Drought Adaptation Mapping in the Southern African Development Community: a review

Leah Selters , Eleanor Vance , Vaibhav Anand , Banawe Plambou Anissa, Chris Hillbruner , Christopher Ihinegbu, Miriam Silverman Israel, Jubeena Judi Joe, Caroline Kawira, Megan Lukas-Sithole, Renate Meyer, Relebohile Agnes Mojaki , Ian G. Moore, Miriam Nielsen , Susan Njambi-Szlapka, Erin Coughlan de Perez

Evidence on how people adapt to drought frequency and severity is expanding, yet remains fragmented and insufficiently informative for assessing progress, limits, equity, and key priorities. Previous global syntheses demonstrate that adaptation is occurring but provide limited insight into how, where, for whom, and with what risks. This scoping review addresses these gaps by mapping peer-reviewed evidence on drought adaptation in the 16 countries that make up the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, one of the few regions globally that exhibits an observed downward trend in precipitation while encompassing many countries, making it a valuable case for examining diverse approaches to managing changing risk.
We review 141 studies published since 2020, documenting the geographic, sectoral, and thematic distribution of reported drought coping and adaptation strategies. We discuss the spectrum of adaptation strategies utilized in SADC, identify common enablers and barriers, assess conditions associated with success, and examine risks of maladaptation. We also analyze which approaches are described as “transformative” and the traits they share.
Results reveal that studies are concentrated in a small number of countries, primarily South Africa, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, and of the seven broad sectors identified, only two feature prominently: 1) Agriculture, food, forestry, fibre, and fisheries and 2) Water. There are major gaps in documentation of ecosystem-based adaptation and private-sector responses. Adaptation actions are predominantly individual or community-level, while institutional and governance-focused strategies, though less common, are more frequently associated with transformative change. Governance and social capital consistently shape outcomes, while maladaptation risks often arise from short-term coping strategies that deepen inequality or erode long-term adaptive capacity.
By synthesizing what is known and not yet documented along with what is labeled transformative, this review provides a regionally grounded evidence base to support assessments of adaptation progress, limits, and pathways that avoid leaving vulnerable populations behind