Livelihood Resilience of Smallholder Dairy Farmers Against External Shocks: A Case Study in the Northern Dry Zone of Sri Lanka

Improving dairy farmers’ livelihood resilience helps them sustain farming and reap higher economic returns. This study was conducted in the Jaffna District, part of the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Households’ livelihood resilience to environmental challenges and shocks was determined through the Structural Equation Model (SEM). The SEM path diagram was developed based on the Resilience Model developed by FAO, which uses resilience as a latent variable and is a function of six components that are not directly measured from the data set. The SEM analysis revealed that the latent variable ‘livelihood resilience’ correlates positively and significantly with the five components. Further, the study found that the independent variables, such as dietary diversity index (P>|z|=0.081), the quality score of health services (P>|z|=0.052), frequency of assistance (P>|z|=0.000), quality evaluation of assistance (P>|z|=0.000), land owned (P>|z|=0.086), educational level (P>|z|=0.017), and the number of household members who lost their jobs (P>|z|=0.010), significantly influenced the livelihood resilience of the dairy farmers. The findings of this study will help develop a policy framework that could support gaining sustainability in milk production through fostering the livelihood resilience of the dairy farmers in the Northern Dry Zone of Sri Lanka.