Climate change is transforming health across Africa, but its effects cannot be understood through environmental exposure alone. This edited volume brings health psychology into conversation with public health, climate science, social research, and Indigenous knowledge to examine how climate hazards interact with inequality, livelihoods, infrastructure, and access to care.

Combining original empirical studies with systematic and critical reviews, the chapters explore disaster-related distress and psychosocial recovery; infectious and non-communicable diseases; malaria, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney health; and the health consequences of water insecurity, flooding, and disrupted services. Case studies from Zimbabwe and South Africa sit alongside wider African evidence, showing how gender, place, and structural disadvantage shape vulnerability and adaptation. The book also considers community knowledge, climate-informed early warning, and more inclusive, resilient health systems.

Written for researchers and students in health psychology, public health, climate and development studies, and African studies, as well as health professionals and policymakers, the volume offers an integrated framework for recognising interconnected climate-health risks and designing responses grounded in African contexts and experiences.

Dr Happy Mathew Tirivangasi is a political and environmental sociologist in the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal articles. Drawing on Afrocentric and decolonial perspectives, his research examines climate adaptation, Indigenous knowledge systems and climate justice, focusing on how communities in Africa and the wider Global South understand and respond to environmental and socio-political risks.

Dr Shingirai Stanely Mugambiwa is an academic at the University of Limpopo, South Africa. His research focuses on climate governance, Indigenous knowledge systems, sustainable development and community practices in rural Zimbabwe.

Dr Thembinkosi Mabila is Director of Research at the University of Limpopo, South Africa, and holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics. His expertise includes language education, second language acquisition, sociolinguistics and second language teaching.