Publications

The Kingdom of Bhutan is nestled in the Himalayas, sharing borders with India to the south and
China to the north. The country is a net carbon sink and has committed to ensuring that 60% of
its total land area will remain as forest. Despite efforts to encourage sustainable economic
growth at the national level, the impacts of climate change, driven partly by the global
greenhouse gas emissions, will continue to affect Bhutan. The agricultural sector, which
employs about 69% of the total population, is the most vulnerable to the changing climate.
There is need to identify which crops may become unsuitable under climate projections and,
equally, which crops may offer new opportunities to rural communities. A joint study by the
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the Ministry of Agriculture and
Forestry (MoAF), funded by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), was
undertaken to assess the impacts of climate change on five key crops (i.e. rice, maize, potato,
chili and tomato) and three diversification crops (i.e. quinoa, kiwi and cardamom).
The results of the study will help decision makers identify which areas may require interventions
due to the imminent loss of climate suitability for the crops. Equally, the results can be used to
provide input on suitable locations to test the diversification crops and potential areas for
expansion of the key crops. The analysis was undertaken using the most up-to-date climate
models and an ecological niche model and was analyzed in ArcGIS. It was a collaborative study,
which included a 2-week capacity building workshop between CIAT and MoAF and an
additional case study to integrate knowledge on gender and climate change.