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This paper provides a systematic review of studies assessing the impact of climate change on crop yields in southern Africa. Moreover, it synthesises the current knowledge of the impact of elevated ambient CO₂ levels (eCO₂) and temperatures on physiological processes, and the application of this knowledge in mechanistic crop models. While eCO₂ evidently has a strong impact on photosynthesis and crop water use, it is uncertain how this will work out for the climatic and crop management conditions prevailing in southern Africa. The impact of heat stress on crop reproductive processes and the process of transpiration cooling mitigating heat stress are poorly represented in models, while both process are relevant given the climatic conditions prevailing in southern Africa. Twenty studies assessing the impact of climate change on future yields of crops, mostly maize, have been retrieved. The results suggest that …