Small-scale farmers and pastoralists knowledge and experience of coping with climatic extremes and uncertainty has been largely overlooked in climate change adaptation planning efforts. This paper draws lessons from this wealth of knowledge and underscores how measures to increase climate change resilience must view food, energy, water and waste management systems as interconnected and mutually dependent. This holistic approach must also be applied to economic analysis for adaptation planning. Similarly, it is vital to use traditional knowledge and management skills, which can further support adaptation planning. The aim of the paper is to avoid energy and effort being expended on re-inventing the wheel; it urges those involved in supporting climate change adaptation to draw much more from the existing strategies and knowledge of the millions of farmers and pastoralists worldwide.