Is There More than Milk? The Impact of Heifer International’s Livestock Donation Program on Rural Livelihoods: Preliminary Findings from a Field Experiment in Zambia

This study evaluates the impact of Heifer International’s livestock donation program in the Copperbelt Province in Zambia. Using a panel data of 300 households and 4 survey rounds, this analysis assesses the impact of dairy cow, meat goat, and draft cattle donation programs on poverty and food security measures. The impact on consumption expenditures and livestock revenue are estimated with a difference-in-difference method, and the impact on dairy/meat consumption frequency is estimated with a pooled poisson regression. A probit model is used to estimate the effects on subjective measures of poverty and food security. Results show that the impact of the program has increased significantly over time and animal recipients are relatively feeling better. By the fourth round, all animal recipients have seen a significant increase in consumption expenditure, livestock revenue, and frequency of dairy/meat consumption. However, no significant impact exists on household asset ownership and growth. Although all the animal recipients have increased milk consumption, meat consumption has gone up among the goat beneficiaries only. While all three animal species contribute to increase consumption expenditures among animal recipients, only the draft cattle and dairy cow programs help increase revenue from livestock products. Likewise, the meat goat and dairy cow programs have contributed to food security through improved dietary diversity.