A Systematic Review of Climate Change Risks to Communal Livestock Production and Response Strategies in South Africa
Livestock offers substantial opportunities for food security and sustainable development with appropriate adaptation to climate change. Nowadays, climate change is among the critical problems facing less privileged rural people directly depending on livestock to survive. This paper aimed to analyse...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Animal Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2022.868468/full |
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| author | Leocadia Zhou Mhlangabezi Slayi Saul Ngarava Ishmael Festus Jaja Lovemore Musemwa |
| author_facet | Leocadia Zhou Mhlangabezi Slayi Saul Ngarava Ishmael Festus Jaja Lovemore Musemwa |
| author_sort | Leocadia Zhou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Livestock offers substantial opportunities for food security and sustainable development with appropriate adaptation to climate change. Nowadays, climate change is among the critical problems facing less privileged rural people directly depending on livestock to survive. This paper aimed to analyse the existing literature and identify knowledge gaps about climate change impacts and response strategies in rural livestock production of South Africa. The study utilized a systematic literature review with key search terms such as “climate change” (weather, variability), “livestock” (monogastric*ruminants), “impact” (heat stress; feeds; pasture; production; reproduction; health; vector-diseases), and “adaptation” (strategies; vulnerability; risks; resilience). The search was run through scientific databases such as Google scholar, Science direct, Cab direct, Sabinet and Sematic scholar, targeting titles, abstracts and keywords. From the 62 suitable peer-reviewed publications examined in the current paper, five limitations were discovered, namely: (1) limited contextual studies of South Africa’s rural livestock farming communities; (2) a silo approach to investigations on impacts and adaptation in rural livestock production; (3) drawbacks on mixed crop-livestock systems as an effective response to climate change; (4) limited studies on monogastric livestock in rural communities; and (5) geographic underrepresentation of research progress in different provinces within the country. The study recommended improving geographic coverage of literature and inclusion of non-ruminants exposed to different climatic shocks. It is further advised that to gain effective responses to climate change impacts, mitigation strategies should be context-specific and holistic to improve livestock production in rural farming communities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:37:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b74e6bafefdc489cbceb51bb2e58a882 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-6225 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:37:25Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Animal Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-b74e6bafefdc489cbceb51bb2e58a8822022-12-22T00:54:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Animal Science2673-62252022-07-01310.3389/fanim.2022.868468868468A Systematic Review of Climate Change Risks to Communal Livestock Production and Response Strategies in South AfricaLeocadia Zhou0Mhlangabezi Slayi1Saul Ngarava2Ishmael Festus Jaja3Lovemore Musemwa4Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South AfricaRisk and Vulnerability Science Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South AfricaRisk and Vulnerability Science Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South AfricaFaculty of Science and Agriculture, Department of Livestock and Pasture Science, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South AfricaFaculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Department Of Agriculture Economics, Education and Extension, Bindura University, Bindura, ZimbabweLivestock offers substantial opportunities for food security and sustainable development with appropriate adaptation to climate change. Nowadays, climate change is among the critical problems facing less privileged rural people directly depending on livestock to survive. This paper aimed to analyse the existing literature and identify knowledge gaps about climate change impacts and response strategies in rural livestock production of South Africa. The study utilized a systematic literature review with key search terms such as “climate change” (weather, variability), “livestock” (monogastric*ruminants), “impact” (heat stress; feeds; pasture; production; reproduction; health; vector-diseases), and “adaptation” (strategies; vulnerability; risks; resilience). The search was run through scientific databases such as Google scholar, Science direct, Cab direct, Sabinet and Sematic scholar, targeting titles, abstracts and keywords. From the 62 suitable peer-reviewed publications examined in the current paper, five limitations were discovered, namely: (1) limited contextual studies of South Africa’s rural livestock farming communities; (2) a silo approach to investigations on impacts and adaptation in rural livestock production; (3) drawbacks on mixed crop-livestock systems as an effective response to climate change; (4) limited studies on monogastric livestock in rural communities; and (5) geographic underrepresentation of research progress in different provinces within the country. The study recommended improving geographic coverage of literature and inclusion of non-ruminants exposed to different climatic shocks. It is further advised that to gain effective responses to climate change impacts, mitigation strategies should be context-specific and holistic to improve livestock production in rural farming communities.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2022.868468/fullclimate change stressorsdroughtlivestock productionrural communitiesSouth Africasystematic review |
| spellingShingle | Leocadia Zhou Mhlangabezi Slayi Saul Ngarava Ishmael Festus Jaja Lovemore Musemwa A Systematic Review of Climate Change Risks to Communal Livestock Production and Response Strategies in South Africa Frontiers in Animal Science climate change stressors drought livestock production rural communities South Africa systematic review |
| title | A Systematic Review of Climate Change Risks to Communal Livestock Production and Response Strategies in South Africa |
| title_full | A Systematic Review of Climate Change Risks to Communal Livestock Production and Response Strategies in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | A Systematic Review of Climate Change Risks to Communal Livestock Production and Response Strategies in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Systematic Review of Climate Change Risks to Communal Livestock Production and Response Strategies in South Africa |
| title_short | A Systematic Review of Climate Change Risks to Communal Livestock Production and Response Strategies in South Africa |
| title_sort | systematic review of climate change risks to communal livestock production and response strategies in south africa |
| topic | climate change stressors drought livestock production rural communities South Africa systematic review |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fanim.2022.868468/full |
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