Towards Digitalization for Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture: Climate Change impacts on Agricultural Suitability in Switzerland

In a Nutshell

Climate change and its intensifying impacts pose significant challenges to food security and rainfed agricultural sustainability, both globally and in Switzerland. One pressing issue is how shifting climate patterns may affect cropland suitability, with profound implications for future agricultural food production and related planning and policy-making. This is particularly relevant in a country like Switzerland, as mountainous regions are more sensitive to the foreseen changes in climate. However, Switzerland currently lacks the comprehensive decision-support tools and the evidence base needed to sustain effective decisions in this area. This project aims to assess how climate change will alter crop suitability across Switzerland and how tools like digital data-driven technologies can inform and guide agricultural policies. The methodology involves two key steps: developing a data-driven mathematical model linking agricultural yield to climatic and soil factors; and assessing cropland suitability across Switzerland under current conditions and future climate change scenarios. The crop suitability model developed in this project allows the assessment of future spatially distributed shifts in suitability for the five major rainfed crops produced in Switzerland. The explicit identification of regions and crops most vulnerable to climate change thus offers actionable insights for better agricultural management and investment strategies.

Read the final brief to learn more about this research project.