A modelling framework for assessing adaptive management options of Finnish agricultural systems to climate change

Summary

Agrifood systems need to adapt to cope with the risks and opportunities related to global changes in
climate, markets and policies. The impacts of these changes on food production, the environment and
farmer livelihoods, as well as those of changes to technology and management practices, are not
clearly understood. There is a need for improved assessment methods and tools that consider multiple
factor and scale interactions (Van Ittersum et al., 2008). In recent years, European-wide consortia,
such as SEAMLESS, have worked for creating flexible and widely applicable frameworks for
integrated assessment and and modelling of agrifood systems That work has been valuable in
developing common concepts, methods and more flexible frameworks (Ewert et al., 2009).. However,
their relative generic character reduces its applicability when it comes to detailed regional applications,
e.g. as needed in identifying promising climate change adaptation and mitigation options for
agricultural systems.