This review study examines the state of meteorological drought over Africa, focusing on historical trends, impacts, mitigation strategies, and future prospects. Relevant meteorological drought-related articles were systematically sourced from credible bibliographic databases covering African subregions in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries (i.e. from 1950 to 2021), using suitable keywords. Past studies show evidence of the occurrence of extreme drought events across the continent. The underlying mechanisms are mostly attributed to complex interactions of dynamical and thermodynamical mechanisms. The resultant impact is evidenced in the decline of agricultural activities and water resources and the environmental degradation across all subregions. Projected changes show recovery from drought events in the west/east African domain, while the south and north regions indicate a tendency for increasing drought characteristics. The apparent intricate link between the continent’s development and climate variability, including the reoccurrence of drought events, calls for paradigm shifts in policy direction. Key resources meant for the infrastructural and technological growth of the economy are being diverted to develop coping mechanisms to adapt to climate change effects, which are changing. Efficient service delivery to drought-prone hotspots, strengthening of drought monitoring, forecasting, early warning, and response systems, and improved research on the combined effects of anthropogenic activities and changes in climate systems are valuable to practitioners, researchers, and policymakers regarding drought management in Africa today and in the future.

Changes in dryland temperature and precipitation are essential components of dryland climate change. This study applies the use of the monthly reanalysis data product of ERA5, which has a spatial resolution of 0.25 , to investigate the changes in the dryland climate between 1979 and 2018. The result revealed warming and drying of the drylands in recent decades, most notably in the current decade. The general global dryland temperature and precipitation increased and decreased significantly (0.01 significance level) at the rate of 0.032 CÁyear −1 and 0.074 mmÁmonth −1 Áyear −1 , respectively, in the last 40 years. Although precipitation generally decreased over the drylands, summer precipitation increased over southern Africa and Australia as well as northern Africa and south Asia dryland areas. Variation in the warming rate over the dryland zones at different periods was also observed. The semiarid and dry subhumid warmed continually from the first decade (0.02 CÁyear −1 and 0.017 CÁyear −1 ) to the fourth decade (0.077 CÁyear −1 and 0.065 CÁyear −1 , respectively), while the hyperarid warmed at a slower rate in the last two decades compared to the prior decades. More intense warming was also observed in the areas where precipitation decreased, suggesting the effect of reduced evaporative cooling. These changes have implications on the dryland environment, such as aridity changes, which could affect the sustainable development of the areas through the corresponding impact on the ecosystem.

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