The international community is increasingly calling for greater emphasis on transformational adaptation in response to climate change. This call has been particularly acute in agriculture, food systems, nutrition, and agro-ecological systems in low-income countries. There is, however, a lack of clarity in the literature and among the climate change community on how to define, operationalize, or measure transformational adaptation.

To address this gap, this paper proposes a framework of four indicators of transformation – the breadth and depth of change, the intention to achieve transformation, scale, and sustainability. The paper also identifies specific types of transformational adaptation in agri-food systems, including:

Strengthening the public enabling environment, institutions and market systems
Diversification and relocation of production (geographically)
New or improved agri-food technologies, practices or systems
Addressing the root causes of vulnerability, marginalization and power inequality
Published December 2024