‘Livelihoods and economic crisis: the case of smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe (1999-2008)’

In the past decade a political and economic crisis has unfolded in Zimbabwe, resulting in two-digit negative growth rates, sky-rocketing inflation, decline in the rule of law and a disintegration of markets, notably rural input, output and labour markets. There has been little or no primary data collection to document the effects of these crises on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. This paper aims to do so by revisiting a subsample of 75 households from the Zimbabwe Rural Household Dynamics Study (ZRHDS). Building on existing survey data from the late 1990s, we collected new survey data in 2007/8 and are able to explore important developments regarding the mobility of household members, crop choices, engagement in off-farm activities and the development of asset holdings, notable cattle ownership. We find important differences in these key indicators between households residing in different settlement types (communal and resettlement) or agro-ecological regions. Households in the better agro-ecological region and resettlement areas are more likely to maintain their livelihoods while households in the region that is more restricted in terms of opportunities for (cash crop) cultivation and in communal areas face considerable constraints in doing so. The observed variation across these different livelihood options are strongly determined by the local and regional institutional environment in which households and individuals operate, ranging from traditional village heads and local security forces to private cotton input suppliers and government based assistance programs.