Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Got Milk? The Impact Of Heifer International's Livestock Donation Programs In Rwanda On Nutritional Outcomes, Rosemary Rawlins, Svetlana Pimkina, Christopher B. Barrett, Sarah Pedersen, Bruce Wydick

Economics

International animal donation programs have become an increasingly popular way for people living in developed countries to transfer resources to families living in developing countries. We evaluate the impact of Heifer International’s dairy cow and meat goat donation programs in Rwanda. We find that the program substantially increases dairy and meat consumption among Rwandan households who were given a dairy cow or a meat goat, respectively. We also find marginally statistically significant reductions in weight-for-height z-scores and weight-for-age z-scores of about 0.4 standard deviations among children aged 0-5 years in households that were recipients of meat goats, and reductions in …