Irrigated and rainfed agriculture in semi-arid and arid sandy regions are facing increasing threats from soil water limitation in the context of climate change (i.e., drier and warmer scenarios). Crop functions and survival under soil water stress are governed by the interactions among a wealth collection of traits and properties at molecular, cell, tissue, organ and whole-plant levels along the soil-root-canopy continuum. Evaluating and predicting crop resilience on drought-prone soils requires improved understanding of drought-induced modifications of above- and below-ground resource-acquisitive traits. The trait trade-offs at organ (i.e., leaf, stem, root) and whole-plant levels can be quantified (e.g., by direct, proximal and/or remote sensors across the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum) to represent the crop resource acquisition and investment strategies in response to drought and/or other environmental changes (e.g., soil amelioration). This presentation synthesizes our research findings in semi-arid sandy regions on how the responses of above- and below-ground traits can vary with (1) changed rainfall intensity and frequency, (2) different species and congeneric genotypes and (3) concurrent limitations common in semi-arid sandy regions (i.e., soil salinity and nitrogen limitation).