Sustainable Agricultural Interventions to Climate Change in South African Smallholder Systems: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Agriculture provides food and nutrition security essential for improving livelihoods. However, the region has been experiencing extreme weather events, which cause challenges ranging from reduced agricultural production to threatening food insecurity and lower income. The study aims to evaluate the susceptibility of smallholder farmers to climate change and identify key sustainable agricultural interventions through a systematic review and bibliometric analysis. The Scopus database retrieved the literature on sustainable agriculture following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Publication trends, co-occurrence of citations, and thematic evolution were analysed. The findings show that conservation agriculture and climate-smart agriculture and their role in improving climate resilience among smallholder farmers were the commonly studied interventions. The adoption of these interventions by farmers can positively aid in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals and the Agenda 2063 Goals. This will help mitigate climate change effects while improving agricultural production, fostering entrepreneurship, and enhancing nutrition and livelihoods in South Africa. The findings from the study can inform policymakers in designing localised, scalable, and evidence-based solutions to improve smallholder farmers’ level of resilience. Institutional and governmental support for smallholder farmers in implementing sustainable interventions is important.