Employment and labour markets

A position paper on the importance and need for a coherent social protection policy for the vulnerable worker in Zimbabwe.In this chapter we examine employment and labour markets; implications of the economic crisis for social protection in Zimbabwe. The chapter highlights the structure of employment in Zimbabwe and considers labour markets dynamics and employment during this period. This is followed by a discussion on social protection for the poor and vulnerable in Zimbabwe, highlighting developments on social protection. It then considers some scenarios for social protection in the future

Understanding the drivers of poverty in Zimbabwe : emerging lessons from the protracted relief program and literature

This paper analyses the drivers of poverty in rural and urban Zimbabwe. It draws evidence from the Protracted Relief Programme (PRP)-LIME Surveys as well as other major poverty surveys and reports. There is evidence from PRP LIME data that cash transfers have contributed significantly to household incomes, helping to stabilise consumption especially in rural areas. Positive welfare outcomes of social transfers are clear in all PRP areas. School attendance in households receiving cash transfers and assistance under Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) are a third higher than households without. Other outcomes from PRP interventions are outlined, and recommendations are made

Moving Forward in Zimbabwe.

A Discussion Paper on poverty alleviation strategies for Zimbabwe.Zimbabwe is emerging from a decade of socio-economic decline. The gains the country saw after independence in 1980; particulady the impressive progress in reducing poverty and inequality as well as the high standards in health and education; had stagnated and in some cases been reversed. Although triggered by a multiplicity of causes, the programme to redistribute land from mainly white farmers to the majority black Zimbabweans in February 2000, is often cited as the catalyst that precipitated an economic crisis which subsequently became a social crisis. Zimbabwe's economy had been in decline since the mid-1990s, initially caused by failed structural adjustment policies but later compounded by shortages of foreign exchange (see Figure 1). It became increasingly difficult to import raw materials, spare parts, and fuel, which undermined manufacturing and agriculture, and accelerated a downward economic spiral. Alongside this decline in productivity came a sharp decline in disposable incomes and employment. The economic crisis reshaped the structure of employment and formal sector employment was dwarfed by a burgeoning informal sector. By 2003,72 per cent of the population lived below the total consumption poverty line, compared to 55 per cent in 1995. Hyperinflation peaked at over 200 billion per cent in 2008, which became a year of economic and political crisis.The research presented in this publication is a the result of a project funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (www. idrc.ca) IDRC CRD

Who will make the 'best' use of Africa's land? Lessons from Zimbabwe

Conflict over African land – between small holders and large industrial farmers and between domestic farmers and global agribusinesses – raises key questions about who will make the best use of African land and which farmers do most to decrease poverty and produce more food, industrial inputs, and exports. Zimbabwe has already gone through two major changes in land occupation, and thus provides an important test of what is the 'best' use of the land. Three measures of 'best' use have been cited in Zimbabwe: reward for military victory, poverty reduction, and agricultural production. Initial evidence indicates that commercial small holder production is a better use of the land than larger, more mechanised farming