Contribution of Heifer International Programme to Smallholder Households' Livelihoods in Mberengwa District, Zimbabwe

Food security, poverty and hunger are some of the 21st century global challenges. An estimated 1.2 billion people live in poverty, and most are in sub-Saharan Africa. Several efforts to reduce the devastating effects of hunger, poverty and hunger worldwide are implemented. One of the prominent intervention strategies is the Heifer International programme. In Zimbabwe, Heifer International (HI) is donating cattle to poverty-stricken and food-insecure households to eliminate food insecurity, hunger and poverty. However, much is not known about the contribution of the HI programme. Notably, HI has been implementing this programme for over a decade now. To unpack and determine the contribution of this programme to the people's livelihoods, a cross-sectional survey design was adopted to collect data. The data were quantitatively analysed, using IBM SPSS version 26. Results revealed that the programme contributed mainly to the socio-economic well-being of the participating households. Participation in the HI was associated with increased income; training and education programmes; improved yields and land under cultivation; income-generating opportunities; enhanced asset position; and food and nutritional benefits. Consequently, the paper recommended the use of cattle ownership among the poor rural households to eliminate the devastating effects of poverty, food insecurity and poverty because it is a way of empowering poor households with the potential of dismantling perpetual dependence on external support. It also recommended a strategic partnership between the government and other private players for investment in animal feeds since the programme seemed to overlook this aspect.