Abhatoo - Centre Nationale de Documentation

Due to the peculiarities of the Mediterranean, agriculture is one of the main production sectors sustaining the socio-economic development of the region. However, the on-going climate change poses serious threats to sustainable agricultural production in the future. The area around the Mediterranean sea presents a transition zone between the temperate and rainy climate of continental Europe and the arid and hyper-arid climate of North Africa. This incites the interactions between the mid-latitude westerlies and tropical processes originated in the South which, associated with the limited availability of land and water resources, contribute to characterize the region as highly vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, the impact of climate change on the Mediterranean agricultural systems and the mitigation and adaption policies and measures are of great importance to the region in order to preserve limited natural resources and assure sustainable ecosystems functioning and resilient rural development.