Economic Consequences of Food/Climate Variability

This paper argues that treating climate as a resource in a food systems approach may result in new theoretical developments and alternative policies.

The most urgent task is to develop a better scientific knowledge of intercropping and relay cropping systems which make full use of climatic resources. This requires a drastic change in agricultural research priorities and funding towards more democratic agricultural research that is geared to the needs of a majority of poor farmers in rainfed agriculture who are particularly vulnerable to climate variability, rather than to a minority of rich farmers in irrigated areas.