There is a global recognition that climate variability and its impacts are affecting most aspects of our lives frequently. Some of those impacts are observed with the regularity of drought and animal disease incidences. These occurrences affect the smallholder farmers and the vulnerable
members of society. In this article, the effects of drought, animal diseases, and the combined impact of both drought and animal diseases on the smallholder farmers' market participation in South Africa are evaluated. The study used a multilevel logit model, and it conducted the best
model test where the fixed effects model was selected. The study found that animal diseases negatively affect smallholder market participation. It was also noted that drought had an insignificant effect on smallholder market participation. It was revealed that animal diseases and
drought combined have a negative effect on smallholder market participation. Their effect was found to be greater than the individual effect of animal diseases and drought. The results evidenced the government’s need to enable smallholder farmers to access livestock vaccines and
medicines to enhance their market participation. Compensation to the smallholder farmers should be commensurate to whether they are exposed to a single or combined effect of drought and animal diseases.