"Basics are now a luxury": Perceptions of structural adjustment's impact on rural and urban areas in Zimbabwe

Environment and Urbanization

Volumn 10, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 55-75

  Potts, Deborah ^a   Mutambirwa, Chris ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE   (Zimbabwe)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ECONOMIC IMPACT; INCOME DISTRIBUTION; PERCEPTION; PUBLIC ATTITUDES; STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT;

ZIMBABWE;

EID: 0031843370     PISSN: 09562478     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1630/095624798101284464     Document Type: Article

References (52)

1. The research for this paper was made possible by a grant from the Nuffield Foundation. Computer analysis was aided by funds from the School of Oriental and African Studies' Research Committee. The quotation in the title is taken from a comment made by one of our respondents.
2. For example, Cornia, G., R. Jolly and F. Stewart (editors) (1987), Adjustment with a Human Face, Clarendon Press, Oxford; also Simon, D.,W. van Spengen, C. Dixon and A. Närman (editors) (1995), Structurally Adjusted Africa: Poverty, debt and basic needs, Pluto, London; Onimode, B. (editor) (1989), The IMF, the World Bank and African Debt, Zed Press, London; Loxley, J. (1990), "Structural adjustment in Africa: reflections on Ghana and Zambia" in Review of African Political Economy 47, pages 8-27; Adepoju, A. (editor)(1993), The Impact of Structural Adjustment on the Population of Africa: Implications for education, health and employment, James Currey in association with United Nations Population Fund, London; and Sparr, R (1993), Mortgaging Women's Lives, Zed Press, London.
3. For example, Cornia, G., R. Jolly and F. Stewart (editors) (1987), Adjustment with a Human Face, Clarendon Press, Oxford; also Simon, D.,W. van Spengen, C. Dixon and A. Närman (editors) (1995), Structurally Adjusted Africa: Poverty, debt and basic needs, Pluto, London; Onimode, B. (editor) (1989), The IMF, the World Bank and African Debt, Zed Press, London; Loxley, J. (1990), "Structural adjustment in Africa: reflections on Ghana and Zambia" in Review of African Political Economy 47, pages 8-27; Adepoju, A. (editor)(1993), The Impact of Structural Adjustment on the Population of Africa: Implications for education, health and employment, James Currey in association with United Nations Population Fund, London; and Sparr, R (1993), Mortgaging Women's Lives, Zed Press, London.
4. For example, Cornia, G., R. Jolly and F. Stewart (editors) (1987), Adjustment with a Human Face, Clarendon Press, Oxford; also Simon, D.,W. van Spengen, C. Dixon and A. Närman (editors) (1995), Structurally Adjusted Africa: Poverty, debt and basic needs, Pluto, London; Onimode, B. (editor) (1989), The IMF, the World Bank and African Debt, Zed Press, London; Loxley, J. (1990), "Structural adjustment in Africa: reflections on Ghana and Zambia" in Review of African Political Economy 47, pages 8-27; Adepoju, A. (editor)(1993), The Impact of Structural Adjustment on the Population of Africa: Implications for education, health and employment, James Currey in association with United Nations Population Fund, London; and Sparr, R (1993), Mortgaging Women's Lives, Zed Press, London.
5. For example, Cornia, G., R. Jolly and F. Stewart (editors) (1987), Adjustment with a Human Face, Clarendon Press, Oxford; also Simon, D.,W. van Spengen, C. Dixon and A. Närman (editors) (1995), Structurally Adjusted Africa: Poverty, debt and basic needs, Pluto, London; Onimode, B. (editor) (1989), The IMF, the World Bank and African Debt, Zed Press, London; Loxley, J. (1990), "Structural adjustment in Africa: reflections on Ghana and Zambia" in Review of African Political Economy 47, pages 8-27; Adepoju, A. (editor)(1993), The Impact of Structural Adjustment on the Population of Africa: Implications for education, health and employment, James Currey in association with United Nations Population Fund, London; and Sparr, R (1993), Mortgaging Women's Lives, Zed Press, London.
6. For example, Cornia, G., R. Jolly and F. Stewart (editors) (1987), Adjustment with a Human Face, Clarendon Press, Oxford; also Simon, D.,W. van Spengen, C. Dixon and A. Närman (editors) (1995), Structurally Adjusted Africa: Poverty, debt and basic needs, Pluto, London; Onimode, B. (editor) (1989), The IMF, the World Bank and African Debt, Zed Press, London; Loxley, J. (1990), "Structural adjustment in Africa: reflections on Ghana and Zambia" in Review of African Political Economy 47, pages 8-27; Adepoju, A. (editor)(1993), The Impact of Structural Adjustment on the Population of Africa: Implications for education, health and employment, James Currey in association with United Nations Population Fund, London; and Sparr, R (1993), Mortgaging Women's Lives, Zed Press, London.
