Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project: Preserving a legacy: Restoring livestock production

After Cyclone Idai, most farmers in Chimanimani lived in fear of losing their cattle to poverty, death and thieves, as the cattle would have to trek long distances in search of grazing land which became scarce in the area. As a result, farmers did not derive any meaningful benefits from their cattle which were always in poor body condition. They could not use them for transport or draught power, and neither could they get any milk from them. Through ZIRP’s rehabilitation interventions, FAO implemented a livestock program that sought to advance animal health and productivity thus increasing marketability and incomes; and to increase the contribution of livestock assets to food and nutrition security. 

A community-based participatory approach was used to select project beneficiaries. At the village level farmers took the lead in ranking and selecting each other according to vulnerability criteria which included: vulnerable livestock farmers affected by the cyclone, farmers with grazing areas affected by the cyclone, farmers owning 2-8 animals, farmers who lost some of their cattle during the cyclone, female-headed households, child-headed households, and chronically ill people and people living with disabilities were prioritised.