Climate-Resilient Agriculture Practices for Enhancing Resilient Practices and Food Systems in Dry Regions

Dry regions are primarily inhabited by smallholder farmers who have limited capacity to enhance agricultural productivity, particularly in crop production. These areas are characterized by low and erratic rainfall that does not support crops to maturity. This underlying study has been compiled by using a systematic review of papers published between 2020 and 2025. A total of 1200 papers were selected and screening was done to remove 790 duplicates, 195 had no proper information about climate-smart agriculture (CSA), and 139 were published before 2020, leaving a total of 76 papers included in the study. The primary objective of this systematic review was to explore resilient agricultural technologies suitable for dry regions to improve food systems. Resilient agricultural practices suitable for dry regions include soil water conservation, irrigation, crop diversification, and cultivating climate-resilient crops that include sorghum, cowpeas, and millets to enhance the food system. Growing climate-resilient crops is regarded as a key option in drought-prone areas that improves crop yields and food availability. Combining water management, soil conservation, and sorghum in low rainfall areas increased yield from 200 to 1140 kg ha^-1 in Zimbabwe and from 250 to 5675 kg ha^-1 in Kenya. An increase in other crops, such as maize, has also been reported with the use of crop rotation, irrigation systems, and agroforestry. Improvements in food systems reduce hunger and poverty, and empower smallholder farmers in dry regions to enhance their livelihoods. Similarly, examples of climate-resilient agriculture options have also been presented, giving relevant examples. Smallholder farmers are recommended to adopt climate-resilient agricultural practices to all farmers to mitigate climate change, reduce food insecurity, and improve rural livelihoods.