Learning from past adaptations to extreme climatic events: A case study of drought
Authors: Dr Rob Burton; Dr Sue Peoples
Download the report in three parts in PDF format:
- Part A: Summary report [PDF 546KB]
- Part B: Literature review [PDF 600KB]
- Part C: Main report [PDF 798KB]
Executive summary
The potentially damaging impact of drought on agriculture and human populations is not a recent phenomenon but has been observed for almost as long as we have records of human civilisation. In the modern world drought remains a serious issue despite improvements in agricultural technologies such as irrigation and plant genetics.
Historically agricultural drought in New Zealand has not been uncommon and this trend will continue. Indeed, climate models have predicted that under global warming drought conditions will extend northwards to cover the entire east coast of New Zealand and droughts that were 1 in 20 year events could soon become 1 in 5 year events. As a result, developing strategies for coping with agricultural drought is likely to become a critical part of New Zealand agriculture and agricultural policy in the coming decades. There is therefore an urgent need to examine responses to specific drought events to aid in the development of adaptive capacity in New Zealand.
Understanding how New Zealand’s farmers have historically adapted to extreme climate events will play a critical role in developing effective adaptation plans for the future. While the temperate climate in New Zealand has meant that much of the country has not been subject to frequent, widespread or prolonged climatic extremes, farmers in certain areas of New Zealand have needed to respond to climatic events on their farms and have developed many coping strategies accordingly.
This report focuses on these past adaptations of farmers to the extreme drought events. The research will explore the ‘strategic responses’ of farmers in the regions of North Otago and South Canterbury, areas which have previously experienced extreme drought events. Having gained an understanding of what farmers have done historically to cope with drought events, this research aims to use this knowledge to develop future adaptive and mitigation strategies for New Zealand’s farmers.
Most importantly this will also lead to the development of suitable methodologies to enable future applications of more extensive and broader investigations – covering additional climate responses such as flooding and cyclone events. Thus this study will contribute towards building adaptive capacity in New Zealand’s farming systems to cope with extreme climate events.
Contact for Enquiries
Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change
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Tel: 0800 CLIMATE (254 628)
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