The case of Zimbabwe’s extreme poverty levels

ExTREME poverty is defined as a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs while poverty entails the state of being poor.

Although the two are closely related, extreme poverty denotes a situation that is more severe and intense than just poverty.

For the sake of contextualisng, this weekly review defines poverty as two-dimensional.

The first one is poverty and the second one is extreme poverty.

The word extreme poverty is used deliberately to bring to light the scale and magnitude of poverty.

Thus, for the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd) extreme poverty entails an accumulation of insecurities due to one’s failure to enjoy basic human rights such as safe drinking water, food, health, shelter, sanitation, and education culminating in a cycle of poverty passed down from one generation to the other.

Extreme poverty can be natural or man-made as it involves deliberate or unintended social exclusion of citizens.

For the United Nations, is living on less than US$1,90 a day.

Therefore, now that extreme poverty has been contextualised, it is critical to examine the same and ascertain

whether it is man-made or a result of circumstances beyond human control.

Food Insecurity: Food insecurity has remained one of the major challenges encountered by Zimbabweans across the country.

According to the 2022 ZimVAC Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report, approximately 38% of rural households are food insecure a number that is greatly disputable if one is to considered that more than half of the entire country is in extreme poverty.

Matabeleland North has the highest food insecurity with 58% of households in need of food support.

Some of the areas within the same province with the most insecure households are Hwange which has 73%, Binga 71%, and Buhera 75%.

The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency supports the above verdict by indicating that, “91% of Zimbabweans can no longer afford protein-rich food such as meat and are largely surviving on vegetables such as rape, covo, and chomolia, among others they can now afford”.

To this end, because the above statistics on food insecurity are mainly generated from state-sponsored or controlled research entities, it is with no doubt that the figures might be greatly conservative.

The situation might be worse than what the government is publishing.

This is because the World Bank ranks Zimbabwe first in the top 10 countries hit hardest by food inflation in the world.

All in all, the question of whether extreme poverty is man-made or not, generates a lot of emotions and controversy.

It is a question that is better understood by one that has been subjected to it.

While according to a 2023 Rapid Poverty Income Consumption and Expenditure Survey by ZimStats states that 40% of the population is exposed to extreme poverty there has not been any form of agency from the government to address the same.

Government social spending has remained wanting with respect to Basic Education Module Assistance, Harmonised Cash Transfer, Child Protection, and Health Assistance Programs to mention but a few

Therefore, bringing to light the question of the government`s sincerity in addressing extreme poverty.

The million-dollar questions become; is the government failing to redress extreme poverty or it is just policy inertia?

Is extreme poverty a manifestation of multifaceted governance miscarriage? Are there any possible actionable interventions that could have been adopted to address extreme poverty?