Modeling the Impacts of Climate Change on Cattle Water Demand and Supply in Botswana - System Dynamic Modeling Approach

The climate is changing as a result of GHGs emission mainlyfrom human activities. Climate changes climate will adverselyimpact various ecosystems and economic activities. Semi-aridenvironments will be impacted more than other environments asextreme events are likely going to occur more on this regions. Thewater sector is more likely to be impacted more than other sectorsdue to its direct link with precipitation, which will be affectedby climate change. Though most of the studies have ignored theimpacts of climate change on the demand side of water resources, toget a holistic view on the impacts of climate change on waterresources there is a need for overall assessment both demand andsupply. The rationale for assessing the impact of climate change onboth the supply and demand is because water availability is afunction of both supply and demand. Thus, this book employs systemsdynamic model to simulate the total impacts of climate change onlivestock water demand and supply in Botswana. The results can beused to determine the vulnerability of the livestock sector toimpacts of climate change on water resources in semi-aridenvironments of Africa.