Agricultural input subsidies have often been promoted as the solution to target food insecurity. This paper aims to investigate the impact of the National Agricultural Input Subsidy (NAIVS) on small-scale farmers in Tanzania particularly, for household food security, while investigating if the programme had any differential impact on female-headed households. On examining the general impact of the NAIVS on small-scale farmers, it is clear that the programme did affect food-security at the household level. Literacy also had a significant impact on household food-security and in terms of production. In terms of the specific impact of the programme on female-headed households, beneficiary female-headed households preferred spending more on education, birth control and family planning.They were also more food-secure and consumed more meals on an average, while the non-beneficiary households preferred spending more on food -- suggesting a lack of food self-sufficiency. However this cannot be attributed the input subsidy alone and needs further research. This paper aims to inform policy-making around agricultural input subsidies and its impacts on female headed households.