Abstract:
Globally, river basins are increasingly vulnerable to climate change. There is a dearth of information on
the adaptation responses in Africa’s river basins, especially regarding whether the response process is
incremental or transformative. The study applied a household questionnaire to survey 1,500 farmers
across the ten major river basin sites, examining their perceived impacts of climate change and
adaptation responses. Through a participatory process, we identified (a) the major challenges and
potential opportunities during the adaptation process and (b) evaluated if the adaptation process was
incremental or transformative. The results revealed that the local farmers perceived multiple climate
change impacts, with the majority responding through agriculture intensification and diversification.
The study observed that almost all the river basin sites faced similar challenges, although some were
context-specific. The climate change adaptation process was largely incremental; however, three river
basins in Southern and Eastern Africa exhibited transformative adaptation processes due to strong
social capital.
