Visions and Approaches for Adapting to Climate Change, from Agricultural Water Management and Food Security Aspects

Climate change (CC) is an avoidable phenomenon, which is occurring in vast parts of the world, including Iran. Agriculture and crop production are among the sectors, which are affecting from CC. Although food production activities, especially animal protein production, which have high footprints of water, have been some causes, among other important and main causes of CC occurrence. The CC moreover to increasing air temperature and hence crop water requirements, cause crop yield reduction and crop production deficiency. Therefore, considering water shortage crisis in Iran country, and in order to fulfill food security objectives of the growing population, it is necessary to coincide with the CC impacts in agriculture and to take adaptation measures and approaches in these regards. However, there are two main strategies for coinciding with CC: 1. Mitigation of CC and 2. Adaptation to CC. The mitigation strategy deals with reducing greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions, while the adaptation strategy deals with amelioration of unavoidable impacts of CC. It includes a wide range of measures, approaches, and action selected for a vulnerable system. In this paper following an in-depth review of international and national references and policies in the field of agricultural water and food security, visions and strategies of facing with CC from the mentioned aspects are elaborated. Based on results, the following strategies and measures of adapting to CC from the agricultural water management and food security aspects could be categorized as followings: 1-Reducing water consumption during irrigation, 2-  Water conservation and reducing evaporation losses from soil surface, 3-Inceasing crop yield (increasing the numerator of water productivity index-WP), 4- Reducing the economic risk through diversity in revenue, crop insurance, subsidies and other incentives, and 5-Eetablishing early warning systems and providing training and other capacity building on the subject of adaptation to CC. However, from the strategy aspects and based on the benefit to cost ratio, in short-term the managerial measures and approaches of adaptation to CC are more efficient and less costly than the other measures, i.e. infrastructural and even agronomic measures and approaches.