This study sought to inform climate change policy by analysing agricultural adaptation in developing countries. Country case studies following a common methodology in Bangladesh, Malawi, Nepal, Rwanda and Tanzania, provided fresh evidence of the possible costs of agricultural adaptation to climate change. A global review of the literature on agricultural impacts of climate change, adaptation strategies and measures, and economic valuation informed a perspective based on understanding adaptation pathways in developing countries. This generalised framework places climate change adaptation at the heart of development planning.