Climate change and food security in Southern Africa: Adaptation pathways for smallholder farmers

Climate change threatens food security in Southern Africa by disrupting rainfed production, rural incomes, dietary quality, and the stability of food supplies. This qualitative review examines these linkages and identifies adaptation pathways relevant to smallholder farmers. Database and repository searches initially identified 45 records; after screening titles, abstracts, and full texts, 20 core sources were retained for thematic analysis, while supplementary sources were used for conceptual and methodological context. The synthesis shows that rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, droughts, and floods shorten growing seasons, reduce soil moisture, damage crops and livestock, and intensify seasonal food insecurity. Farmers respond through crop diversification, drought-tolerant crops, conservation agriculture, agroforestry, water harvesting, livelihood diversification, and climate-information services. However, adoption remains uneven because finance, irrigation, extension, secure land tenure, infrastructure, markets, and usable forecasts are limited. The paper argues that no single intervention is sufficient. Effective adaptation requires coordinated packages that connect farm-level practices with inclusive institutions, climate services, rural infrastructure, and social protection. Such integration can strengthen food availability, access, utilisation, and stability without treating smallholders as a homogeneous group.