Conference Agenda
Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).
Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 24th Aug 2026, 01:48:43am WEST
External resources will be made available 30 min before a session starts. You may have to reload the page to access the resources.
|
Daily Overview |
| Session | |
|
Egg-Timer: Climate Change and Agriculture 1 Location: D-111 Session Chair: Gaurav Arora, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology | |
    | |
The Impact of Heat Stress on the Livestock Sector: Evidence from Large-Scale Data 1: University of Cape Town, South Africa; 2: Gothenburg University, Sweden The impact of climatic shocks on the livestock sector is under-investigated despite the sector's significance in global food security and the potential for poverty reduction. This paper examines how heat stress affects smallholder farmers' cattle holding and milk production. Using large-scale panel data, containing about 262,000 rural households, from Ethiopia matched with high-resolution weather data; we show that heat stress above a certain threshold reduces cattle holding, daily milk production per cow, and total annual milk production. A one-day increase in humidity-adjusted temperature reduces daily milk production per cow, annual milk yield, and cattle holding by about 13%, 21%, and 14%, respectively. The main mechanisms that explain the reduction in cattle holding are birth reduction and cattle death following heat stress. Heterogenous impact assessment suggests that participation in livestock extension services is vital in reducing the impact of heat stress on milk production and cattle holding. We estimate the total economic loss from heat stress in the smallholder livestock sector to be USD $358.3 million/year. We argue that policymakers should consider cattle breeds, production systems (nomadic and non-nomadic), herd size, and lactation periods in developing adaptation strategies in the sector. | |