Climate Vulnerability and Sustainable Livelihood Strategies in Agriculture: ABibliometric Analysis

Abstract

Rural households are increasingly vulnerable to climate-induced risks by impacting livelihoods, income, food security, access to resources and adaptive capacity. We review and map the literature on livelihood capitals and sustainable livelihood strategies for climate vulnerability through bibliometric analysis. Scopus-indexed journal articles published during 2017–2026 were analysed following PRISMA-based screening. Biblioshiny and VOSviewer were used to examine annual scientific production, major sources, keyword co-occurrence, thematic mapping, trend topics and conceptual structure. The findings show a steady increase in research output after 2020, with sustainability, development, climate change and disaster-risk journals contributing prominently. Keyword and thematic analyses revealed that livelihood, vulnerability, agriculture, food security, adaptation and resilience form the core knowledge structure of the field. Recent trends indicate a shift from descriptive vulnerability assessment towards solution-oriented themes such as adaptive capacity, livelihood diversification and climate-smart agriculture. However, livestock systems, gender dimensions, local institutions and extension advisory mechanisms remain weakly integrated. The study concludes that agricultural extension must move beyond crop-centred advisory services towards livelihood-based, climate-resilient extension models that emphasise vulnerability diagnosis, diversification support, institutional convergence, climate information services, and capacity building.