In 2007, the fourth assessment report of the inter-governmental panel on climate change (IPCC) revealed that in the coming decades, climate change is likely to have significant impacts on livelihoods and food systems. In addition, it has been reported that some of these impacts will be larger in smallholder systems in the developing world, due to their low capacity to adapt (see report here). Smallholder systems have been described to be dynamic and complex, with many interacting sub-components including the farm households.
Food security is a key indicator of farm household performance, hence the need to analyze the important components of food security and how they are affected by farm household decision making in the face of climatic change.
Scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) together with other scientists from different research institutes have recently carried out a review of the farm household models available, to identify their key features and constraints. In this review, the current state of production oriented farm and household level models were assessed, with a focus on their capability to address food security in a changing climate.
The review has been published in the journal of Global Food Security.
Sustainable livestock systems 