## 4 Discussion
Rising temperatures are valid, as several previous works have confirmed with similar observations. In terms of adaptive capacity, this work has shown that Southern Africa and North Africa have the highest literacy rates in importance, while West Africa has the lowest literacy rates. By implication, high literacy levels can be translated into higher access rates to primary education and, therefore, an ability to read or understand climate information or communications. [PERSON] et al. [43] have further confirmed the results of this current study by observing that across Africa, the regions with the highest literacy rates are around Southern and North Africa. As seen in Figure 6 below, the regions with the highest literacy rates are in green and fall with the sphere of influence of Southern and North Africa with rates between 80% and 99%. This viewpoint has also been supported by the authors of [44; 45]. On the other hand, West Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa are essentially represented in yellow and brown in Figure 6, representing literacy rates of a maximum of 59%. Therefore, Southern and North Africa have the most literate populations in Africa is vital as it translates into a higher adaptive capacity in terms of their ability to read, understand, and apply climate-related information. For example, if there is news on changes in planting dates over the news media, literate people will comprehend that information and act accordingly by changing their planting dates. This partly justifies why Southern and Northern Africa record higher readiness for climate change adaptation through the ClimA AdaptCap Index. According to [PERSON] [46], North Africa has a literacy rate of about 70% higher than sub-Saharan Africa because the region has reduced enrollment gaps and completion rates far more successfully than sub-Saharan. In the context of West Africa, [PERSON] [47] reports that the persistently low rates of literacy are an inheritance of colonization and slavery and that in the face of climate shocks, West Africa is less likely to adapt when climate information dissemination is the focus as people who are less educated are less likely to be able to understand climate-related information and implement climate-smart principles. In terms of poverty rates, this work has found that West Africa has the highest rates while North and Southern Africa have the lowest poverty rates. These results are generally consistent as the regions with the lowest poverty rates, such as North and Southern Africa, equally have the highest literacy rates. West Africa, with the highest poverty rate, equally has the lowest literacy rate. These results are very consistent with reports from the World Bank Group [47], which holds that in terms of the dollar amount spent per day, North Africa has the lowest poverty rates (0.1-5%) across Africa, followed by Southern Africa (15-25%). West Africa has 5-75% of its population living in poverty. Poverty significantly affects readiness for climate change adaptation. When poverty is high, the people are less capable of coping by either adopting alternative livelihood means or diversifying their livelihood or better purchasing high-yielding varieties, irrigation systems, pesticides, fertilizers, etc., investing in farm technologies. Even though these proxies are very representative representations of adaptive capacity in Africa and validate the assertion that low poverty rates and high literacy rates are linked to higher readiness for climate change adaptation, however, this should be viewed with caution as several other proxies affect readiness for climate change adaptation, such as  
Figure 6: Literacy rates in Africa. Source: modified from [PERSON] et al. [43]. health and nutritional status, physical infrastructure, governance and democracy, geographic and demographic factors, agriculture, type of ecosystem, technological capacity, and economic welling and inequality [48].