Our mission

Thriving pastoralists in healthy rangelands

Mafisa helps traditional cattle-raising communities in Zambia to thrive, free of poverty and resilient to climate change.

Mafisa works in a dry region of south-western Zambia, on the fringes of the Kalahari, home to traditional cattle-raising communities. After several devastating disease outbreaks, farmers struggle to make a good living from cattle. The services and markets needed to rebuild sustainable cattle herds are scant. The local soils and climate are barely suitable for crops, and available alternatives may damage the environment.

The best solution for people and the environment is to restore traditional cattle livelihoods, based on improved productivity, widespread use of climate-smart regenerative management, and better access to markets. To ensure community-wide opportunity, Mafisa also promotes alternative sustainable livelihoods, with particular focus on women and youth.

Mafisa’s current programme is expanding to 120 communities over the next seven years, helping around 75,000 people to build sustainable, resilient livelihoods, free from poverty. Beyond that, the approach we are developing is suitable for many cattle-raising communities, in Zambia and beyond. Our aim is to build a successful model that can support change for pastoralists across the continent.