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nomena, which are associated with events such as drought, floods, erratic rainfall,
high temperature and strong, sometimes violent, winds. This finding agrees with
Rao et al. (2011) who indicated that farmers mostly place more emphasis on negative impacts, which leads to high risk perception. An example of such negative
impacts is high temperatures, which are associated with heat stress and manifest
through heavy panting and sweating. Heat stress negatively affects livestock production and welfare as it causes reduction in feed intake and increases in water
consumption, as reported in other studies (Coulibaly et al. 2015; Chingala et al.
2017; Gaughan and Cawsell-Smith 2015; Malawi Government 2015).
However, some respondents were not conversant with the climate change and
weather variability phenomena. This implies that there is a need to enhance farmers’
knowledge in terms of climate change and weather variability and their effects. In a
study conducted in Kenya, Rao et al. (2011) found out that although farmers were
aware of the general climate in their location, its variability, the probabilistic nature
of the variability and the impacts of this variability on crop production, they had
limited ability to synthesise the knowledge they had gained from their observations
on climate change issues. It is argued that lack of understanding and attitude of
“nonbelievers in climate change” can lead to scepticism in the farmers’ attitudes to
climate change, and this can ultimately become a significant barrier in their engagement and involvement in adaptation or mitigation interventions to climate change.
In order to address the challenges associated with the impacts of weather variability
on livestock such as cattle, there is a need for concerted efforts to help livestock
keepers increase their adaptive capacity and gain better understanding of issues
related to localised impacts of climate change (Thornton et al. 2007). This is particularly important because farmers themselves also acknowledge that their actions
and activities, such as overgrazing and poor manure disposal and management, contribute to the negative effects of climate change. It has been reported that 65% of
total greenhouse gas emissions by livestock is from beef and dairy cattle, where
cattle dung or manure is one of the sources of nitrous oxide (Bailey et al. 2014).
5.3 Fodder and Water Availability and Climate Change
The impact of climate change on livestock production includes effects on availability of feed in the form of grain, pasture and forage crop production and quality (Rust
2018). In this study, overgrazing was mentioned as one of the factors that affect both
quantity and quality of feed in terms of pasture. Overgrazing is also exacerbated by
lack of planned or controlled grazing, which is communal in the study area. Droughts
also affect vegetative growth of grasses and pasture in general, including shrubs. In
addition, wild fires triggered by people hunting for mice also reduce feed availability. It has been reported that changes in temperature and rainfall negatively affect
grassland productivity and species composition and dynamics, resulting in changes
in animal diet and reduced nutrient availability for animals (Izaurralde et al. 2011;
McKeon et al. 2009).
Climate Change and Weather Variability Effects on Cattle Production: Perception…
nomena, which are associated with events such as drought, floods, erratic rainfall,
high temperature and strong, sometimes violent, winds. This finding agrees with
Rao et al. (2011) who indicated that farmers mostly place more emphasis on negative impacts, which leads to high risk perception. An example of such negative
impacts is high temperatures, which are associated with heat stress and manifest
through heavy panting and sweating. Heat stress negatively affects livestock production and welfare as it causes reduction in feed intake and increases in water
consumption, as reported in other studies (Coulibaly et al. 2015; Chingala et al.
2017; Gaughan and Cawsell-Smith 2015; Malawi Government 2015).
However, some respondents were not conversant with the climate change and
weather variability phenomena. This implies that there is a need to enhance farmers’
knowledge in terms of climate change and weather variability and their effects. In a
study conducted in Kenya, Rao et al. (2011) found out that although farmers were
aware of the general climate in their location, its variability, the probabilistic nature
of the variability and the impacts of this variability on crop production, they had
limited ability to synthesise the knowledge they had gained from their observations
on climate change issues. It is argued that lack of understanding and attitude of
“nonbelievers in climate change” can lead to scepticism in the farmers’ attitudes to
climate change, and this can ultimately become a significant barrier in their engagement and involvement in adaptation or mitigation interventions to climate change.
In order to address the challenges associated with the impacts of weather variability
on livestock such as cattle, there is a need for concerted efforts to help livestock
keepers increase their adaptive capacity and gain better understanding of issues
related to localised impacts of climate change (Thornton et al. 2007). This is particularly important because farmers themselves also acknowledge that their actions
and activities, such as overgrazing and poor manure disposal and management, contribute to the negative effects of climate change. It has been reported that 65% of
total greenhouse gas emissions by livestock is from beef and dairy cattle, where
cattle dung or manure is one of the sources of nitrous oxide (Bailey et al. 2014).
5.3 Fodder and Water Availability and Climate Change
The impact of climate change on livestock production includes effects on availability of feed in the form of grain, pasture and forage crop production and quality (Rust
2018). In this study, overgrazing was mentioned as one of the factors that affect both
quantity and quality of feed in terms of pasture. Overgrazing is also exacerbated by
lack of planned or controlled grazing, which is communal in the study area. Droughts
also affect vegetative growth of grasses and pasture in general, including shrubs. In
addition, wild fires triggered by people hunting for mice also reduce feed availability. It has been reported that changes in temperature and rainfall negatively affect
grassland productivity and species composition and dynamics, resulting in changes
in animal diet and reduced nutrient availability for animals (Izaurralde et al. 2011;
McKeon et al. 2009).
Climate Change and Weather Variability Effects on Cattle Production: Perception…