Cattle ownership and households’ welfare: Evidence from Southern Africa

In Southern Africa, the prevalence of undernourished people has increased more than elsewhere worldwide. Cattle ownership has been increasingly recognized as a catalytic mechanism for improving rural households’ livelihoods, yet the role of cattle ownership is often overlooked in poverty reduction, food security and nutritional strategies. This study analyzes the effect of owning one tropical livestock unit (TLU) of cattle on rural households’ income, total consumption, and food consumption in Southern Africa, while examining variations across rural households, smallholders, and female-headed rural households. Using a propensity score matching approach and employing a regional dataset that combines rural households' socioeconomic characteristics with livestock indicators, we develop an empirical framework capable of capturing the farmers’ decision to adopt cattle and testing its impact on their welfare. We show that the effect of owning one TLU of cattle on income (29%), total consumption (9%), and food consumption (8%) is positive and significant. However, the effect on income is approximately three times higher than on total consumption and food consumption. These results confirm the positive, yet heterogeneous role of cattle ownership on income and consumption, highlighting the greater effect on female-headed households. This study contributes to broadening the existing literature by providing cross-country evidence on the contribution of cattle ownership to households’ income, total consumption, and food consumption in the Southern African region. The findings could inform the formulation of strategies enhancing cattle ownership to foster household welfare in the Southern African region. This highlights that such a strategy could be particularly beneficial, especially for female-headed households. •In Southern Africa, the prevalence of undernourished people has increased more than elsewhere worldwide.•Cattle ownership has been increasingly recognized as a catalytic mechanism for improving rural households' livelihoods.•However, the role of cattle ownership is often overlooked in poverty reduction, food security and nutritional strategies.•Our study reveals a positive and significant impact of owning cattle on households' income, total consumption, and food consumption.•However, the effect is heterogeneous among socioeconomic groups, being signficanly higher for female-headed households.