Farmers’ livelihoods are uniquely vulnerable to climate change, and taking adaptive measures to changing environmental conditions constitutes one of the most important pathways for protecting them. Their willingness and capacity to adopt improved practices and technologies, their cognitive and behavioural preferences, and the institutional response mechanisms will go a long way in determining their success in their adaptation to climate change. This study presents results of an analysis of the vulnerabilities of smallholder coffee producers in Nicaragua to climate change. It uses descriptive analyses and experimental risk games to evaluate the preferences and attitudes of coffee producers in the context of their adaptation to climate change. It shows that food insecure households are more risk-averse than food-secure households and that much work is needed in the sector to ensure equity and improve institutional capacity. For households in chronic poverty, conventional risk management strategies simply may not be enough. Institutional arrangements must be put in place to enable coffee-growing households to engage in practices that result in improved capacity for climate change adaptation