Alarming Rise of Poverty in Zimbabwe – A Growing Concern

Zimbabwe, a country once considered the breadbasket of Africa, is facing a severe poverty crisis.

According to recent data from the World Bank, extreme poverty has risen significantly between 2011 and 2022, with the national food poverty line increasing from 23% to 42%.

The alarming trend has left millions of people struggling to access basic necessities like food, water, and healthcare.

What Causes The Rise of Poverty?

The rise in poverty can be attributed to various factors, including macroeconomic volatility, recurrent droughts, inflation, and economic contraction related to COVID-19.

UNDP, 2020 states that, the country has also been affected by extreme weather events like cyclone Idai, which further exacerbated the poverty situation.

According to IMF (2020), the economic crisis of 2019, accompanied by inflation, has also had a devastating impact on the population, particularly in urban areas.

Comparison Between Urban and Rural Poverty

Poverty in Zimbabwe is largely rural, but it has urbanised in recent years.

In 2022, the World Bank posits that,Urban poverty rose faster in relative terms, from 4% to 11%, compared to rural poverty, which increased from 43% to 52%.

The COVID-19 pandemic affected urban households relatively more, with extreme poverty estimated to have risen proportionately faster in 2020 in urban areas, from 10% to 16% according to World Bank, 2022.

However, in Zimbabwe, rural areas contributed to all of the decline in poverty in 2021.

Social Assistance Programs

The World Bank is concerned that, the social assistance programs in Zimbabwe have low coverage and adequacy, and not all programs are poverty-targeted, which limits their ability to mitigate the impact of shocks.

This has left millions of people vulnerable to poverty, with limited access to support.

Measures To Reduce Rise of Poverty

It’s not too late to change course. Economic growth is important to getting back on track, it alone will not guarantee that people are lifted out of poverty.

The foundation of inclusive growth is an investment in people, which means ensuring they have greater access to health care, education, social services, basic infrastructure, better-quality jobs, and opportunities.

To address the growing poverty crisis in Zimbabwe, the government and international organisations must work together to implement effective poverty reduction strategies. This includes:

1. Improving social assistance programs through increasing coverage and adequacy of social assistance programs, and ensuring they are poverty-targeted.
2. There is need to address macroeconomic volatility by implementing policies to stabilise the economy and reduce inflation.
3. Agriculture need to be supported. Providing support to farmers to improve agricultural productivity and reduce the impact of droughts and other extreme weather events.
4. Investing in healthcare and education should be prioritised. Improving access to healthcare and education, particularly in rural areas.
5. Authority must expand opportunities for people living in poverty to earn higher incomes and contribute more proactively to the economy and lift the constraints poor households face in accumulating natural, financial, and other assets. This is especially true for those living at the bottom of the income ladder.
6. Zimbabwe also need fiscal policies that work for everyone. Fiscal policies can be reformed by shifting public spending away from inefficient subsidies towards more targeted policies that support poor and vulnerable households. If well designed, fiscal systems can protect households from falling back into poverty during a crisis or shock.
7. Poverty reduction will only be sustainable, however, if combined with effective climate action.Many people living in poverty are highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, such as floods, cyclones or droughts, which are growing in both frequency and intensity. Yet these people have contributed the least to the global emissions that are fueling these occurrences. Countries should focus on “double-win” or “triple-win” policies, which not only improve the livelihoods of people living in poverty but also decrease their vulnerability to climate risks and help mitigate future climate hazards.

The current state of poverty in Zimbabwe is a growing concern that requires immediate attention.

The government and international organisations must work together to address the root causes of poverty and implement effective poverty reduction strategies.

Only through collective action can there be hope to reduce poverty and improve the lives of millions of Zimbabweans.