Risk management in pig farming: a reality or conjecture? A systematic review

Context The complexity in swine production demands equally complex management actions. In this sense, risk management is an area that has been little explored and that may offer significant contributions to pork producers in their decision-making processes. Aims This study aimed to collect the available information on risks in pig farming and identify how the topic has been approached in recent studies. Methods A systematic review was conducted on the basis of searches in the Web of Science, Scopus and Science Direct databases, in the period ranging from 2015 to 2021. The searches resulted in 2178 documents on the theme risks in pig farming, which were then classified into 13 categories to represent the general objective of each study and into 177 subcategories representing the specific objective of each work. The data, separated into categories and subcategories, was not classified by any exclusionary criteria. On the contrary, they represent all the information found in the studied documents. Key results The results show that, although the number of studies on risks in pig farming is growing, the studies are contained in specific fields only. It was also possible to observe that although the studies focused on problems that may affect pig raising, they were not approached in a holistic manner using risk management methodologies that would allow identifying, measuring and managing risks in a consistent and systematic way. Thus, the studies cannot be characterised as having a risk management approach. Conclusion The studies on risks in pig farming focus on specific areas instead of using an integrated approach. It was found that risks in pig farming are a growing concern, but a holistic approach to the subject is still unexplored and could be quite fruitful, as it would make it possible to identify, measure and manage risks in a more consistent and systematic way. Implications Producers, veterinarians, managers and researchers can use the results of this study (1) to develop identification systems, and (2) in quantitative and qualitative analyses, planning, implementation of responses and monitoring of risks in pig farming.