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Issue paper
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Coping with climate shocks: The complex role of livestock portfolios

  • Livestock portfolios play a significant role, as an income and consumption buffering strategy during severe droughts.
  • The buffering potential of livestock varies by income quintile, length of the climate shock, animal species, and region.
  • Households face trade-offs between using livestock assets to smooth the effect of the shock or protect future income generation.
  • Livestock oriented resilience interventions should carefully consider the relationships among species, droughts, and socioeconomic groups.
  • This study employs a unique dataset combining socioeconomic and livestock asset data from 150 000 households with a multi-scalar drought index.
Date
2021
Publisher
FAO
Region
Global