Abstract

Climate change is adversely affecting food production, thereby putting the livelihoods of many farmers in jeopardy. Without appropriate responses, climate change is likely to disrupt the development and poverty reduction efforts of many nations. In response to a changing climate, adaptation is becoming an urgent priority. Adaptation is a key factor that will determine the future severity of climate change impacts on agriculture because large reductions in the negative impacts are feasible when adaptation is fully implemented. Numerous investigations have been done on climate change adaptation, and many factors influencing farmers’ adaptive responses have been identified. These factors are grouped into several categories: socioeconomic and demographic factors, institutional factors, technological factors, sociocultural factors, and cognitive factors. This paper attempts to appraise, classify, and support factors influencing farmers’ adaptation in response to a changing climate in a complete manner to make a significant contribution to research. The paper revealed that studies on sociocultural and cognitive factors affecting farmers’ adaptation measure has been limited in the sub-Saharan African context as opposed to the first three categories. However, the choice of the factors in investigating farmers’ adaptation should be guided by the specific context and objectives of the research because of time and financial constraints. This review paper provides valuable knowledge for the advancement and extensive impending research on factors affecting farmers’ adaptation to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa. The significance of several factors elucidating farmers’ adaptive responses was highlighted and could be used to describe the factors influencing farmers’ adaptation, therefore improving the effectiveness of adaptation strategies in the agricultural sector.