South African commercial livestock farmers’ adaptation and coping strategies for agricultural drought

Abstract To achieve the SDGs 13 of taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impact, SDGs 2 of ending hunger and poverty, and the African Union CAADP Strategy and Action Plan: 2026–2035 of ending hunger and intensifying sustainable food production, agro-industrialization, and trade, there is a need to enhance farmers coping and adaption strategies for shocks. Agricultural drought has remarkably affected the economies of many sub-Saharan African countries, especially South Africa, in the recent past and still poses a challenge to commercial livestock farming. Understanding the adaptive and coping mechanisms and their determinants is pertinent to informing future preparedness for agricultural drought. This study analyses data from 123 commercial livestock farmers using a multivariate probit model to examine determining factors for the choice of adaptation and coping strategies. The results revealed that livestock management strategies, including the adoption of drought-resilient breeds, feedbanks, and herd size reduction, are the most preferred adaptive strategies, followed by conservation agriculture. Reducing animal numbers and feed management were the most preferred drought coping strategies. The choice of adaptive and coping strategies was mainly influenced by livestock farmers’ experience with past droughts, farmers’ age, the strength of social networks, asset size, and market accessibility. The study advocates for integrated policy, managerial, and social interventions that enhance infrastructure to support market access, improve access to asset-backed financing, strengthen both horizontal (farmer-to-farmer) and vertical (cooperatives) networking, promote conservation agriculture, and ensure water security. These measures aim to bolster the short-term and long-term adaptive capacities, coping strategies, and resilience of livestock farmers in the face of agricultural drought.