Rainfed agriculture is at the centre of many West African economies and a key livelihood strategy in the region. Highly variable rainfall patterns lead to a situation in which farmers’ investments to increase productivity are very risky and will become more risky with climate change. Process-based cropping system models are a key tool to assess the impact of weather variability and climate change, as well as the effect of crop management options on crop yields, soil fertility and farming system resilience and widely used by the West African scientific community.

The Central American Dry Corridor (CADC) is among the most climate-vulnerable regions worldwide. Climate change, commonly referred to as a “threat multiplier” of pre-existing socioeconomic issues, already undermines rural livelihoods by reducing agricultural yields and income opportunities. This paper provides a review of climate-related migration in the CADC region while identifying the specific pathways by which climate change manifests itself as a threat multiplier to migration.

This paper reviewed a body of literature on climate adaptation options in sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) smallholding agriculture and complemented it with a case study involving experts interviews, focus group discussions, large-scale household surveys, and farmer practices observation while drawing insight from the concept of “everyday adaptation and interrupted agency” and agency theory to assess farmer perceived limitations with climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and climate-wise food systems (CWFS) practices for climate adaptation in the SSA.

Poor soil fertility and climate variability are major constraints to maize production in the Nigeria savannas. The application of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) as adaptation strategy may enhance maize yield under climate change. In this study, the already calibrated and validated CERES-maize model in DSSAT was used to simulate the response of maize varieties to N and P in three agroecological zones.

Climate change is causing serious challenges for smallholder farm households, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The overarching objectives of this study are as follows: (i) to estimate household resilience and vulnerability indices, (ii) identify factors that explain these indices and (iii) to examine the impact of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) on households’ resilience and vulnerability, and (iv) to identify which CSA package performs better in enhancing resilience and reducing vulnerability.

The CGIAR Initiative on Gender Equality (HER+: Harnessing Gender and Social Equality for Resilience in Agri-food systems) aims to achieve climate resilience by strengthening gender equality and social inclusion across food systems in the Global South. Together with partners, the initiative supports women to increase their agency and to acquire and gain control over resources. The initiative facilitates women’s pathways to empowerment and helps them adapt to future climate-related shocks and stresses.

Climate-informed crop intelligence technologies are vital for building the resilience of food systems against the impacts of extremes in climate variation and climate change. As a result, agricultural policymakers, practitioners, and planners have used them to make tactical and strategic decisions, including estimating agricultural inputs needed months before the crop-growing season, selecting potential management practices, estimating crop performance and yields under various seasonal climate forecast scenarios, and providing anticipatory options against climate change.

The Zambezi River Basin (ZRB) in southern Africa connects eight riparian countries—Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The population there mostly reside rurally, and over 80 percent of agriculture is attributed to smallholder farmers facing the brunt of the climate crisis. Digital technologies can facilitate and enhance climate adaptation and resilience, but their potential in ZRB is unassessed and the use relatively low.

Climate change affects every aspect of the food system, including all nodes along agrifood value chains from production to consumption, the food environments in which people live, and outcomes, such as diets and livelihoods. Women and men often have specific roles and responsibilities within food systems, yet structural inequalities (formal and informal) limit women’s access to resources, services and agency. These inequalities affect the ways in which women and men experience and are affected by climate change.

Climate variability and extreme weather events such as floods and droughts continue to increase due to climate change. These changes will have significant impacts on low- and middle-income countries. Without transformative climate adaptation solutions, millions of smallholder farmers will face severe losses because of increased climate variability.