7. For example, Cornia, G., R. Jolly and F. Stewart (editors) (1987), Adjustment with a Human Face, Clarendon Press, Oxford; also Simon, D.,W. van Spengen, C. Dixon and A. Närman (editors) (1995), Structurally Adjusted Africa: Poverty, debt and basic needs, Pluto, London; Onimode, B. (editor) (1989), The IMF, the World Bank and African Debt, Zed Press, London; Loxley, J. (1990), "Structural adjustment in Africa: reflections on Ghana and Zambia" in Review of African Political Economy 47, pages 8-27; Adepoju, A. (editor)(1993), The Impact of Structural Adjustment on the Population of Africa: Implications for education, health and employment, James Currey in association with United Nations Population Fund, London; and Sparr, R (1993), Mortgaging Women's Lives, Zed Press, London.
8. In some of the literature, including much of that produced by the international financial institutions, lower estimates of Zimbabwean economic growth for the 1980s are cited. These, however, ignore the first year of independence (i.e. cover 1981-90 rather than 1980-90). The 4 per cent growth rate cited here is taken from the Economist Intelligence Unit, Zimbabwe Country Reports(various), London. The trend rate was also about 4 per cent per year for both halves of the decade (Colin Stonemean, personal communication, July 1996).
9. Stoneman, Colin (1996), "Prospects for the development of regional economic and political relations in post-apartheid Southern Africa: can the new South Africa dynamise the new SADC?" in Ritsumeikan Studies in Language and Culture 7:5/6, pages 297-319.
10. The productivity of the communal areas was very geographically variable - with some areas relying on drought relief and food programmes in most years and contributing little or nothing to marketed production. However, these macro-patterns are to be expected given the pattern of rainfall in the country and other environmental factors. For further details on geographically differentiated production in Zimbabwe's communal areas in the 1980s, see Zinyama, Lovemore (1988), "Commercialisation of small-scale agriculture in Zimbabwe: some emerging patterns of spatial differentiation" in Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 9:2, pages 151-62.
11. As just one example, infant mortality rates were roughly halved during the 1980s.
12. See reference 4; non-traditional manufactured exports (e.g. textiles, clothing, rolling stock, light metal manufactures) grew 10 per cent in 1988 and 10 per cent plus in 1989. The strengths and potential of Zimbabwe's manufacturing sector in the 1980s are thoroughly reviewed in Riddell, Roger (1990),"Zimbabwe" in Riddell, Roger (editor) (1990), Manufacturing Africa, James Currey, London, pages 337-411.
13. See reference 4.
14. For example, Zimbabwe was typified as an African country with a medium level of policy and institutional distortions, along with countries such as Togo, Burundi and Mali, by the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank. See Gulhati, Ravi (1988), "The political economy of reform in sub-Saharan Africa", EDI Policy Seminar Report No.8, World Bank, Washington DC.
15. The World Bank appears to have deliberately misrepresented Zimbabwe's manufacturing sector in assessemnts it made in the 1980s: see reference 7, Riddell (1990); also Stoneman, Colin (1989), "The World Bank and the IMF in Zimbabwe" in Campbell, B. and J. Loxley (editors) (1989), Structural Adjustment in Africa, James Currey, London, pages 37-66. It also refused to extend its loan for the crucial export revolving fund in 1987 unless Zimbabwe liberalized trade: see reference 4.
16. See reference 4.
17. See, for example, Gibbon, R (1995), "Structural adjustment and the working poor in Zimbabwe"; Sachikonye, L. (1995),"Industrial relations and labour relations under ESAP in Zimbabwe" ; Brand, V., R. Mupedziswa and P. Gumbo (1995),"Structural adjustment, women and informal sector trade in Harare" all in Gibbon, R (editor) (1995), Structural Adjustemnt and the Poor in Zimbabwe, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala; also Bijlmakers, L., M. Bassett and D. Sanders (1996), Health and Structural Adjustment in Rural and Urban Zimbabwe, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala; Kanji, N. (1993), "Gender and structural adjustment policies: a case study of Harare, Zimbabwe", unpublished PhD thesis, University of London;
