Drought-Induced Challenges and Different Responses by Smallholder and Semicommercial Livestock Farmers in Semiarid Limpopo, South Africa—An Indicator-Based Assessment

Abstract

Increased seasonal climatic variability is a major contributor to uncertainty in livestock-based livelihoods across Southern Africa. Erratic rainfall patterns and prolonged droughts have resulted in the region being identified as a climate ‘vulnerability hotspot’. Based on fieldwork conducted in the dry seasons in a semiarid region of South Africa, we present an interdisciplinary approach to assess the differential effects of drought on two types of livestock systems. Organic matter digestibility, faecal crude protein, C/N ratio and the natural abundance of faecal 15N and 13C isotopes were used as ecophysiological feed quality indicators between smallholder and semicommercial systems. These measurements were complemented with qualitative surveys. In a novel approach, we tested the potential of the isotopic signature to predict feed quality and present a significant relationship between organic matter digestibility and isotopic ratios. Indicators assessed smallholder feed quality to be significantly higher than semicommercial feed. However, animals from semicommercial farms were in significantly better condition than those from smallholding farms. Differential access to feed resources suggests that a complex feed–water–land nexus pushes smallholders into high reliance on off-farm supplements to bridge drought-induced feed deficits. The paper thus offers a contribution to intersectional work on drought effects on livestock keepers of semiarid South Africa and illustrates how ecophysiological indicators mirror socioeconomic differences.