The project CRAS aims, through an econometric and computational analysis, to better understand the contribution of agrobiodiversity to the resilience of agroecosystems and to the mitigation of the impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector.
General aims
Objectives of the project are:
- Estimating the contribution of agrobiodiversity to the economic resilience of the agricultural system applying the Ricardian approach.
- Including agrobiodiversity into a macroeconomic model to assess economically its role in smoothing climate change impacts on the agricultural sector
- To investigate the potential for adaptation policies favouring agrobiodiversity conservation to reduce climate impacts.
CMCC role
CRAS is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships. CMCC hosts the project and offers scientific supervision to the Fellow, Dr. Lea Nicita.
Activities
During the first project year, Dr. Lea Nicita will conduct the research and training at the Yale F&ES School, under the supervision of Professor Mendelsohn. Afterwards she will return to CMCC under the supervision of Professor Carlo Carraro.
Expected results
The project will contribute to increase the knowledge of:
- The empirical relation between agrobiodiversity and the adaptive capacity of the agriculture sector.
- The macro-economic (general equilibrium) implications of agrobiodiversity as a damage smoothing opportunity, assessing its effect in terms of changes in gross damages.
- The benefits of policies for the conservation of agrobiodiversity.
In addition to policy advices, the project will contribute at exposing the debate on biodiversity conservation and climate change through an array of dissemination and communication efforts.
Partner
Yale University