18. See, for example, Gibbon, R (1995), "Structural adjustment and the working poor in Zimbabwe"; Sachikonye, L. (1995),"Industrial relations and labour relations under ESAP in Zimbabwe" ; Brand, V., R. Mupedziswa and P. Gumbo (1995),"Structural adjustment, women and informal sector trade in Harare" all in Gibbon, R (editor) (1995), Structural Adjustemnt and the Poor in Zimbabwe, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala; also Bijlmakers, L., M. Bassett and D. Sanders (1996), Health and Structural Adjustment in Rural and Urban Zimbabwe, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala; Kanji, N. (1993), "Gender and structural adjustment policies: a case study of Harare, Zimbabwe", unpublished PhD thesis, University of London;
19. See, for example, Gibbon, R (1995), "Structural adjustment and the working poor in Zimbabwe"; Sachikonye, L. (1995),"Industrial relations and labour relations under ESAP in Zimbabwe" ; Brand, V., R. Mupedziswa and P. Gumbo (1995),"Structural adjustment, women and informal sector trade in Harare" all in Gibbon, R (editor) (1995), Structural Adjustemnt and the Poor in Zimbabwe, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala; also Bijlmakers, L., M. Bassett and D. Sanders (1996), Health and Structural Adjustment in Rural and Urban Zimbabwe, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala; Kanji, N. (1993), "Gender and structural adjustment policies: a case study of Harare, Zimbabwe", unpublished PhD thesis, University of London;
20. See, for example, Gibbon, R (1995), "Structural adjustment and the working poor in Zimbabwe"; Sachikonye, L. (1995),"Industrial relations and labour relations under ESAP in Zimbabwe" ; Brand, V., R. Mupedziswa and P. Gumbo (1995),"Structural adjustment, women and informal sector trade in Harare" all in Gibbon, R (editor) (1995), Structural Adjustemnt and the Poor in Zimbabwe, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala; also Bijlmakers, L., M. Bassett and D. Sanders (1996), Health and Structural Adjustment in Rural and Urban Zimbabwe, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala; Kanji, N. (1993), "Gender and structural adjustment policies: a case study of Harare, Zimbabwe", unpublished PhD thesis, University of London;
21. See, for example, Gibbon, R (1995), "Structural adjustment and the working poor in Zimbabwe"; Sachikonye, L. (1995),"Industrial relations and labour relations under ESAP in Zimbabwe" ; Brand, V., R. Mupedziswa and P. Gumbo (1995),"Structural adjustment, women and informal sector trade in Harare" all in Gibbon, R (editor) (1995), Structural Adjustemnt and the Poor in Zimbabwe, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala; also Bijlmakers, L., M. Bassett and D. Sanders (1996), Health and Structural Adjustment in Rural and Urban Zimbabwe, Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, Uppsala; Kanji, N. (1993), "Gender and structural adjustment policies: a case study of Harare, Zimbabwe", unpublished PhD thesis, University of London;
22. Kanji, N. and N. Jazdowska (1993), "Structural adjustment and the implications for low-income urban women in Zimbabwe" in Review of African Political Economy 56, pages 11-26;
23. Rakodi, C. ((1994), "Urban poverty in Zimbabwe: post-independence efforts, household strategies and the short-term impact of structural adjustment" in Journal of International Development 6:5, pages 663-665;
24. and MacGarry, B. (1993), Growth? Without Equity? The Zimbabwean Economy and the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, Mambo Press, Gweru.
25. Potts, D. and C.C. Mutambirwa (1990),"Rural-urban linkages in contemporary Harare: why migrants need their land" in Journal of Southern African Stud" ies 16:4, pages 676-98; also Potts, D. with C.C. Mutambirwa (1991),"Low-income housing in Harare: over-crowding and commodification" in Third World Planning Review 13:1, pages 1-26.
26. Potts, D. and C.C. Mutambirwa (1990),"Rural-urban linkages in contemporary Harare: why migrants need their land" in Journal of Southern African Stud" ies 16:4, pages 676-98; also Potts, D. with C.C. Mutambirwa (1991),"Low-income housing in Harare: over-crowding and commodification" in Third World Planning Review 13:1, pages 1-26.
27. Since the survey gathered information from "dependent" migrant respondents on their respective HHHs, the HHH data set includes information on some HHHs who were not respondents in the survey. Since eligibility for the survey rested on the year of the respondent's migration, nonrespondent HHHs need not be recent migrants as classified by our survey or even migrants at all.
