This study was an impact assessment of the ‘Zimbabwe Dams and Gardens’ Project’ a community based famine prevention and mitigation intervention being implemented by CARE International in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe. The assessment is one component of a broader applied research initiative “Impact Assessment of Innovative Humanitarian Projects in Sub-Saharan Africa” supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The research which is being carried out by the Feinstein International Center (FIC, Tufts) focuses on the development and application of a participatory assessment toolkit to measure the impact of seven projects in Africa being supported by ‘the Foundation’ under a separate grant; the “Sub-Saharan Africa Famine Relief Effort”. All seven projects have taken an integrated livelihoods approach to alleviating the immediate needs of the affected communities, and to addressing the longer term vulnerability issues resulting in famine and food insecurity.
The ‘Zimbabwe Dams and Gardens Project’ was designed to prevent and alleviate famine in two drought-prone districts of Masvingo Province. The key project components included the rehabilitation of community dams, the establishment of community gardens irrigated by the dams, the formation of savings and loan groups, and the provision of training in crop management and conservation farming. The assessment focused on measuring the impact of the dam and garden component of the project at Zipwa, one of the three communities being assisted under the initiative.