Response of agricultural total factor productivity and its components to climate change and variability in sub-Saharan Africa

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the effects of climate change and variability on agricultural total factor productivity (TFP) and its components in sub-Saharan Africa while identifying the components most vulnerable over time. Design/methodology/approach This paper employed a comparative analysis of the short- and long-term net effects of climate change and variability on agricultural TFP and its components. The agricultural TFP components were obtained by applying stochastic frontier analysis to data from 27 sub-Saharan African countries covering the period from 1995 to 2020. Findings Findings reveal that the adaptation deficit in agricultural TFP has worsened over time in sub-Saharan Africa. A detailed analysis indicated that this decline, driven by climate change and variability, was primarily due to significant increases in adaptation deficits in technical efficiency and scale component. Furthermore, the results highlight that in addition to climate change and variability, other factors also play an important role in the degradation of agricultural performance in sub-Saharan Africa. Originality/value This paper is original in that it evaluated the effectiveness of adaptation efforts concerning agricultural TFP and each of its components, thereby facilitating the identification of the components most vulnerable to climate change and variability over time.