Extreme climate events in sub-Saharan Africa: A call for improving agricultural technology transfer to enhance adaptive capacity

[Display omitted] •The study provides a critical overview of climate extreme events in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)•Climate change impacts have been observed in the region with many extreme events.•Climate change is likely to have many impacts on SSA.•Adaptive options for the affected population are very low.•Better innovation and technology transfer are highly needed in SSA. This study seeks to provide a critical overview of the existing evidence on extreme climate events and the adaptation options of the affected population in order to help scholars navigate the field. The study examined the recent extreme climate events that occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the climate change adaptation options mentioned in the literature, and the need for international technological transfer in SSA. 181 peer-reviewed publications were evaluated on the following topics: 1) the impacts of climate extremes in SSA; 2) the adaptation options discussed in the literature for the region; 3) the analysis of the needs and the gaps of the international technology transfer in SSA, and 4) the various impact areas of the technology transfer on the adaptive capacity in SSA. The major finding from this study is that the impacts of climate change have been observed in the region, with many extreme events leading to reductions in crop yield qualities and quantities, with much greater impacts on the smallholder farmers’ livelihoods in SSA countries. Based on these findings climate change conceptual framework is proposed which summarises the observed impacts of climate change on agriculture and food systems in SSA countries. The study concluded that there are new adaptation options that SSA countries can adopt from developed countries, and that much greater agricultural technological transfer is needed to facilitate better adaptation to climate change in SSA.