Application of system dynamics modelling in evaluating sustainability of low-input ruminant farming systems in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Tawanda Marandure, Kennedy Dzama, James Bennett, Godswill Makombe and Cletos Mapiye

Ecological Modelling, 2020, vol. 438, issue C

Abstract: As a complex and dynamic concept that requires understanding from an ecological, economic and socio-cultural perspective, sustainability of agriculture and food systems is currently being strongly promoted by many governments and rural development practitioners. However, advances in monitoring and evaluating the sustainability of low-input ruminant farming are hindered by a lack of tools that simultaneously consider the interrelationships and dynamic behaviour of the different components of the system. Here we report on the application of a system dynamics model to evaluate the sustainability of low-input ruminant farming systems. This draws on nine indicators grouped as ecological; (soil organic matter, water availability and biomass supply), economic; (livestock productivity, labour supply and household income, and social: (farmer training, credence attributes of ruminant grazing systems and gender equality) to describe system behaviour over a ten-year period. The outputs from model simulations were used to compute index values for each of the indicators and the indices were subsequently used to evaluate sustainability of low-input ruminant farming systems. Household income, gender equality and farmer training had the highest sustainability indices whereas, soil organic matter and biomass supply recorded the lowest values. Overall, the low-input ruminant farming system was found to be moderately sustainable.

Keywords: Dynamic feedback mechanisms; Complex systems; Sustainability evaluation; Sustainability index; System dynamics modelling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:438:y:2020:i:c:s0304380020303641

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2020.109294

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