Advancements in Sustainable Livestock Feed: Harnessing Drought-Tolerant Crops

Livestock feed shortage is a serious global problem, worsened by climate change-induced droughts that continue to disrupt its production, consequently threatening food and nutrition security. Drought poses a significant threat to conventionally farmed feed crops, such as maize and soybeans, reducing their availability and negatively impacting the livestock industry. These crops cannot withstand intense drought, creating a need for alternative feed sources with good nutritional value, positive health benefits and livestock performance, as well as cost reduction potential for farmers. Research continues to explore drought-resistant crops such as sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), cassava (Manihot esculenta), false ba-nana (Ensete ventricosum), and cactus pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) for use as traditional feed substitutes or in hybrid feedstock production to enhance food security, support farmers, and conserve the environment. Unlike the conventional feed crops, these underutilized crops are resilient to arid conditions, use less water, and possess higher nutritional value, making them crucial for climate change adaptation and sustainable agricultural systems. Despite the growing recognition of drought resistant crops in livestock feed systems, a comprehensive review discussing the advancements and potential of drought-resistant crops as livestock feed is lacking in literature. Therefore, this review discusses the critical role of selected key drought-resilient crops as alternative livestock feed, covering the drivers for their use, utilization and processing studies, quality-determinants, associated challenges, and sustainable innovation strategies to inform policy making.