Alleviating Adverse Impacts of Drought on Livestock Farmers - South Africa

Categories: Land Use

For decades, farmers have lost livestock due to poor rangeland management techniques. This is a result of lack of information that enable farmers to take the relevant action such as moving livestock to a different pasture when drought strikes. Droughts account for 85.8% livestock losses (FAO, 2015). More often than not, farmers rely on insurances and government relief funds to deal with the destructive effects of drought. Regular information is required to ensure that farmers develop risk management and coping strategies to avoid dealing with the after effects of drought. On the other hand, the decision makers and policy makers formulate and update policies that are related to land management and food security. Therefore, the actionable information provided by the livestock service is critical to them.