Living on the Margins of COVID-19: The Impact on Informal Livelihoods in Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The impact of COVID-19 has been particularly hard for those living and working in slums and informality—with inadequate dwelling and destruction of livelihoods undermining their coping capacity. This chapter analyzes the impact of pandemic response measures on slum dwellers’ livelihoods in Masvingo, Zimbabwe, and coping mechanisms developed. We analyze four types of impact—informal economic activities, informal markets, cross-border trading, and income and food security. We also highlight coping mechanisms, including individual-based strategies, such as diversifying businesses, and collective advocacy for initiatives such as the Masvingo Urban Poor Fund loan scheme. We acknowledge the need for more detailed, particularly gender-aware, research and provide a series of final recommendations including (1) avoiding closure or planning viable alternatives for informal markets and destruction of stalls as a public health policy, which has negative effects on livelihoods, hinders access to essential items, and increases exposure; (2) finding alternatives to complete border closure as cross-border trading supplies many essential items; and (3) implementing monetary programs in two phases: when crisis hits, to supplement loss of income and ensure food security and after the crisis peaks, accompanying slums and informal economies’ recovery process listening to needs, complementing assets, and contributing to development in their own terms.