217economic burden when the available pasture does not provide enough feed of the
right quality (Provenza 2008 ). A better option is to conserve the native and tradi-
tional breeds and improve production through traditional quantitative genetics,
boosted by cutting-edge genomic selection.
About a third of cattle breeds and about half of the breeds of sheep and goat are
particularly well adapted to drylands (Scherf et al. 2008 ), and they clearly provide
the base resource for developing versatile production systems and driving profit-
ability in dryland environments. Appropriate livestock genetics will actually reduce
eco-systems risks (Doreau et al. 2013 ) and improve the resilience of the production
system (Provenza 2008 ).
2.3 Risk from the Socio-economic Factors
Other critical sources of risk are unpredictable costs of production and profit mar-
gins, and the local socio-political environment (Anderson and Dillon 1992 ). Clearly,
these risks are not specific to dryland production, but dryland production is often
based in a low-margin system (Scherf et al. 2008 ) so any change in the level of
inputs or outputs could dramatically alter the livelihood of producers. Costs of pro-
duction can be affected by increases in the costs of inputs such fertiliser, grain or
livestock feed supplements. Similarly, demand for the livestock products can also
vary dramatically because competitive markets are unpredictable and the global
market is complex because it is influenced by seasonal conditions in other parts of
the world that affect supply. Additionally, the cost of production as well as the
income from selling the product (meat, milk, fibre) can be affected by currency
exchange rates and a diverse variety of governmental decisions, such as bans or
restrictions on a particular product, or new regulations on waste management in the
supply chain.
There has recently been an increase in consumer demand for more sustainable,
animal-friendly livestock production (Boland et al. 2013 ). In fact, this trend is good
for dryland livestock production because the natural conditions inherent in the sys-
tem directly address consumer expectations and demands – for example, the brand-
ing of “Uruguay Natural” for beef and lamb meat production (Bervejillo 2015 ). On
the other hand, dryland livestock production may face criticism and lose markets as
a consequence of adverse events leading to animal losses or decreases in feed avail-
ability (Turner and Dwyer 2007 ). These risks will not be discussed directly, but the
proposed strategies cannot be considered outside of the meat and fibre markets. It is
aimed to develop strategies that lower the cost of production, reduce the dependence
on supplementation, either in the form of a feed supplement or fertiliser, and thus
increase the profit margin of the production system.
Two other sources of risk, arguably the greatest risks of all, are associated with
people and financial systems. People risks arise from the attitudes, skills and actions
of the managers of the production systems (Hardaker et al. 2015 ), and can include
shortage of skilled labour, illnesses, lack of succession planning, resistance to
Integrated and Innovative Livestock Production in Drylands