This paper deals with the consequences of climate change for farmers in Africa, including increasing temperatures and changing rainfall, increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide content and impacts on agricultural production. The paper attempts to illustrate local conditions that must be taken into account to understand the impacts/consequences of climate change for African farmers and how they may cope with them. The review is in three parts; climate change is approached by dealing with the three sides from which the danger comes: (i) global warming, (ii) increasing climate variability, (iii) more (and possibly more severe) meteorological and climatological extreme events.