Smallholder livestock farmers coping and adaptation strategies to agricultural drought

Y.T. Bahta; Y.T. Bahta

doi:10.3934/agrfood.2020.4.964

AIMS Agriculture and Food

2020, Volume 5, Issue 4: 964-982. doi: 10.3934/agrfood.2020.4.964

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Research article

Smallholder livestock farmers coping and adaptation strategies to agricultural drought

Y.T. Bahta ^,

University of the Free State, 205 Nelson Mandela drive, Agricultural Building, P. o. box 339, Internal box 58

Received: 08 September 2020 Accepted: 02 November 2020 Published: 25 November 2020

This study focused on the coping strategies that smallholder livestock farmers used in the event of agricultural drought in South Africa. The result revealed that the majority of smallholder farmers sold their livestock, as a coping strategy. Results from the multinomial probit model revealed that the socio-economic and institutional variables influenced smallholder livestock farmers' choice of coping strategies. The study recommends that government and different stakeholders should enhance the resilience of smallholder livestock farmers by improving the efficiency of cooperatives, enhancing government involvement in drought and resilience activities, improve social-network and community involvement in policy implementation and planning, and strengthen communication to disseminate policies and relevant information.
- coping strategies,
- agricultural drought,
- smallholder livestock farmers,
- resilience, South Africa
Citation: Y.T. Bahta. Smallholder livestock farmers coping and adaptation strategies to agricultural drought[J]. AIMS Agriculture and Food, 2020, 5(4): 964-982. doi: 10.3934/agrfood.2020.4.964

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Abstract

This study focused on the coping strategies that smallholder livestock farmers used in the event of agricultural drought in South Africa. The result revealed that the majority of smallholder farmers sold their livestock, as a coping strategy. Results from the multinomial probit model revealed that the socio-economic and institutional variables influenced smallholder livestock farmers' choice of coping strategies. The study recommends that government and different stakeholders should enhance the resilience of smallholder livestock farmers by improving the efficiency of cooperatives, enhancing government involvement in drought and resilience activities, improve social-network and community involvement in policy implementation and planning, and strengthen communication to disseminate policies and relevant information.

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