AFRICA’S vulnerability to shocks from outside the continent is becoming more and more obvious. Increased droughts and floods linked to climate change are fuelling food insecurity, homelessness and disease. Increasing the region’s resilience to external shocks must be a priority that requires a fundamental review by countries of their policies to ensure they meet the right priorities and can deliver the right results. In this regard, policies that promote sustainable agriculture are indispensable. This kind of agriculture is the foundation of food security, and has the potential to secure livelihoods and promote economic growth in rural populations. Progress for rural populations has become an urgent undertaking for Africa as one of the major avenues to address the disorderly migrations of the continent’s youth. Such progress requires providing food and securing livelihoods and must be done in a manner which does not compromise the environment. The findings from this assessment highlight a set of areas for action in terms of both policy and practice, and identify key barriers to the successful integration of climate[1]smart practices at the regional and national levels. The set of recommendations offer a useful starting point to policy decision-makers and practitioners as they seek to enhance and scale context-appropriate climate[1]smart actions. We cannot comprehensively and strategically tackle the climate change conundrum in the agricultural context without understanding the so-called “lay of the land”. The study, thus, makes an important contribution to understanding the scope and scale of climate-smart agriculture on the continent at an opportune time.
