All guest editors acknowledge funding received through the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety through the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and the MDC-funded Northern Australian Climate Program.

Dear colleagues,

Climate variability and change pose significant challenges to the resilience of a wide range of social, economic, and ecological systems. Managing associated risks in these systems, while also capitalising on potential benefits, requires adaptive decision-making—including within policy arenas—that is actively informed by scientific knowledge and especially climate sciences. Within agricultural systems, climate information—from observations and monitoring, forecasts on monthly to multi-annual timescales, and multi-decadal projections of climate change—delivered in the form of climate services, can aid preparedness and contribute to positive socio-economic and environmental outcomes. However, the value of climate services based on such information is unlikely to be fully realised unless it is (i) relevant to and actionable by users; and (ii) users also understand when and how to use such information.

This Special Issue (SI) focuses on cross-disciplinary research that applies climate knowledge in order to enhance its value to agricultural climate risk decision-making and support the resilience of agricultural production systems and associated socio-ecological systems (rural landscapes and communities). As such, we invite manuscripts that meet the following criteria:

1. Focus: Integrated climate services (early warning and management of extreme events, including flash droughts; past and future climate on timescales including months, seasons, years and decades; value of climate services; adaptation decision support; climate insurance; policy; extension models; novel approaches to overcoming adoption barriers) for agricultural climate risk decision-making
2. Scope: Land-based agricultural (food and fibre) production systems—global

The SI will provide a collection of state-of-the-art research on the application of climate science for climate risk mitigation in agricultural contexts; and, within the context of climate services and agricultural innovation, provide examples of approaches that integrate climate risk into the analysis of agricultural production systems and an evidence base for integrated and adaptive climate risk management policy and practice.

Dr. Kathryn Reardon-Smith
Prof. Dr. Shahbaz Mushtaq
Prof. Dr. Chris Hewitt
Dr. David Cobon
Guest Editors

References:

