In South Africa, climate change is increasingly threatening food security through droughts, irregular rainfall, high temperatures, floods, water shortage and reduced agricultural productivity. This study conducted a systematic review of South African studies on the integration of climate change, food security and sustainable finance. The review was implemented using Climate-Resilient Food Systems Framework and PRISMA 2020 guidelines. The review process involved identifying 173 documents from Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct and Google Scholar, among which 37 articles were selected for the final synthesis. Results indicate that the available data comprehensively report climate change effects on agriculture, livelihoods and household food security with a focus on smallholder farmers. Nevertheless, the integration of sustainable finance into the food security and adaptation research is still very limited. Public investment, agricultural credit, green finance, climate finance, extension-linked support, and digital finance were identified as key yet disconnected mechanisms for enhancing resilience. The main obstacles are financial exclusion, poor institutional capacity, lack of coordination, insufficient climate information, poor infrastructure, and socio-economic vulnerability. This systematic review contributes to the literature by developing an integrated evidence-based conceptual framework for climate change, sustainable finance, adaptation, and food security. The study recommends that policymakers, financial institutions, and development practitioners adopt the proposed integrated conceptual framework to guide the design of climate-resilient food-system policies, sustainable finance strategies, and adaptation interventions.