JOHANNESBURG, 9 August 2010 (IRIN) - Crops that mature faster and are tolerant of more frequent and intense droughts top the list of how most countries adapt their food production to climate change, says a new paper.

The discussion paper, led by Jonathan Makau Nzuma from the University of Nairobi and produced by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), looked at adaptation in agriculture in 10 sub-Saharan countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

The paper lists 26 adaptation strategies - two of which are common to all 10 countries, and five that are common to more than five countries - and reviews what progress has been made in adapting to erratic weather patterns.

The authors hope the findings will feed into and enhance the attempts of African countries to get financial and technical assistance at the ongoing global climate change talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The paper was also prompted by a need to get a better understanding of the countries’ National Action Plans for Adaptation, “whether they contained actionable items, how comparable they were across countries, andâ€