Journal of Earth Science & Climatic Change
Open Access

Abstract

While considerable research has been undertaken on the adaptation of agriculture to climate change and variability (CCV) over the last 25 years, little emphasis has been placed on: 1) how agricultural adaptation to CCV has also to be set in the context of multiple other stressors facing agriculture such as increasing demands for agriculture to become sustainable from the environmental and human health perspective and from the perspective of continued urbanization pressures on agricultural lands and activities around cities; and 2) how different forms of planning involving agriculture need to be integrated if agricultural lands and activities are to be successfully maintained to be able to contribute to Food Security. This presentation reviews key elements of research into agricultural adaptation to CCV and how these can be recognized in the integration of land use planning AND strategic development planning for agricultural development. Examples coming from North America and Western Europe will be used to demonstrate what types of progress are needed in planning for agricultural land and activities especially near cities to ensure that agricultural development can contribute substantially more to Food Security than it has in the past.

Biography

Christopher Bryant has been Professor in Geography at the University of Waterloo (20 years) and at the Université de Montréal (24 years); he is currently Adjunct Professor at the Université de Montréal and in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph. He is one of the world’s leading researchers in agriculture around cities (50 years of research), and he has also spent 26 years of research in the adaptation of agriculture to climate change and variability, as well as 30 years in research in local community development. He is currently in the top 7 % of researchers in the Research Gate network.