Climate change and variability, drought and other climate-related extremes have a direct influence on the quantity and quality of agricultural production and in many cases, adversely affect it, especially in developing countries, where technology generation, innovation and adoption are too slow to counteract the adverse effects of varying environmental conditions. A workshop was organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) providing significant scientific and other support for the APN part of the project.