Water scarcity has been a critical concern in many countries of the world. The same concern has been discussed, analyzed and researched at different platforms to find better solutions to the challenges of water scarcity, and in most cases water scarcity directly influence food security in terms of food production. South Africa, being one of the water scarce countries that derives its food from the agricultural sector; water scarcity remains at the centre stage of the national socioeconomic debate. Water scarcity is one of the major challenges in many countries such as Zimbabwe and Ethiopia particularly for the farmers. However, there is insufficient information on the impact of water scarcity challenges on rural communities’ food security initiatives. This review is focused on unearthing water scarcity challenges in rural communities, their impact on agriculture and ultimately food security initiatives. This paves way for possible research areas, practical implications and strategies to mitigate water security effects on food security.

Food security, poverty and hunger are some of the 21st century global challenges. An estimated 1.2 billion people live in poverty, and most are in sub-Saharan Africa. Several efforts to reduce the devastating effects of hunger, poverty and hunger worldwide are implemented. One of the prominent intervention strategies is the Heifer International programme. In Zimbabwe, Heifer International (HI) is donating cattle to poverty-stricken and food-insecure households to eliminate food insecurity, hunger and poverty. However, much is not known about the contribution of the HI programme. Notably, HI has been implementing this programme for over a decade now. To unpack and determine the contribution of this programme to the people’s livelihoods, a cross-sectional survey design was adopted to collect data. The data were quantitatively analysed, using IBM SPSS version 26. Results revealed that the programme contributed mainly to the socio-economic well-being of the participating households. Participation in the HI was associated with increased income; training and education programmes; improved yields and land under cultivation; income-generating opportunities; enhanced asset position; and food and nutritional benefits. Consequently, the paper recommended the use of cattle ownership among the poor rural households to eliminate the devastating effects of poverty, food insecurity and poverty because it is a way of empowering poor households with the potential of dismantling perpetual dependence on external support. It also recommended a strategic partnership between the government and other private players for investment in animal feeds since the programme seemed to overlook this aspect.

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The past decade has witnessed an increased interest in the concept of social networks after the seminal theses of Coleman (1988) and Putnam (1993)

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