Communal Goat Farmers’ Perception of Water Scarcity and Factors Influencing This Challenge in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Water scarcity is a major constraint to agricultural productivity in arid and semi-arid regions, yet its implications for communal goat production systems remain insufficiently documented. This study assessed communal goat farmers’ perceptions of water scarcity and identified factors influencing this challenge in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. A structured questionnaire was administered to 218 smallholder goat farmers, and data were analysed using SPSS (v29). A ranking index was employed to prioritise production constraints, goat functions, and water sources. Additionally, water samples from dams, streams, and rainwater were analysed for key physicochemical parameters. Results showed that theft (index = 0.233) was the most important production constraint, followed by parasites/diseases (0.219), predators (0.211), and water scarcity (0.187), which consistently ranked fourth across seasons. Despite this ranking, farmers perceived water scarcity to have substantial impacts on production, including increased disease prevalence (46.3% severe), mortality (45.0% severe), reduced weight at maturity (61.9% severe), increased trekking distance to water sources (59.2% severe), and reduced feed quality (54.6% severe). Farmers generally perceived water as clean and non-saline; however, laboratory analysis revealed poor quality, with pH values ranging from 9.14 to 10.72 and turbidity exceeding recommended thresholds (<5 NTU) in most dam and stream samples. Water accessibility was limited, with goats travelling an average of 5.85 km to dams and 7.71 km to streams. Key drivers of water scarcity included reduced rainfall (50.9%), lack of government intervention (49.1%), and drying of dams (40.4%). The study highlights a critical mismatch between perceived and actual water quality and demonstrates the multidimensional impacts of water scarcity on goat health, productivity, and welfare. Future research requires longitudinal studies linking water quality to goat health outcomes, intervention research on farmer education, low-cost water-treatment technologies, governance studies of water infrastructure, and economic analyses quantifying productivity losses.