Understanding poverty in Zimbabwe : a sample survey in 16 Districts; paper prepared for presentation at the Centre for the Study of African Economies Conference 2012 “Economic Development in Africa”, Oxford, United Kingdom, March 18-20, 2012
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2012-03
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Abstract
Using a poverty and well being survey for 16 districts in Zimbabwe—a country engulfed by an economic crisis during the past decade, this paper explores the profile of poverty in Zimbabwe. We find that poverty remains very high in Zimbabwe with four out of every five persons classified as poor. Although the changes since 2009 in the macroeconomic environment have improved the economic prospects of Zimbabwean, most households perceive to be as poor as they were five years ago. Apart from access to permanent employment, we show that the poverty status in Zimbabwe is linked to the agro-ecological regions of the country. Areas in Region IV and V experience agricultural shocks routinely. Our results have major implications for government and other stakeholders. In particular, households expect shocks to occur on an annual basis and as such, households especially in region IV and V will continue to depend on social assistance in order to deal with the regular occurrence of shocks.
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ECONOMIC CRISIS, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, WELL-BEING, QUALITY OF LIFE, HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS, POVERTY, DEMOGRAPHIC INDICATORS, ZIMBABWE, ECONOMIC RECESSION