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. 2023 Oct 23;13(20):3297.
doi: 10.3390/ani13203297.

One Welfare: Assessing the Effects of Drought and the COVID-19 Pandemic on Farmers' Well-Being and Their Perception of Goats' Welfare

Cristian Larrondo  1   2 , Raúl David Guevara  2 , Javiera Calderón-Amor  3 , Carolina Munoz  4 , Carolina Cáceres  5 , Mabeley Alvarado  5 , Marcela Fresno  6 , Francisca Di Pillo  6
Affiliations

One Welfare: Assessing the Effects of Drought and the COVID-19 Pandemic on Farmers' Well-Being and Their Perception of Goats' Welfare

Cristian Larrondo et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Considering the interconnections between human well-being, animal welfare, and the environment, this study aimed to investigate the impacts of drought and the COVID-19 pandemic on small-scale goat farmers' well-being and their perception of goats' welfare following the One Welfare framework. Using a telephone survey, close-ended questions, and Likert scales, we assessed the impacts of drought and the COVID-19 pandemic on human well-being and animal welfare in the Coquimbo region of Chile. The DASS-21 questionnaire was used to evaluate farmers' mental health. Goat farmers perceived the scarcity of water and food for animals as factors that negatively affected animal productivity and welfare and caused an increase in farmers' stress levels. Farmers who had not been visited by a veterinarian showed higher levels of stress than those who received one visit during the year (M = 10 vs. 2, p = 0.025). Additionally, farmers who perceived better welfare of their animals showed lower levels of depression (rs = -0.17, p = 0.048), anxiety (rs = -0.21, p = 0.016), and stress (rs = -0.33, p < 0.001). These findings emphasize the importance of addressing farmers' mental health and veterinary support as crucial aspects to ensure both goat welfare and farm productivity.

Keywords: COVID-19; drought; farmers’ mental health; goat farming.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. Animal Welfare Education Centre (AWEC), is a start-up based at the School of Veterinary Science of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Spain. Cristian Larrondo and Raúl Guevara are part of this start-up, researchers with experience in animal welfare in farm animals. AWEC educational activities are science-based and follow a practical approach. They include courses, workshops, webinars and a wide range of technical documents. Likewise, AWEC offers scientific and technical advice as well as an innovation and research service to improve animal welfare. (http://www.awec.es/index-en.html, accessed on 12 September 2023).

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Bar graph showing the impacts of drought and the COVID-19 pandemic on goats’ productivity and farm profitability during the year 2021. Scores from the Likert scale (0–7) were categorized as follows: not affected (0), mildly affected (1), moderately affected (2–3), severely affected (4–5), and extremely affected (6–7).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Box-and-whisker plot showing the stress score levels of goat farmers from the Coquimbo region in relation to the frequency of veterinary visits to their production system during the year 2021. Results obtained from the DASS-21 stress subscale.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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