1. An-Vo, D.-A., Mushtaq, S., Reardon-Smith, K., Kouadio, L., Attard, S., Cobon, D. and Stone, R. (2019). Value of seasonal forecasting for sugarcane farm irrigation planning. European Journal of Agronomy 104, 37–48. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.eja.2019.01.005
2. An-Vo, D.-A., Reardon-Smith, K., Mushtaq, S., Cobon, D., Kodur, S. and Stone, R. (2019). Value of seasonal climate forecasts in reducing economic losses for grazing enterprises: Charters Towers case study. The Rangeland Journal 41(3), 165–175. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1071/RJ18004
3. Brasseur, G.P. and Gallardo, L. (2016). Climate services: lessons learned and future prospects. Earth’s Future 4, 79–89. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1002/2015EF000338
4. Capela Lourenço, T., Swart, R., Goosen, H. and Street, R. (2016). The rise of demand-driven climate services. Nature Clim Change 6, 13–14. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1038/nclimate2836
5. Clar, C. and Steurer, R. (2018). Why popular support tools on climate change adaptation have difficulties in reaching local policy-makers: qualitative insights from the UK and Germany. Environ Policy Gov 28, 1–11. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1002/eet.1802
6. Clifford, K.R., Travis, W.R. and Nordgren, L.T (2020). A climate knowledges approach to climate services. Climate Services. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.cliser.2020.100155
7. Cobon, D.H., Darbyshire, R., Crean, J., Kodur, S., Simpson, M. and Jarvis, C. (2020). Valuing seasonal climate forecasts in the northern Australia beef industry. Weather and Climate Extremes 12, 3–14. https://doi/pdf/10.1175/WCAS-D-19-0018.1
8. Cobon, D.H., Kouadio, L., Mushtaq, S., Jarvis, C., Carter, J., Stone, G. and Davis, P. (2019). Evaluating the shifts in rainfall and pasture-growth variabilities across the pastoral zone of Australia during 1910–2010. Crop and Pasture Science 70, 634–647. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1071/CP18482
9. Cowan, T., Wheeler, M.C., Alves, O., Narsey, S., de Burgh-Day, C., Griffiths, M., Jarvis, C. and Cobon, D. (2019). Forecasting the extreme rainfall, low temperatures, and strong winds associated with the northern Queensland floods of February 2019. Weather and Climate Extremes 26, 100232. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.wace.2019.100232
10. Dinku, T., Block, P., Sharoff, J. et al. (2014). Bridging critical gaps in climate services and applications in Africa. Earth Perspectives 1, 15. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1186/2194-6434-1-15
11. Giuliani, G., Nativi, S., Obregon, A., Beniston, M. and Lehmann, A. (2017). Spatially enabling the Global Framework for Climate Services: Reviewing geospatial solutions to efficiently share and integrate climate data & information. Climate Services 8, 44–58. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.cliser.2017.08.003
12. Golding, N., Hewitt, C., Zhang, P., Bett, P., Fang, X., Hu, H. and Nobert, S. (2017). Improving user engagement and uptake of climate services in China. Clim Serv 5, 39–45. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.cliser.2017.03.004
13. Haworth, B.T., Biggs, E., Duncan, J., Wales, N., Boruff, B. and Bruce, E. (2018). Geographic information and communication technologies for supporting smallholder agriculture and climate resilience. Climate 6, 97. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cli6040097
14. Hewitt, C., Mason, S. and Walland, D. (2012). The Global Framework for Climate Services. Nature Clim Change 2, 831–832. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1038/nclimate1745
15. Hewitt, C., Stone, R. and Tait, A. (2017). Improving the use of climate information in decision-making. Nature Clim Change 7, 614–616. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1038/nclimate3378
16. Hewitt, C.D., Allis, E., Mason, S.J., Muth, M., Pulwarty, R., Shumake-Guillemot, J., Bucher, A., Brunet, M., Fischer, A.M., Hama, A.M., Kolli, R.K., Lucio, F., Ndiaye, O. and Tapia, B. (2020). Making society climate-resilient: international progress under the Global Framework for Climate Services. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. E237-E252. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1175/bams-d-18-0211.1
17. Hoffmann, E., Rupp, J. and Sander, K. (2020). What do users expect from climate adaptation services? Developing an information platform based on user surveys. Handbook of Climate Services (pp. 105–113). https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/978-3-030-36875-3_7
18. Jagannathan, K., Jones, A.D. and Kerr, A.C. (in press). Implications of climate model selection for projections of decision-relevant metrics: A case study of chill hours in California. Climate Services Article 100154
19. Kath, J., Mushtaq, S., Henry, R., Kouadio, L., Adeyinka, A., Stone. R.C. and Marcussen, T. (2019). Efficiency of rainfall index insurance for Australia’s wheat regions. Climate Risk Management 24, 13–29. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.crm.2019.04.002
20. Lemos, M., Kirchhoff, C. and Ramprasad, V. (2012). Narrowing the climate information usability gap. Nature Climate Change 2, 789–794. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1038/nclimate1614
