological intensification, novel rotations, alternative tillage options, and the inclusion of legumes and intercrops. Moreover, data from long-term experiments (SE, FI, UK, CH, FR and SP), expert technical and farmer knowledge, and simulation soil-crop (STICS, DAYCENT), farms and landscapes (MODAM, FarmDESIGN) are used to ex ante evaluate adaptation strategies and foster learning in participatory co-design workshops.

Results and expectations: The expected results of the Climate-CAFE on-going project will produce an overview of potential CC adaptation measures for selected sites across the EU, along with mutual learning experiences for improved understanding and acceptability of CC adaptation strategies among farmers and other stakeholders.