Exploring a new tool for assessing and enhancing climate resilience in smallholder farm systems

Background: Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are at the forefront of climate change impacts, facing significant challenges to their livelihoods because of increasing temperatures, erratic rainfall and extreme weather events. While numerous tools have been developed to assess climate resilience interventions, their effectiveness is often difficult to ascertain, leaving development practitioners uncertain about the true impact of their work. Objectives: This article aims to address this challenge by examining the application of a newly developed tool, the Farm Resilience Assessment Scorecard (FRAS). The primary objective is to highlight critical lessons from its implementation to inform and improve evaluation practice in the context of climate resilience. Method: An exploratory approach was employed to analyse the application of the FRAS tool in smallholder farm systems. This involved a critical reflection on the tool’s implementation process, focusing on its practical utility, and its ability to capture the multidimensional nature of resilience. Results: The article emphasises the need for mixed-method approaches and participatory engagement to ensure that resilience assessment tools are not merely extractive but are genuinely empowering for smallholder farmers. Conclusion: The FRAS serves as a viable, low-burden tool for quantifying climate resilience in resource-constrained environments. However, to move beyond extractive data collection, the FRAS is most effective when implemented through the participatory, mixed-method lens identified in this study. By integrating its quantitative simplicity into broader evaluation systems, practitioners can empower farmers while ensuring the multi-dimensional nature of resilience is qualitatively captured, ultimately leading to more responsive and context-specific climate interventions. Contribution: This article contributes practical lessons on the application of a novel resilience assessment tool. It offers valuable guidance for evaluation practitioners in designing and conducting more effective and empowering assessments and provides clear recommendations for development practitioners aiming to create more robust and user-centric tools for measuring climate resilience in smallholder agriculture.