Objective:
Improve substantially the characterization of risk of hunger and world food security due to climate change and to enhance adaptation capacity in both developing and developed countries.

Approach:
The three-year project will provide the necessary integrated, transdisciplinary framework to assess climate impacts on the agricultural sector and will build capacity for continuing agricultural assessment and management in developing countries under changing climate conditions. AgMIP implementation will be led by Drs. Jerry Hatfield (USDA-ARS), Cynthia Rosenzweig (Columbia University/NASA GISS), Jim Jones (University of Florida). Research activities, implemented through an agreement with Columbia University, will be led through the coordination of four project teams: 1) Crop Modeling (led by Drs. Ken Boote, University of Florida; and Peter Thorburn, CSIRO, Australia) 2) Economics (led by Drs. John Antle, Oregon State University; and Gerald Nelson, IFPRI) 3) Climate Scenarios (led by Dr. Alex Ruane, Columbia University/NASA GISS) 4) Information Technologies (led by Drs. Cheryl Porter, University of Florida; and Sander Janssen, Wageningen Univeristy, Netherlands). Each project team will have U.S. and international co-leads, and coordinates AgMIP participation from both developed and developing country research institutions to ensure that project activities are conducted with consistent protocols. USDA-ARS scientists are playing key roles in the development and conduct of research as members of each of the project teams. The teams will hold regular teleconferences to facilitate communication among participants and provide a mechanism for regular updates and oversight, enabling the teams to identify and address any problems that may occur. The teams will also help to organize and participate in annual AgMIP meetings. Visits to AgMIP participating field sites will also be conducted by one or more team members.