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innovation, and aversion to risk. All of these factors can affect the cost of production
and the resilience of the production system (Hardaker et al. 2015 ). Financial risk
includes variable interest rates, limited investment from third parties, or the propor-
tion of capital debt that a business carries (Hardaker et al. 2015 ). This chapter is
focused on the resilience of production systems, but it is worth mentioning that the
risks associated with a production system will have direct and indirect consequences
on human and financial risks.
In summary, implementation of innovative strategies that reduce one or more
risks can improve the resilience of the livestock production systems and buffer the
production systems against inevitable uncertainties. Strategies designed to sustain
livestock production in dryland areas will need to optimise the interactions between
the animals, feed supply, environmental and climatic conditions, and target markets.
In the next section, some strategies with potential to address one or two of the inter-
actions listed above are discussed. In the last section of the chapter, a strategy has
been proposed that may address most of these interactions. This strategy is being
implemented in a range of scenarios but still requires research and, moreover, needs
to be adapted to suit localised and specific environments and livestock production
systems.
3 Innovative Strategies
3.1 Managing Feed to Avoid Limiting Nutrients
Access to the right quality and quantity of water and feed, including macro and trace
elements, is essential for successful animal production. In a dryland environment,
where the supply of both feed and water availability can be variable, the problem of
feed shortage has been solved in a variety of ways, one of the most common being
the provision of supplements of grain, feed blocks or other specific feedstuffs
(Blache et al. 2008 ). For example, in Australia, the use of lupin feeding has long
been used to manage sheep during the dry autumn when pasture is sparse and poor,
but good nutrition is needed to support reproduction (Blache et al. 2000 , Martin
et al. 2008 ). Work done in Tunisia has resulted in the development of a feed block
to deliver nutrients and minerals to livestock (Ben Salem and Nefzaoui 2003 ). When
extra nutrients are required, specific plants are included in the diet or in the pasture,
such as saltbush (Ben Salem et al. 2010 ), spineless cactus (Ben Salem et al. 2004 ),
and Lotus (Ramirez-Restrepo et al. 2005 ). In this context, it is critical to consider
the capacity of any particular feedstuff or plant species to complement the nutrient
supply from all the other options that are available. If an additional feed resource
can supply a limiting nutrient at the time of year when it is most needed, then it will
add value to the production system and reduce the risks associated with a variable
climate and feed supply (Moore et al. 2009 ). In other words, a supplement, whether
provided by hand feeding or by a forage plant on offer to grazing livestock, should
D. Blache et al.