Mashona Cattle Breed Society of Zimbabwe

Established in 1950, for over 70 years The Mashona Cattle Society has worked to preserve, promote and improve the hardy Mashona cattle breed.

Today, this amazing indigenous breed of cattle, unique to Zimbabwe, has earned its rightful place on the world stage of livestock genetic heritage, for its resilience and productivity under difficult climatic and production conditions. The potential to use this, our own Zimbabwean breed, in cross-breeding on other continents in response to the challenge of climate change, is now well-recognised.

For centuries, Mashona cattle have provided meat, milk, tillage and manure in Zimbabwe’s rural areas. Fully adapted to its tough environment, this is one of the world’s hardiest, most productive breeds. Established in scientific trials spanning decades as the most productive cattle breed in Zimbabwe, the Mashona is proving its worth in commercial beef production on this continent, and is now the baseline breed for cattle evaluation in Zimbabwe, against which the survivability, fertility and performance of all other cattle are measured.

This resilient breed was brought back from near extinction by The Mashona Cattle Society, which campaigned to preserve it from massive, misguided genetic dilution. Our dedicated breeders ceaselessly continue in their efforts to develop genetically pure, stronger, more productive Mashona Cattle, thus contributing to improved farmer livelihoods and food security in Zimbabwe.