Editing IPCC:AR6/WGII/Chapter-12 (section)

==== 12.5.4.3 Adaptation Options ====

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To contextualise the adaptation options at the regional level, the majority of the NDCs of the CSA countries reported observed and/or projected climate-related hazards: occurrence of droughts and floods (80% of countries each), followed by storms (45%) and landslides (30%), as well as extreme heat, wildfire and invasion by pests and non-native species in agriculture (25% each) ( [[#Crumpler--2020|Crumpler et al., 2020]] ).

The main adaptation options for climate change in the region include preventive measures against soil erosion; climate-smart agriculture, which provides a framework for synergies between adaptation, mitigation and improved food security; climate information systems; land use planning; shifting plantations at high altitudes to avoid temperature increases and plagues; and improved varieties of pastures and cattle ( [[#Lee--2014|Lee et al., 2014]] ; [[#Jat--2016|Jat et al., 2016]] ; [[#Crumpler--2020|Crumpler et al., 2020]] ; [[#Moreno--2020a|Moreno et al., 2020a]] ; [[#Aragón--2021|Aragón et al., 2021]] ). Agricultural technologies are not necessarily changing, but the economic activity is shifting to accommodate increasing climate variation and adapt to changes in water availability and ideal growing conditions ( ''high confidence'' ), as is observed in Argentina, Colombia and Brazil ( [[#McMartin--2018|McMartin et al., 2018]] ; [[#Rolla--2018|Rolla et al., 2018]] ; [[#Sloat--2020|Sloat et al., 2020]] ; [[#Gori%20Maia--2021|Gori Maia et al., 2021]] ). Coffee plantations are moving further up mountain regions, with the land at lower elevations converted for other uses. In Brazil, crop modelling suggests the need for the development of new cultivars, with a longer crop cycle and with higher tolerance to high temperatures, a necessary technological advance for maize, an essential staple crop, to be produced in the future. Additionally, irrigation becomes essential for sustaining productivity in adverse climate-change scenarios in several regions of CSA ( [[#McMartin--2018|McMartin et al., 2018]] ; [[#Lyons--2019|Lyons, 2019]] ; [[#Reay--2019|Reay, 2019]] ).

Livestock production is for small farmers one of the main sources of protein and contributes to food security ( [[#Rodríguez--2016|Rodríguez et al., 2016]] ). The importance of this sub-sector in CSA will continue to increase as the demand for meat products does as well in the coming years, driven by growing incomes in the region ( [[#OECD%20and%20FAO--2019|OECD and FAO, 2019]] ). However, the increase in animal production has been associated with land degradation, triggered by the conversion of native vegetation to pastureland and aggravated by overgrazing and abandoning of the degraded pastures ( [[#Baumann--2017|Baumann et al., 2017]] ; [[#ECLAC--2018|ECLAC, 2018]] ; [[#Müller-Hansen--2019|Müller-Hansen et al., 2019]] ). Sá et al. (2017) simulated the adoption of agricultural systems based on LCA strategies towards 2050. According to the simulation, the adoption of LCA strategies in the SA region can alter the growing trend of land use and land use change emissions, and at the same time, it can increase meat production by 55 Mt for the entire period (2016–2050). The restoration of degraded pasture and livestock intensification account for 71.2% and integrated crop–livestock–forestry system contributes 28.8% of total meat production for the entire period. These results indicate that combined actions in agricultural management systems in SA can result in synergistic responses that can be used to make agriculture and livestock production an important part of the solution of global climate change and advance food security ( ''medium confidence: insufficient evidence and high agreement'' ) ( [[#Zu%20Ermgassen--2018|Zu Ermgassen et al., 2018]] ; [[#Pompeu--2021|Pompeu et al., 2021]] ). Crop–livestock–forestry systems are also important for climate-change adaptation as they provide multiple benefits, including the coproduction of food, animal feed, organic fertilizers and soil organic carbon sequestration ( [[#Sharma--2016|Sharma et al., 2016]] ; [[#Rodríguez--2021|Rodríguez et al., 2021]] ), achieving mitigation and adaptation goals ( ''high confidence'' ) ( [[#Picasso--2014|Picasso et al., 2014]] ; [[#Modernel--2016|Modernel et al., 2016]] , 2019; [[#Rolla--2019|Rolla et al., 2019]] ; [[#Locatelli--2020|Locatelli et al., 2020]] ). A recent analysis of agroforestry in Brazil showed positive and relevant impacts on the heads/pasture area rate in livestock production and that the system may have also stimulated a shift towards other production activities with higher gross added value ( [[#Gori%20Maia--2021|Gori Maia et al., 2021]] ). Agroforestry has also proven to have protective benefits to obtain more stable, less fluctuating yields due to climate-related damage in coffee production ( ''high confidence'' ) ( [[#Bacon--2017|Bacon et al., 2017]] ; [[#Durand-Bessart--2020|Durand-Bessart et al., 2020]] ; [[#Ovalle-Rivera--2020|Ovalle-Rivera et al., 2020]] ). In the same way, the production of plant-based fibre can be less vulnerable to economic and climatic variability through farming system diversification. Textile fibre crops for the case of cotton include crop rotation, agroecological intercropping and agroforestry ( [[#Oliveira%20Duarte--2019|Oliveira Duarte et al., 2019]] ).

Adaptation strategies also concern Indigenous agriculture, that is, the vast majority of the 44 million Amerindians ( [[#CEPAL--2014|CEPAL, 2014]] ). IKLK can play an important role in adaptation ( [[#Zavaleta--2018|Zavaleta et al., 2018]] ). On one hand, they ensure the conservation of a very rich agrobiodiversity that is likely to meet the challenges of climate change ( ''high confidence'' ) ( [[#Carneiro%20da%20Cunha--2017|Carneiro da Cunha and Morim de Lima, 2017]] ; [[#Magni--2017|Magni, 2017]] ; [[#Emperaire--2018|Emperaire, 2018]] ; [[#Donatti--2019|Donatti et al., 2019]] ), while on the other hand, the sustainability of large territories that assure their livelihood ( [[#Singh--2017|Singh and Singh, 2017]] ; [[#Mustonen--2021|Mustonen et al., 2021]] ). In the Andes, ancient technologies increased the quantity of crops produced and made it possible to cope with climatic changes and water scarcity, while nutrition conditions were improved ( ''high confidence'' ) (López Feldman and Hernández [[#Cortés--2016|Cortés, 2016]] ; [[#Parraguez-Vergara--2018|Parraguez-Vergara et al., 2018]] ; [[#Carrasco-Torrontegui--2020|Carrasco-Torrontegui et al., 2020]] food). Also, fire prevention management and protection against forest and biodiversity loss are recognised as important elements in IK ( [[#Mistry--2016|Mistry et al., 2016]] ; [[#Bowman--2021|Bowman et al., 2021]] ).

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