Livelihoods Resilience in Peri-urban Communal Areas of Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper reflects on livelihoods options adopted by residents of peri-urban communal areas in Zimbabwe in demonstrating their ability to withstand shifts in survival strategies. The paper characterises the adopted livelihoods options, highlights the drivers of change in established livelihoods strategies, describes the opportunities and challenges from the adopted livelihoods strategies and proposes approaches to building resilient livelihoods options and strengthened rural-urban linkages amid ubiquitous change. Established livelihoods strategies in many peri-urban communal areas globally are generally changing as a result of increased rural-urban linkages, migration, urbanisation, as well as other socio-political influences. In Zimbabwe, residents in peri-urban communal areas demonstrate resilience to such changes as they adopt livelihoods options that enable households to adapt to change and cope with local circumstances. A systematic review of literature guided a detailed and comprehensive search of pertinent and related studies, as well as interrogating patterns on similarities and differences from the selected researches. Online publications including books, peer reviewed journal articles and policy briefs on Google Scholar; Ebscohost; Science Direct; and JSTOR were reviewed to understand emergent livelihoods options in peri-urban communal areas of Zimbabwe. The livelihoods framework and the structure-agency dialectics were used to extract meaning from the changing local circumstances and the choices made by households to survive in peri-urban communal areas. Peri-urban communal areas of Zimbabwe are depeasantising. However, land remains a critical household asset for diversification of livelihoods options as residents continuously straddle the rural-urban divide. A thorough examination of the growth-point strategy to enhance local development in peri-urban communal areas; reengagement of the third sector (Non-Governmental Organizations) to extend pro-poor credit to small businesses; and addressing the national macro-economic fundamentals are critical to building resilient livelihoods options, and strengthened rural- urban linkages amid ubiquitous change.