28. On the impact on individual respondents and comparisons with the impact of ESAP on urban poverty elsewhere in Africa, see Potts, D. (forthcoming),"The impact of structural adjustment on welfare and livelihoods: an assessment by people in Harare, Zimbabwe" in Nelson, N. and S. Jones (editors) (forthcoming), African Urban Poverty Intermediate Technology Publications, London.
29. Very few respondents were born in other areas (e.g. Mozambique or a commercial farming area) and so their rankings are not disaggregated in Table 4.
30. It is now frequently suggested that this policy has been used as a "vote-catcher" for ZANU. Such accusations have been made in the past in the Zimbabwean Financial Gazette and, more recently, in Economist Intelligence Unit reports. Politicians have also been reported as threatening not to give such help in areas where support for the party was perceived to be poor. As a subsidy for rural people, however, it will certainly have helped to improve the rural:urban income gap and enhanced rural incomes to some degree which at least is a positive use of government resources in national welfare terms. Furthermore, there Is clearly a point that political parties should be trying to enhance their vote by allocating government resources in a way which the majority approve of - that is what politics is about. However, this is a debate which this paper cannot pursue.
31. Health fees at rural health centres and most rural hospitals were fortunately again abolished in March 1995.
32. Economist Intelligence Unit (1991 -1996), Zimbabwe Reports (various).
33. See reference 19.
34. See reference 12, Kanji (1993); Brand ef al,(1995); and Bijlmakers et al, (1996).
35. This accords with results from other surveys in Harare which have all found a low drop-out rate amongst poor urban households. See also reference 12, Gibbon (1995), page 31.
36. See reference 12, Bijlmakers et al,(1996).
37. Quotation taken from interviews recorded in Barnes, T. and E.Win (1992), To Live a Better Life: An oral history of women in the city of Harare, 1930-70, Baobab Books, Harare, page 202.
38. See reference 12, Kanji (1993).
39. See, for example, Mbiba, B. (1994), "Institutional responses to uncontrolled urban cultivation in Harare: prohibitive or accommodative?" in Environment and Urbanization 6:1, pages 188-202; also Drakakis-Smith, D., T. Bowyer-Bower and D. Tevera (1994), "Urban agriculture in Harare" in Habitat International 2:17.
40. See, for example, Mbiba, B. (1994), "Institutional responses to uncontrolled urban cultivation in Harare: prohibitive or accommodative?" in Environment and Urbanization 6:1, pages 188-202; also Drakakis-Smith, D., T. Bowyer-Bower and D. Tevera (1994), "Urban agriculture in Harare" in Habitat International 2:17.
41. See reference 12, Bijlmakers et al,(1996).
42. See Potts, D. (1995), "Shall we go home? Increasing urban poverty in African cities and migraton processes" in Geographical Journal 161:3, pages 245-264; also Potts, D. (1997), "Urban lives: adopting new strategies and adapting rural links" in Rakodi, C.(editor)The Urban Challenge in Africa: Growth and Management of its Large Cities United Nations University Press, Tokyo, pages 447-494.
43. See Potts, D. (1995), "Shall we go home? Increasing urban poverty in African cities and migraton processes" in Geographical Journal 161:3, pages 245-264; also Potts, D. (1997), "Urban lives: adopting new strategies and adapting rural links" in Rakodi, C.(editor)The Urban Challenge in Africa: Growth and Management of its Large Cities United Nations University Press, Tokyo, pages 447-494.
44. See reference 12, Kanji and Jazdowska(1993), page 21; also Rakodi (1994), pages 660-61.
45. Jamal, V. and J. Weeks (1994), Africa Misunderstood: Or whatever happened to the rural-urban gap?, MacMillan, Basingstoke.
46. Economist Intelligence Unit (1995), Zimbabwe Report, September.
47. Scoones, I. (1997), "Landscapes, fields and soils: Understanding the history of soil fertility management in southern Zimbabwe" in Journal of Southern African Studies23:4, pages 615-34.
48. Bond, R (1996), "Review article: Who foots the bill? Contrasting views on the success of structural adjustment in Zimbabwe" in Journal of Southern African Studies 22:1, pages 167-174.
49. Some proportion of this rise is undoubtedly due to AIDS related deaths. However, the article in which this doubling was reported, and which was written by an OXFAM policy advisor, makes it clear that ESAP has played a significant part in the increased death rates. See Watkins, Kevin (1996), "Zimbabwe 'miracle cure' fails to save the poor" in Guardian 26 July.
50. Economist Intelligence Unit (1994), Zimbabwe Report, March.
51. See reference 12, Rakodi (1994), page 661, emphasis added.
52. See reference 13, Potts and Mutambirwa(1990).