Coping with economic crisis in Zimbabwe

A political and economic crisis has been unfolding in Zimbabwe in the past decade. The media have reported the crisis, highlighting the sometimes physical confrontation between the opposition and the ruling party as well as the country’s skyrocketing inflation. Yet such general stories only allow us to guess what is happening on the ground and do not say much about the challenges, difficulties and opportunities ordinary Zimbabweans are facing due to disintegrating food, input, labour and output markets. At present, there is virtually no primary fieldwork-based research going on that can answer pressing questions regarding household and individual well-being in the rural areas. This project aims to fill this gap by conducting a study into the impact of the crisis in rural farming areas, specifically on processes of impoverishment and accumulation. The study is based on case-study fieldwork that links up to previous survey data collection for the Zimbabwe Rural Household Dynamics Study (ZRHDS).