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Issues of equity are not inherent within the design of climate change adaptation programs in Africa. However, uptake of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) by smallholder farmers is inevitably shaped by existing socioeconomic inequalities in society. This chapter critically evaluates wealth-related inequalities in access and use of crucial CSA inputs (technologies, infrastructure, and institutional services) in Ethiopia and Malawi. The chapter relies on recent cross-sectional survey data gathered from 1268 smallholder farmers in Ethiopia and Malawi in 2018. Wealth-related inequalities in access to technologies, infrastructure, complementary inputs, and institutional services are evaluated using the standard concentration index. Study upshots reveal mainly pro-rich inequalities in the adoption of CSA technologies (e.g., minimum tillage, planting pits, and improved maize varieties), access to complementary inputs (e.g., fertilizer), infrastructure (e.g., use of improved granary), and access to institutional services (e.g., extension and local institutions). Heterogeneity in asset wealth, farm household characteristics, and sociopolitical factors chiefly explain observed inequalities. Results call for the design and implementation of policies that deliberately focus on the poor to reduce inequalities in access and use of beneficial CSA inputs in Malawi and Ethiopia. For instance, supporting farmers’ access to CSA technologies, complementary inputs, and improving extension provision will bear desirable fruits. Also, economic empowerment policies that enhance not only food security but incomes and asset buildup of households are recommended to reduce wealth-related inequalities in society.

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