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This work presents a comprehensive review of climate change adaptation (CCA) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) efforts in 12 African countries, namely Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Benin, Ethiopia, Comoros, Malawi, Mali, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya. The present state of knowledge on major disasters, vulnerability to climate change, impacts of climate extremes and disasters, adaptation measures, and DRR strategies in these countries was analyzed. Furthermore, efforts were undertaken to recognize deficiencies and obstacles in the execution of these measures, with the aim of providing recommendations for future research and policy. The review presents evidence that indicates that climate change has already impacted these countries in various ways. Some of these impacts include more frequent and intense extreme weather events, as well as an increase in droughts and floods. African governments are developing national adaptation plans, facilitating the incorporation of adaptation measures and strategies for reducing disaster risks. However, some of these are limited institutional capacity, inadequate financial resources, insufficient governance structures, and lack of public awareness and participation. There is a need for a more integrated framework for CCA and DRR in these countries, with a focus on building institutional and community resilience.

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  • Diverse climate change (CC) impacts include increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

  • Flooding and water scarcity are the most serious climate-related disasters.

  • Main contributors to emissions: agriculture and energy sectors in Africa.

  • The review reveals challenges in executing CC adaptation and DRR measures.

  • Importance of urgent action for mitigating climate risks

Africa, climate change adaptation, climate risks, disaster risk reduction, drought, flooding, national adaptation plan
© 2025 The Authors
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).