Food security and livelihood challenges of extensive goat production systems in desertification areas

Abstract

Undernourishment and food insecurity are still challenges threatening poor urban and rural communities. Approximately 12% of the global population faced severe food insecurity in 2020, representing 928 million people. A significant fraction of the world’s land surface is covered by drylands, and this proportion is expected to increase in the future, affecting the food security and livelihood of 2 billion people due to climate change. Goats have traditionally been a significant asset and source of protein for rural communities inhabiting arid and semiarid regions of the world. We hypothesize that goats were intentionally selected by communities in dry environments and might be the optimal animal to breed in the future due to their capability to survive in dry environments and to utilize less water than other livestock production systems. However, it must be considered that only a small fraction (1%–2%) of the total water consumed by goats is drunk or utilized directly by the animals. Most of the water consumed is utilized to grow the feed that livestock such as goats consumes. Which in most regions of the world is green water due to goats feed on the vegetation that grows in rainfed rangelands. Increasing water efficiency in goat production is thus critical in the context of increasing water scarcity and desertification. However, there is little research on goat water productivity and the impact of decreasing water security on the sustainability of goat production and, hence, on the livelihoods in small communities in developing countries. Therefore, the impact of increasing water scarcity and desertification on goat production in rainfed lands should be a research priority.