## 1 Introduction  
Livestock, which refers to domesticated animals raised for various purposes, is a global resource for both developing and industrialized societies [1, 2, 3]. They provide multiple benefits that include food, clothing, fuel, nutrient cycling for soils, income, and employment [4, 5]. Due to their great benefit, they become the largest users of land and biomass globally [6]. They occupy one-third of the global ice-free terrestrial land surface [6]. This is because producing feed crops and grazing pastures for livestock requires substantial amounts of land. On the other hand, the demand for agricultural products (plant and livestock-based) is expected to increase with the expected increase of the world population to 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.9 billion in 2100 [7]. In other words, in the 21 st century, agriculture will have to scale up to feed a human population that is expected to increase by 30% in 2050 [7]. However, this cannot happen at the expense of animal welfare, an increase in the environmental footprint, or even at a higher cost, which would limit market access for developing countries. Therefore, it is imperative to optimize the whole food chain to overcome these challenges. In arid and semi-arid regions like Botswana, livestock production is central to rural livelihoods [8], with cattle, goats, and sheep serving as the primary sources of income and food security. The productivity of these livestock populations is deeply tied to the availability of natural forage [9], such as grasses and shrubs, which in turn are directly influenced by rainfall patterns [10, 11]. In Botswana, where rainfall is highly variable [12], both in timing and intensity, even slight deviations in rainfall patterns can lead to periods of forage scarcity, negatively affecting livestock health, reproduction, and overall population dynamics [11, 12]. Traditional farmers in Botswana, who rely heavily on rainfall as an indicator of forage availability, are particularly vulnerable to these changes. Unlike modern scientific methods that incorporate factors such as soil moisture to predict forage growth and livestock harvest [13], traditional livestock farmers [14] base their decision-making primarily on their understanding of rainfall patterns and duration [8, 15]. While valuable for its historical and practical basis, this reliance on rainfall observation may leave these communities less equipped to handle the growing uncertainties brought about by climate variability. As rainfall becomes increasingly unpredictable due to climate change [16, 17], there is a pressing need to understand better how these changes impact natural forage availability so that traditional farmers can enhance their livestock management practices. Changes in rainfall intensity and timing have a direct impact on the availability of forage, which subsequently influences livestock productivity and the long-term sustainability of rangelands. Understanding these interactions is crucial for developing adaptive management strategies that improve livestock resilience amid changing climatic conditions. Several studies have examined the relationship between rainfall and forage production [17, 18, 19, 20]. For example, [PERSON] et al. [21] found that, in the coming decades, crops and forage plants will be increasingly affected by rising temperatures, elevated carbon dioxide, and wildly fluctuating water availability due to changing precipitation patterns. Similarly, [PERSON] et al. [22] reported that forage conditions (quantity and quality) in arid and semi-arid regions are influenced by unpredictable spatial and temporal patterns in rainfall. Research further illustrates how fluctuations in rainfall directly affect livestock productivity [10, 11, 19, 21, 23, 24]. For example, [PERSON] et al. [23] indicated that years of low rainfall correlate with decreased weight gain of livestock and higher mortality rates. In contrast, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [10] and [PERSON] et al.