Climate change: impacts and adaptation in smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa

Climate change will have strong and mostly negative impacts on food security and agricultural systems in Africa. Increased temperature and frequency of extreme events together with changes in rainfall patterns are already affecting, and will increasingly affect, crop and livestock productivity and the suitability of areas for agricultural activities. African farming systems are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Factors constraining adaptation at the farm level include the limited and insecure access to land, capital and labour, and the access to production assets like water for irrigation. Beyond the farm, institutional constraints, poor information flows and knowledge are further limitations. In addition, typical disincentives for smallholders impede the adoption of adaptation options. These include the riskiness of farming in combination with farmers’ risk aversion and small farm sizes limiting the impact of interventions on farmers’ livelihoods. The latest IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) assessment report argues for a transformation of African agricultural systems in the face of climate change and puts forwards the concept of climate-resilient development pathways to guide climate action. We present case studies from Ghana and Zimbabwe to illustrate how a transdisciplinary modelling approach allowed to co-develop context-specific future development pathways and climate adaptation options.