Zimbabwe Flashcards
In the 1960s & 70s, what was encouraged?
Rural-urban migration due to social and economic opportunities
Todaro (1971)
Argued people migrated for long-term aspirations
Would work in informal sector for meantime
Economy dominated by…
Industry and mining
Zimbabwe were seen to take on SAPs as…
‘Voluntary’ - BUT argued there was pressure from IFIs e.g. Britain with held funds if country was economically ‘illiberal’
Political elites persuaded - economic prosperity & luxury goods
SAPs caused
Loss of subsidies & loss of Minimum wage –> urban poverty
Increased unemployment
Net-migration out of cities (urban-rural)
Decline in health
Marginalisation of women
What were urban livelihoods like in Harare?
NO LONGER SITE OF ECON. OPPORTUNITY
Worsened by migration
Cost of living = higher
Standard of living higher - due to infra, education, access to water & housing quality
Independence
1980
SAPs imposed
1990s
Economic collapse led to…
Many to leave country –> due to food insecurity
In Harare - reconfigured rural-urban relations - urban more reliant on rural –> food transfers lessened
What caused the economic collapse?
ESAPs
Extreme drought 1982/83
Unbudgeted military spending
Corruption
What year did Zimbabwe plunge into debt and ask IMF for a loan?
1988
4 stages of economic and social policy
Gibbon 1995
- Econ boom 1980-82
- Econ recessions 1982-86
- 1986-90 Econ growth
4 1990s SAPs
When did Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front merge?
1987
What did the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) do?
Strong role of state - 1965-79
Invested heavily in domestic industry e.g. clothing
Classic modernisation techs - didn’t open to Global N
What happened in the first decade of independence? (1980-91)
Nationalised nothing
Money into health & women’s health
Good education
Giant econ output
When was the 5 year plan and what did it do?
1985-90
Strong role of state
Continued UDI govts economic constraints
When was the Framework for economic reform (FER)?
1991
Reduced budgets, opened markets, phased out exports & promo schemes, price controls off import goods
How much did GDP fall by in 1992?
7.7%
Policy mistakes and external shocks resulted in…
public debt accumulation –> budget deficits –> NATIONAL CRISIS 1997 - Zim dollar plummeted –> Food price increase –> strikes
What was announced just before 2nd SAP credit from WB?
War veterans compensation and pensions (3% GDP)
Zimbabwe = good example of
devastating effects of carrying out policies that ignore market mechanism
How much was inflation in 2003?
400%
What were the policy mistakes?
- Real treasury bill - macroeconomic instability –> contributed to balloon interest rate payments on govts debt
- Long term bonds - interest dropped -30%
- Controls on basic commodities = bad strategy
- Didn’t relinquish fuel price –> losses
- Paid no attention to policy restrictions - let debt get out of hand!
When was land reform introduced?
1980 - after liberation ended
How much resettlement did model A (Uniform family based holdings) account for?
93%
Main objectives of land reform (6)
- Alleviate population pressure in CA
- Improve productivity
- Improve living in poorest sector
- Redistribution –> opportunities for landless
- Improve infra of economic production
- National Stability
1980 =
dualistic economy & inequitable
5000-6000 large-scale commercial farmers occupied 15.5 mil of land (46%)
How many families have been resettled since 1980?
70 000
Outcomes of Land reform:
- Higher incomes & more equally distributed incomes
- Values of livestock, crop production and food expenditure = higher & more equal
- Rely less on remittances
- Child nutrition suffered
- Reduced income variability
What are the key themes?
SAPS - Land reform - Urban livelihoods - Migration - Circular migration - Poverty
Potts (2005)
Urban povt in Harare - accelerated since 1990s
No longer site of econ opportunity
Negative change in livelihoods
Mswelanto (2013)
ESAPs - shattering infant econ, also due to drought 82/83 –> inflation & military spending & corruption
Potts (2010)
Talks about Harare - fall in security
Circular migration - push-pull = useful argument
3 broad changes: growth 60s/70s, oil crisis - reversed trend –> stagnation (SAPs)
Riddell (1990)
WB argued that slow down of econ due to state involvement –> solution = liberalisation
Riddell argues against - saying worldwide decline in demand - global recession - import restrictions
