Assessing the Influence of Climate Services and Climate Change Adaptation Strategies on Smallholder Agriculture: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Climate services and climate change adaptation practices are increasingly recognized as essential for supporting smallholder farmers. Despite numerous studies on climate impacts and adaptation strategies, limited systematic evidence exists on how climate services and adaptation interventions influence farming practices across regions. This study addresses the gap through a systematic literature review of Scopus-indexed publications over the past decade. Using the PRISMA approach, 1981 articles were screened, with 31 meeting the eligibility criteria. Of these, 23 focused on adaptation interventions and 8 on climate services. Geographically, 30 studies were concentrated in tropical regions Africa (n =16) and in Asia (n=14), while one study was outside the tropics. Findings show that climate information strongly supports the adoption of adaptation strategies (>60%), especially in technological interventions such as Climate-Smart Agriculture, ecosystem management, irrigation, and climate risk reduction. In terms of service delivery, basic climate service provision demonstrated greater effectiveness (80%) compared to advisory-based agricultural services (40%). Socio-demographic factors, particularly education and age, consistently influenced farmers’ decision-making in adopting both climate services and adaptation practices. Overall, this review highlights the need for more integrated approaches that explicitly connect climate services with adaptation interventions. Strengthening these linkages is especially critical in tropical regions, where smallholder farmers remain highly vulnerable to climate variability and long-term climate change risks.