Climate risk assessment services for agri-food sector

Climate change and climate variability pose high risks to the agri-food business as it threatens ecosystems and impacts the natural capital on which companies depend. Agri-food companies have already suffered weather–related impacts in recent years, and most have seen an intensification of such impacts. Meanwhile, farming- and other communities on which the agri-food businesses depend for their supplies of agricultural commodities, raw materials and work force are also highly affected. Recognizing the problem, identifying climate related risks in the supply chain and responding with adaptation measures can help agri-food businesses to minimize their risks and strengthen resilience. Responding to the effects of climate change will also provide opportunities for innovative climate resilient products and services and open up new markets. For example, insurance agencies are already developing innovative climate-insurance products for communities at increased risk of weather-related natural disasters. New water-use efficient irrigation technologies are being developed and deployed to address increased water stress. This report describes a set of services WEnR can deliver to assist stakeholders in an agri-food chain to assess climatic risks and potential adaptation strategies to mitigate these risks. These services include development of regionalised / bias corrected climate change projections, climate change impact assessments, assessment of climate /weather related risks, assessment of potential business cases mitigating climatic risks. The services i.e. climate risk assessment described in this report are current being delivered in the Climate Smart Agriculture - East Africa project, but do have wider application opportunities as being described in the last chapter. Some of the climate risk activities are being carried out by WEnR, others by project partners.---Dit rapport beschrijft een aanpak en services die geleverd kunnen worden door medewerkers van Wageningen Environmental Research om partijen binnen agrifood ketens te helpen inzicht te krijgen in risico’s die hun business loopt als gevolg van klimaatverandering en hoe men deze risico’s zou kunnen verminderen en/of vermijden. De diensten die WEnR kan leveren omvatten: de ontwikkeling en visualisatie van klimaatprojecties voor specifieke regio’s, het bepalen van effecten van klimaatverandering op water beschikbaarheid en gewasproductie en het analyseren van risico’s voor ketenpartijen en hun business als gevolg van klimaatverandering. Ook kan WEnR helpen bij het identificeren en analyseren van businessideeën die klimaatrisico’s kunnen verminderen, maar die ook nieuwe kansen kunnen bieden. De ‘climate risk assessment’ aanpak die in dit rapport wordt beschreven wordt op dit moment toegepast in het Climate Smart Africa – East Africa project waarin WEnR participeert. In dit project worden sommige zogenaamde ‘climate risk assesssment activiteiten’ uitgevoerd door WEnR, anderen door projectpartners.