Sheppard, Jonathan P.Reckziegel, Rafael BohnBorrass, LarsChirwa, Paxie W.Cuaranhua, Claudio J.Hassler, Sibylle K.Hoffmeister, SvenjaKestel, FlorianMaier, RebekkaMalicke, MirkoMorhart, ChristopherNdlovu, Nicholas P.Veste, MaikFunk, RogerLang, FriederikeSeifert, ThomasDu Toit, BenKahle, Hans-Peter2021-09-222021-09-222020-08-21Sheppard, J.P., Reckziegel, R.B., Borrass, L. et al. 2020, 'Agroforestry : an appropriate and sustainable response to a changing climate in Southern Africa?', Sustainability, vol. 12, art. 6796, pp. 1-31.1937-0695 (print)1937-0709 (online)10.3390/su12176796http://hdl.handle.net/2263/81945Agroforestry is often discussed as a strategy that can be used both for the adaptation to and the mitigation of climate change e ects. The climate of southern Africa is predicted to be severely a ected by such changes. With agriculture noted as the continent’s largest economic sector, issues such as food security and land degradation are in the forefront. In the light of such concerns we review the current literature to investigate if agroforestry systems (AFS) are a suitable response to the challenges besetting traditional agricultural caused by a changing climate. The benefits bestowed by AFS are multiple, o ering ecosystem services, influence over crop production and positive impacts on rural livelihoods through provisioning and income generation. Nevertheless, knowledge gaps remain. We identify outstanding questions requiring further investigation such as the interplay between trees and crops and their combination, with a discussion of potential benefits. Furthermore, we identify deficiencies in the institutional and policy frameworks that underlie the adoption and stimulus of AFS in the southern African region. We uphold the concept that AFS remains an appropriate and sustainable response for an increased resilience against a changing climate in southern Africa for the benefit of livelihoods and multiple environmental values.en© 2020 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.Food securitySustainable land useConservation agricultureCarbonEnvironmental benefitsSocial developmentClimate-smart agricultureTreesSouthern African Development Community (SADC)Agroforestry systems (AFS)Article