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This article suggest that not only does livestock makes an important contribution to rural incomes and export earnings in the Sahel, it is also kept as insurance against weather risk.

The article concludes that:

• fluctuations in livestock prices can trigger food entitlement failures
• livestock prices respond to droughts and pasture availability
• livestock prices are also exposed to aggregate shifts in export revenues and meat demand that affect Niger and its southern neighbor, Nigeria
• these shifts add an important element of risk to the livelihood of Sahelian farmers and pastoralists
• famine early warning systems should keep an eye not only on weather shocks but also on macroeconomic conditions and other factors affecting the livestock economy

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