Table 1. General description of livelihood types in southeastern Zimbabwe.

Livelihood type General attributes Coping strategies during drought Cattle based • Large kraal • At least 20 cattle (median 30) • At least one granary • At least two ploughs and a Scotch cart • Household head usually > 50 yr old and present • Household head has primary education level • Big homestead with at least one brick four-bedroom house • Family size average 15 • Cropping • No problems sourcing inputs • Sell cattle (usually in Mozambique) or exchange cattle for food • Keep medicines for common diseases of cattle • Usually rent grazing land from commercial farms of Gonakudzingwa or migrate with the livestock to specific distant areas with better grazing and water points • Loan some cattle to those in need to save on labour demands for watering cattle using buckets • Use Zhombwe† tubers for cattle most affected by drought • Ferry relief food (for a fee) for those benefitting from donors • Hire labor in times of labor constraints Crop-cattle based • Average size kraal • < 20 cattle (median 10) • At least one granary • One or two ploughs and a Scotch cart • Household head 40–50 yr old and present • Household head has infant to junior primary education level • Average to small size homestead in poor households • Family size average 10 • Balance land size for cropping between dry land and vlei areas • Cash for inputs and how to get inputs to farm are problems • Sell other livestock species besides cattle in drought years • Exchange food for cattle in good years • Buy cattle with extra cash • Value wetter areas like the Banyeni (fertile, low-lying flat areas that can retain moisture longer than surrounding areas) and the Gumbini (river banks) for cropping • Borrow cattle from some cattle farmers in times of need • Harvest wild fruits (especially around Pfungwe, an area with fruit trees along the Limpopo river) • Dig Zhombwe tubers to feed cattle; rent grazing areas or graze cattle inside park illegally • Get donor assistance, plant more sorghum, use traditional seeds Non-farm based • Small or no kraal • Small thatched round huts to four-bedroom houses with corrugated iron roof, in most cases they have aerials for access to the phone network • 0 to 10 cattle (median 1) • No granary • Receive remittances • Crop in wetter areas and have a permanent garden • Usually no farming equipment (but may own a bicycle) • Household head < 40 yr old and away most of the time • Household head has infant education level • Average to small size homestead in poor households • Family size average 5 • Rent cattle from those with many • Brew beer or make traditional dishes and invite others neighbours to plough, plant, and eat together at one function • Increase off-farm activities • Receive steady remittances • Hire out labor within and outside Zimbabwe • Get food aid (only if on the perceived poorer side of this livelihood type

†Zhombwe (Neorautanenia amboensis Schinz) is a perennial, leguminous, mostly erect herb or shrublet producing purple flowers on often trailing stems averaging 0.82 m in height. It forms an underground tuber of up to 35 kg (70% water) that has been given to cattle as feed and medicine during droughts in southeastern Zimbabwe since the 1991–1992 drought.