Open Collections

Agriculture Adaptation Planning: Proposed Guide for Adaptation Planning in BC

Stevens, Mark

The British Columbia Agriculture and Food Council Climate Action Plan outlines several goals geared toward addressing climate change in the agriculture industry, both through adaptation and mitigation. One of the goals is to assist in the development of commodity-based adaptation plans. This project attempts to aid in the development of these plans by providing a supportive framework for commodity adaptation planning through a proposed guide. A conceptual framework is created through a brief academic review of adaptation planning. The conceptual framework is based on the fact that agriculture is a Social-Ecologic System, as defined in peer reviewed literature, and the components of the system contribute to its ability to adapt. The conceptual framework is further developed with fundamental principles of adaptation as defined in the literature. The practical basis for the guide is derived from three decision-making frameworks which are detailed in this report. Practical components of each of these frameworks is applied to the guide. The guide illustrates the recommended process through a hypothetical planning process for on-farm water management. Brief descriptions and examples of tools are provided in sections throughout the guide. The scope of this paper provides room for only a basic framework for agricultural climate adaptation in British Columbia. The proposed guide can be further detailed or expanded in the future. The guide provides producers and farm organizations with basic climate data and resources, as well as a framework and methods for utilizing the data for adaptation planning. The project at large helps to meet the growing demand for industry specific climate adaptation planning. It demonstrates the process through which the concepts of good adaptation and a reliable planning processes can be catered to specific sectors. Agriculture is a sector particularly vulnerable to any shifts in climate or ecological systems. This project is an important step forward in thoughtfully addressing pending changes in climate and the associated impacts to agriculture

Graduating Project

eng

2013-01-24

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/43872

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/