This paper focuses on the adaptation capacity of the farmers and evaluates the extent to which droughts push them to adopt more resistant crop or incite them to abandon agriculture for manufactured activities. To assess the change in specialization, it uses exporting data. A comparison between developed and developing nations are realized. A sample of 151 countries over the period 2000 to 2015 is mobilized. Relying on drought indicators based on the standardized precipitation index and trade data at six-digit level, we nd that a lack of precipitation leads countries to a substitution towards crops which are tolerant to drought, and away from crops that are drought sensitive. Moreover, our results also indicate a reorganization of exports in favour of manufacture in the aftermath of drought. And, more precisely, countries are moving towards the production of goods for which they have a comparative advantage.