Climate Adaptation for Small-Scale Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review of Challenges, Practices, and Policy Gaps

Abstract

Climate change poses escalating risks to small-scale farmers’ food security across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), yet evidence on how adaptation strategies transform into food security outcomes remains fragmented and unevenly distributed. This study systematically reviewed 66 peer-reviewed studies retrieved from various databases including Sabinet African Journals, Web of Science and PubAg. The peer-reviewed studies were obtained through following PRISMA guidelines which involve searching criteria (using key words) and screening criteria (applying filters). The aim of this study was to synthesise climate-related challenges, adaptation strategies and policy gaps affecting small-scale farming systems in SSA. Empirical findings indicate that prolonged droughts, rainfall variability and temperature stress dominate climate-related challenges. Small-scale farmers’ adaptation responses cluster around technological and on-farm practices, integrated climate-smart agriculture, livelihood diversification, crop- and livestock-based strategies and knowledge-based interventions. As a result most strategies positively influence the availability, stability and access pillars of food security. However, adaptation effectiveness is strongly constrained by systemic policy gaps, notably weak extension and institutional support, limited access to finance and inputs, affordability and scalability barriers to CSA technologies. These constraints disproportionately affect resource-poor farmers, reinforcing inequalities and limiting the scalability of successful local adaptation. Therefore, strengthening institutional capacity, aligning policies with farmer realities, integrating local knowledge and gender considerations and expanding financial access emerge as central priorities for transforming adaptation efforts into sustained and equitable food security outcomes across SSA.