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Malawi is a landlocked country with a population of 18 million people. About 90% of the population are smallholder subsistence farmers who own less than a hectare of land each in rural communities.Agriculture isthe most important sector of the Malawi economy. The sector includes crops, livestock and fisheries sub-sectors. It is dominated by the rain-fed smallholder farming system and is the major source of livelihoods for rural communities, contributing significantly to the household and national food security. It provides 64% of the total income of the rural population. Most farmers primarily rely on rain-fed agricultural systems, which are highly vulnerable to climate change. The negative impacts of climate change on agriculture have resulted in food insecurity at the local community level as well as at the national levels.

Many of the smallholder farmers in Malawi practice soil disturbing practices of ridging and burning of crop residues, which were advocatedby the agricultural extension system in the past (National Conservation Agriculture Task Force(NCATF), 2016). However, there is evidence that these practices over time result in reduced crop yields; lead to increased use of inorganic fertilisers to produce enough food; and ultimately are a major cause of current high levels of hunger and poverty in the rural resource-poor farming communities.

Climate change threatens agricultural productivity and poses challenges to the stability of agricultural sector in Malawi (Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development(MoAIWD), 2016). Therefore, it is important to invest in climate resilience in the farming systems and promote approaches such as climate smart agriculture(CSA)that are designed to reduce the impact of climate change on livelihoods of the resource-poor smallholder farmers.

In Zimbabwe, the frequency and length of dry spells during the rainy season have increased in recent years—the consequences of which include increased heat and water stress on natural ecosystems, agricultural crops and livestock, which ultimately affects agriculture communities that depend on agro-based livelihoods negatively. In addition, Zimbabwe continues to use an agro-ecological map from 1960 which divides the country into five agro-ecological regions, in spite of the fact that some of these natural regions may have changed over time. This poses a threat to agriculture, economic growth and development as the climate continues to change.

Deficiency in vitamin A is one of the most prevalent problems in Sub-Saharan African countries including Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. The consequences of deficiency of vitamin A is high fatality rate (60%) but even sub-clinical deficiency is associated with a 23% increase in preschooler mortality in areas with endemic Vitamin A deficiency”. An array of solutions have been proposed to combat Vitamin A deficiency. These have included Vitamin A capsule administration campaigns in pre-schools and primary schools unfortunately this has left behind others.

alawi is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, with an economy driven predominantly by the agricultural sector that accounts for one third of the GDP and nearly 80 percent of employment. Agriculture is considered the engine of Malawi’s economic growth since, between 2005 and 2011, more than 80 percent of the country’s total exports were agricultural commodities, primarily tobacco, sugar and tea. Tobacco alone however, represents an average 60 percent of Malawi ́s total exports.1 The manufacturing and agricultural sectors work together in their contribution to the overall growth of the economy, which in 2013/14, registered an average GDP growth rate of 5.2 percent. In particular, the 2013 growth in manufacturing was attributed to usage of higher volumes of raw agricultural inputs and a more constant supply of fuel and other raw materials.

Agriculture as the backbone of Namibia’s economy has a major role to play in achieving vision 2030. however, to be able to make a significant contribution towards the growth of the economy and thus wealth creation, agricultural production/output has to increase manifold. For the realisation of such an increase the following crucial issues have to be addressed. subsistence farming should become commercialised, e.g. landownership in some form or other should be allocated to individuals, under-utilised areas should be developed and put into production and the problem of bush encroachment should be addressed and solved at national level.

The topics assessed in this chapter were last assessed by the IPCC in 2007, principally in WGII AR4 Chapters 3 (Kundzewicz et al., 2007) and 4 (Fischlin et al., 2007), but also in WGII AR4 Sections 1.3.4 and 1.3.5 (Rosenzweig et al., 2007). The WGII AR4 SPM stated “Observational evidence from all continents and most oceans shows that many natural systems are being affected by regional climate changes, particularly temperature increases,” though they noted that documentation of observed changes in tropical regions and the Southern Hemisphere was sparse (Rosenzweig et al., 2007). Fischlin et al. (2007) found that 20 to 30% of the plant and animal species that had been assessed to that time were considered to be at increased risk of extinction if the global average temperature increase exceeds 2°C to 3°C above the preindustrial level with medium confidence, and that substantial changes in structure and functioning of terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems are very likely under that degree of warming and associated atmospheric CO2 concentration. No time scale was associated with these findings. The carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems were considered to be at high risk from climate change and land use change. The report warned that the capacity of ecosystems to adapt naturally to the combined effect of climate change and other stressors is likely to be exceeded if greenhouse gas (GHG) emission continued at or above the then-current rate.

Changes in the hydrological cycle due to climate change can lead to diverse impacts and risks, and they are conditioned by and interact with non-climatic drivers of change and water management responses (Figure 3-1). Water is the agent that delivers many of the impacts of climate change to society, for example, to the energy, agriculture, and transport sectors. Even though water moves through the hydrological cycle, it is a locally variable resource, and vulnerabilities to water-related hazards such as floods and droughts differ between regions. Anthropogenic climate change is one of many stressors of water resources. Nonclimatic drivers such as population increase, economic development, urbanization, and land use or natural geomorphic changes also challenge the sustainability of resources by decreasing water supply or increasing demand. In this context, adaptation to climate change in the water sector can contribute to improving the availability of water.

This chapter addresses the foundations of decision making with respect to climate impact, adaptation, and vulnerability (CIAV). The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) summarized methods for assessing CIAV (Carter et al., 2007), which we build on by surveying the broader literature relevant for decision making.

This chapter describes the information basis for the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of IPCC Working Group II (WGII) and the rationale for its structure. As the starting point of WGII AR5, the chapter begins with an analysis of how the literature for the assessment has developed through time and proceeds with an overview of how the framing and content of the WGII reports have changed since the first IPCC report was published in 1990. The future climate scenarios used in AR5 are a marked change from those used in the Third (TAR, 2001) and Fourth (AR4, 2007) Assessment Reports; this shift is described here, along with the new AR5 guidance for communicating scientific uncertainty. The chapter provides a summary of the most relevant key findings from the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (IPCC, 2011), the IPCC Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (IPCC, 2012), and the AR5 Working Group I (The Physical Science Basis) and AR5 Working Group III (Mitigation of Climate Change). Collectively these recent reports, new scenarios, and other advancements in climate change science set the stage for an assessment of impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability that could potentially overcome many of the limitations identified in the IPCC WGII AR4, particularly with respect to the human dimensions of climate change.

Human interference with the climate system is occurring (WGI AR5 SPM Section D.3; WGI AR5 Sections 2.2, 6.3, 10.3 to 10.6, 10.9). Climate change poses risks for human and natural systems (Figure TS.1). The assessment of impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability in the Working Group II contribution to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (WGII AR5) evaluates how patterns of risks and potential  benefits are shifting due to climate change. It considers how impacts and risks related to climate change can be reduced and managed through adaptation and mitigation. The report assesses needs, options, opportunities, constraints, resilience, limits, and other aspects associated with adaptation. It recognizes that risks of climate change will vary across regions and populations, through space and time, dependent on myriad factors including the extent of adaptation and mitigation.