21. Marshall, N.A., Crimp, S., Curnock, M., Greenhill, M., Kuehne, G., Leviston, Z. and Ouzman, J. (2016). Some primary producers are more likely to transform their agricultural practices in response to climate change than others. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 222, 38–47. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.agee.2016.02.004
22. Mushtaq, S., Kath, J., Stone, R., Henry, R., Laderach, P., Reardon-Smith, K., Cobon, D., Marcussen, T., Cliffe, N., Kristiansen, P. and Pischke, F. (2020). Creating positive synergies between risk management and transfer to accelerate food systems climate resilience. Climatic Change https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/s10584-020-02679-5
23. Mushtaq, S. (2016). Economic and policy implications of relocation of agricultural production systems under changing climate: example of Australian rice industry. Land Use Policy 52, 277–286. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.12.029
24. Nguyen, H., Wheeler, M.C., Otkin, J.A., Cowan, T., Frost, A. and Stone, R. (2019). Using the evaporative stress index to monitor flash drought in Australia. Environmental Research Letters 14, 6. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1088/1748-9326/ab2103
25. Nguyen, T., Kath, J., Mushtaq, S., Cobon, D., Stone, G. and Stone, R. (2020). Integrating climate information and spatial diversification increases grazing profitability and decreases risk. Agronomy for Sustainable Development 40, 4. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/s13593-020-0605-z
26. Pendergrass, A.G., Meehl, G.A., Pulwarty, R. et al. (2020). Flash droughts present a new challenge for subseasonal-to-seasonal prediction. Nature Climate Change 10, 191–199. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-0709-0
27. Prasada, D.V.P. (2020). Climate-Indexed Insurance as a Climate Service to Drought-Prone Farmers: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment in Sri Lanka. Handbook of Climate Services (pp.423–445). https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/978-3-030-36875-3_21
28. Sharmila, S. and Hendon, H. (2020). Mechanisms for multiyear variations of northern Australia wet-season rainfall. Nature Scientific Report 10, 5086. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1038/s41598-020-61482-5
29. Shinbrot, X.A., Jones, K.W., Rivera-Castañeda, A. et al. (2019). Smallholder farmer adoption of climate-related adaptation strategies: the importance of vulnerability context, livelihood assets, and climate perceptions. Environmental Management 63, 583–595. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/s00267-019-01152-z
30. Singh, C., Daron, J., Bazaz, A., Ziervogel, G., Spear, D., Krishnaswamy, J., Zaroug, M. & Kituyi, E. (2018). The utility of weather and climate information for adaptation decision-making: current uses and future prospects in Africa and India. Climate and Development 10(5), 389–405. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1080/17565529.2017.1318744
31. Smith, D.M., Eade, R., Scaife, A.A. et al. (2019). Robust skill of decadal climate predictions. npj Clim Atmos Sci 2, 13. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1038/s41612-019-0071-y
32. Stone, R. and Meinke, H. (2006). Weather, climate, and farmers: an overview. Meteorological Applications 13(S1), 7–20. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1017/S1350482706002519
33. Tall, A., Hansen, J., Jay, A., Campbell, B., Kinyangi, J., Aggarwal, P.K. and Zougmoré, R. (2014). Scaling up climate services for farmers: Mission Possible. Learning from good practice in Africa and South Asia. CCAFS Report No. 13. Copenhagen, Denmark: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42445
34. Tesfaye, A., Hansen, J., Kassie, G.T., Radeny, M. and Solomon, D. (2019). Estimating the economic value of climate services for strengthening resilience of smallholder farmers to climate risks in Ethiopia: A choice experiment approach. Ecological Economics 162, 157–168. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.04.019
35. Tomlinson, J. and Rhiney, K. (2018). Assessing the role of farmer field schools in promoting pro-adaptive behaviour towards climate change among Jamaican farmers. J Environ Stud Sci 8, 86–98. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1007/s13412-017-0461-6
36. Trinh, T.Q., Rañola, R.F., Camacho, L.D. and Simelton, E. (2018). Determinants of farmers’ adaptation to climate change in agricultural production in the central region of Vietnam. Land Use Policy 70, 224–231. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.10.023
37. Vaughan, C. and Dessai, S. (2014). Climate services for society: origins, institutional arrangements, and design elements for an evaluation framework. WIRES Climate Change https://0-onlinelibrary-wiley-com.brum.beds.ac.uk/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.290
38. Vaughan, C., Dessai, S. and Hewitt, C. (2018). Surveying climate services: what can we learn from a bird’s-eye view? Weather Climate Soc., 10, 373–395. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1175/WCAS-D-17-0030.1
39. Vedeld, T., Mathur, M. and Bharti, N. (2019). How can co-creation improve the engagement of farmers in weather and climate services (WCS) in India. Climate Services 15, 100103. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.cliser.2019.100103

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• climate risk management
• climate services
• sustainable food production systems
• rural livelihoods
• climate variability
• climate change
• climate finance
• economic valuation
• climate insurance
• policy
• adaptation
• resilience