Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter
PEOPLE living in the country’s urban areas are mostly concerned about lack of income generating projects, unemployment, high food prices and corruption, a survey has revealed.
According to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) 2020 Urban Livelihoods Assessment cash shortages, water interruptions and prohibitive laws were also among the issues that were said to be hindering development in urban areas.
The ZimVAC report was released last week after being tabled before Cabinet.
“Lack of income generating projects (13 percent), unemployment (11 percent), high food prices (10 percent) and corruption (10 percent) were the most common development challenges reported by urban households throughout the country,” read the ZimVAC report.
“As the country aims to become an upper middle-income economy, there is need to implement strategies that address the development challenges in urban areas. Government and development partners working in urban areas should consider empowering urban households with interventions that enhance urban household resilience and livelihoods.”
The report further stated that 80 percent of urban households believed that nothing was being done to address development challenges in their communities.
“The most development efforts were reported to be from Government (14 percent), and local authorities (four percent). And development partners (2 percent),” reads the report.
The report further observed that about 42 percent of urban households became food insecure as a result of Covid-19 induced economic challenges.
“The most predominant shocks were economically driven and worsened by Covid-19 national lockdown related challenges. These shocks were having severe impact on households and having negative impact on food security as households began to reduce food consumption (quality and number of meals).
The ability of households to recover from such a multiplicity of shocks and challenges proved difficult so there is need for Government and partners to come up with policies and strategies to focus on resilience building, strengthening and capacitation of households to deal with challenges in order to ensure sustainable livelihoods and economic growth,” read the report.
Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa on Tuesday last week said Cabinet observed the recommendations of the ZimVAC report and will continue supporting vulnerable citizens.-@nqotshili.
Sidumisile Mabena