The impact of the 2014–2016 drought in Greater Letaba Local Municipality: How the farmers coped and factors that were significantly associated with loss of animals

Abstract

BackgroundFrom 2012, Limpopo province experienced extremely dry conditions that culminated in a meteorological drought between 2014 and 2016. There is no evidence of studies that have documented how the smallholder livestock farmers in the area were impacted. This study investigated factors that were associated with loss of livestock and the coping strategies farmers adopted. MethodologyA cross-sectional questionnaire based survey was adopted for this study. Structured interviews were used to collect data from a random sample of 281 smallholder livestock farmers aged ≥18 years. Proportions of categorical variables, and the mean for continuous variables were computed and presented as tables and figures. A Poisson regression model was fitted to the data to identify factors significantly associated with loss of animals. ResultsSome of the copying strategies adopted by the farmers during the drought included: reducing their livestock numbers (37%), buying supplementary feed for their animals (25.20%) or drilling boreholes (5.69%). Majority of respondents (76.13%) received aid from the government agency. However, just over half (53.74%) of the farmers indicated that they did not cope well with the drought conditions. The Agricultural Centre to which the farmer belonged, marital status, number of years of experience in farming and receiving support during the drought were significantly associated with the number of animals that farmers lost during the drought. ConclusionResults show that copying strategies adopted in the study area were varied, and government was the main provider of support for farmers during the drought. However, overall, preparation for the drought was not adequately executed. These findings provide a framework for decision makers and other agencies on groups and intervention strategies that should be prioritised for drought mitigation among smallholder livestock farmers to be more effective.