Impact and choices of short-run coping strategies on the resilience of commercial livestock farmers

Strengthening commercial livestock farmers’ resilience to agricultural drought is vital to achieve SDG 13 to combat climate change and SDG1-2 to end hunger and poverty. It also underpins the African Union’s CAADP Strategy and Action Plan for 2026–2035, which aims to end hunger and intensify sustainable food production, agro-industrialisation, and trade. This study examines the impact of short-term coping strategies on the agricultural drought resilience of commercial livestock farmers. Results showed that most livestock farmers were not resilient to agricultural drought. Destocking, financial strategy, and the uptake of grazing and pasture management strategies in the short term had a significant impact on drought resilience for both adopters and non-adopters. The uptake of these strategies was influenced by factors such as herd size, farm size, cooperative membership, social networks, access to market, and credit facilities. The study concludes that it is imperative to improve livestock farmers’ access to markets, credit, water, and irrigation infrastructure to enhance long-term resilience to agricultural drought.