Following the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, most nations made commitments within their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to adaptation and mitigation in agriculture. However, these commitments need to be assessed in relation with ground truth, including bio-physical and socio-economic limits to climate action. We propose a new framework for monitoring climate action by countries/regions, based on four dimensions—intent, need, scope and readiness for implementing adaptation and mitigation in agriculture. While "intent" reflects intended climate action by countries such as those mentioned in NDCs or NAPs (National Adaptation Plans) and NAMAs (Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions), "need" highlights vulnerability of a country's agriculture to climate change and historical GHG emissions. The third dimension, "scope", is related to the biophysical opportunities and limits to adapt or to mitigate. Finally, the "readiness" dimension considers a country's current ability to implement various adaptation/mitigation actions and policies. The framework is illustrated with a global analysis, using selected indicators for each of these dimensions. Results indicate that 61 countries globally (including key food producers) should consider corrective action in their adaptation priorities. The framework presented in this paper can serve as a monitoring and evaluation mechanism for NDC implementation and tracking progress.