GIF supports Zambian non-profit improving the livelihoods of cattle farmers.

GIF is pleased to announce a $500k grant to Mafisa, an organisation helping livestock farmers in Zambia to thrive, free of poverty and resilient to climate change, by offering animal health services, improved grassland and fire management, and market linkages.

An estimated 2 million people in Zambia live in traditional cattle-rearing communities, facing severe productivity challenges. According to a national study, on average, half the animals in a herd simply die due to disease, poor health or calving complications, before they reach market, yielding no returns to farmers at all. 

Climate change is intensifying these problems, for example, by causing heat stress to animals, increasing their susceptibility to disease, or by creating more frequent droughts, limiting water sources. 

Mafisa delivers a holistic, replicable and accessible package of four critical services. The first is an animal health service which provides annual vaccinations as well as weekly de-worming and tick control through spray races. The second is rangeland management support, which introduces regenerative rotational grazing practices and community-led fire management to support safe and sustainable ranges. The third facilitates market access by constructing and leasing buying centres where farmers can sell their cattle directly to buyers at fair prices. This approach ensures a steady supply of healthy cattle for buyers and a reliable market with better prices for farmers. 

The final service provides sustainable livelihood options for non-cattle owners, especially women and young people, through the provision of other farm inputs, such as vegetable seed and chickens, and savings and loans products. Supporting the full package of services is crucial as they improve herd health and nutrition holistically. Otherwise, limited income gains will be realised from livestock production.

GIF’s grant will strengthen Mafisa’s monitoring, evaluation and learning services to refine the programme, as well as developing standard operating procedures to aid replication at scale. This will support Mafisa to scale its services to 63 communities on 350,000 hectares of land. 

GIF’s investment in Mafisa is our latest investment from our Innovating for Climate Resilience sub-fund, which backs a portfolio of solutions with the potential to bring significant adaptation and resilience benefits to people living on less than $5 a day.

Innovation is urgently needed to build resilience to increasing incidences of heat waves, droughts, floods and extreme storms, and to adapt to high sea levels and less reliable rainfall. The greatest needs are within low-income countries and populations, whose exposure is greatest and coping capacity often the lowest.

GIF is currently inviting new applications for funding from innovators working to enable the world's poorest to adapt and be more resilient to changing climate. If you are interested in applying, please review the funding guidance and submit your application before the window closes on 15th January 2025 at 23:59.