Perceptions and impacts of climate variability on livestock farming in The Gambia

ABSTRACT Climate variability has had major health consequences for both humans and animals. A cross-sectional study was conducted in six administrative regions of The Gambia to respond to three questions: (i) what are the livestock farmers’ perceived occurrences and causes of climate variability? (ii) what are the perceived impacts of climate variability on livestock farming? (iii) what factors influence livestock farmers’ knowledge and perception of the causes and impact of climate variability? A total of 440 livestock farmers comprising 351 (80%) males and 89 (20%) females were interviewed and 6 Focus Group Discussions were held. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson's chi-squares test and Binary logistic regression. Livestock farmers are aware of the causes and effects of climate variability on their productivity. Climate variability caused cattle farmers to have production issues, and as a result, this investigation also reveals the impact on their productivity. Finally, the result also shows that the explanatory variables (age and region of residence) were the main factors significantly influencing livestock farmers’ perception of climate variability. There is need for the government of The Gambia to address the challenges faced by livestock farmers due to climate variability.