Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of Livestock Production Systems in Coastal Ecosystems: A Critical Narrative Review
M. Kalyana Chakravarthi
ICAR-AICRP on Pigs, SVVU, Tirupati, India.
Cherryl Dimphna Miranda *
Department of Livestock Production Management, Veterinary College, Athani, KVAFSU, Bidar, India.
U. Vinod
Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, CVSc, SVVU, Tirupati, India.
K. Kutty Kumar
Library Science, CVSc, SVVU, Tirupati, India.
G. Sushma
Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding, CVSc, SVVU, Tirupati, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: Livestock production in coastal ecosystems sustains the livelihoods, nutrition and savings of large rural populations in deltas, estuaries, lagoon margins, salt marshes and islands, yet these systems operate where marine and terrestrial pressures converge. Salinisation of soil and water, tropical cyclones, tidal flooding, heat and humidity, and competition with aquaculture and conservation interests shape their performance in ways that differ from inland systems.
Purpose and Scope: This critical narrative review applies a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats framework to livestock production in coastal ecosystems, with emphasis on smallholder mixed crop–livestock systems in tropical deltas and extensive grazing in coastal wetlands. It evaluates the quality of the evidence behind each strategic claim rather than simply listing factors.
Approach: Peer-reviewed literature published between January 2000 and July 2026 was identified through international and regional scholarly indexes, supplemented by citation searching, and appraised for design, scale, measurement and generalisability.
Principal findings: The strongest evidence concerns threats: projected increases in soil salinity, recurrent drought–salinity intrusion episodes and heat-stress exposure are consistently documented, although their quantitative effects on animal output are rarely measured directly. Strengths centre on locally adapted buffalo, sheep and cattle populations and on the livelihood-buffering role of livestock, but these rest largely on descriptive, molecular or cross-sectional evidence. Salt-marsh studies show that grazing effects on biodiversity, carbon and sediment accretion are strongly context dependent. Opportunities, including halophytic forages, seaweed-based feeds, integrated farming and adaptive management, remain mostly supported by short trials or small case studies.
Unresolved questions: Dose–response relationships between drinking-water salinity and productivity under humid coastal conditions, the long-term economics of adaptation options, and the net environmental effects of coastal grazing outside north-western Europe remain poorly resolved.
Implications and conclusion: Coastal livestock systems possess genuine adaptive assets, but their viability depends on managing salinity, disaster risk, land-use competition and environmental externalities together. Longitudinal, multi-site and mechanistically informed research is required before confident strategic prescriptions can be made.
Keywords: Salinity intrusion, smallholder livestock, salt-marsh grazing, water buffalo, climate adaptation, halophytic forage, deltaic agriculture, strategic assessment