Salaries, casual work provide sustainable livelihoods for most urbanites

SALARIES and casual labour provide sustainable livelihoods for most urban dwellers while women-headed households dominate food-insecure families with the Government and its development partners being the prominent social safety covers, the urban Zimbabwe Livelihood Assessment Committee ZimLAC report has revealed.

The report also states that most senior citizens in urban areas depend on rentals for livelihood.

According to the ZimLAC report, households with divorced or separated heads had an increased likelihood of being food-insecure compared to households headed by members who were married and live with their spouses.

The report shows that at least 34,5 percent of urban households need food aid.

Following the announcement of the ZimLAC results, the Government has said it will provide cash transfers to at least 1,5 million households that are food insecure.

“Salaries/wages, casual labour and vending/petty trade were the most important sources of livelihoods for urban dwellers. These were followed by deals (madhiri/ kukiya-kiya/ ukutshaya amadili) and remittances (internal and external). Livelihoods that exhibit stability which are subject to strong contract enforcement either through formal or informal institutions (norms) were associated with a statistically significant higher probability that the household was food secure before controlling for observed confounders,” reads the report.

It said 65,5 percent of the urban households were food-secure while most of the insecure households were headed by women, the less educated, the unemployed and those living with disability.

The report states that households for the food insecure tended to also have large families.

According to ZimLAC, education is the most important socio-economic requisite for the household to enter stable livelihoods that exhibit stability and are enforced through formal sanction.

“Increase in the education of household head was associated with increased food security and improved quality of diets. Being formally or informally employed increased the likelihood of household food security, reduced the probability of a household coping, and was associated with improved diets,” reads the report.

It said most of the female-headed households were engaged in unstable livelihoods that also violated the country’s laws including vending.

ZimLAC’s report says the Government should come up with deliberate policies to promote financial inclusion for women.

“Closing the gender gap and empowering female farmers traditionally restricted in their access to finance and technologies can create major gains when addressing food insecurity. Interventions should ensure equal access of men and women to natural and productive resources, such as land and mechanisation, decent employment, advisory and financial services, and markets,” reads the report.

The report further recommends policy interventions within the country’s higher and tertiary education to promote solving and promoting skills.

“Government efforts to include entrepreneurship programmes in schools and universities to ensure that citizens acquire critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Implement policies that promote the ease of doing business. Access to finance remains a major challenge to small businesses. Government and financial institutions should collaborate to establish dedicated funds and loans tailored to the needs of small businesses,” reads the report. — @nqotshili