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The engagement by households in the informal economy is not only a headache to local authorities in the developing countries but also heartache to the households themselves (comprising students, full-time street vendors, and formal private or public officials. This paper maps the diversity of ethical dilemmas which households and practitioners unde...
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... Spatial agglomeration of economic activities has been discussed, debated and narrated, yet, very few studies have attempted to derive and quantify the economic benefit that may arise or induced because of this agglomeration. The key research hypotheses emanating from this study are that, Chirisa (2007;2008;2009a;2009b; published extensively on informality in Zimbabwe and his works provide the basis for understanding the resilience, geography, behaviour, direction, and ethical dilemmas of urban informality in Harare. Inspired by the ground-breaking and follow-up work on classification of the informal sector in Harare by Dube and Chirisa (2012), this section focuses on the spatiality of informality and manufacturing in Zimbabwe. ...
... In Zimbabwe, informal entrepreneurship is now the most dominant form of economy that many households are relying on to earn income. Studies conducted by Chirisa (2009) and Dube and Chirisa (2012) in Zimbabwe revealed that many entrepreneurial activities being conducted in urban areas targeted income generation for households. These include activities by street vendors, cobblers, hawkers, foreign currency exchange dealers, cross-border traders, and various home industries such as salons, renting out rooms to tenants, part-time jobs, urban farming, carpentry, sculpting, brick molding and street car washing (ZEPARU, 2014:12). ...
Informal entrepreneurship is a source of livelihood which provides employment and income to poor households in Chitungwiza Municipality in Zimbabwe. The dominant entrepreneurial activities are street vending, foreign currency exchange, urban farming, and home industries and cross border trading. The research approach that underpins this study is a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative. A semi-structured questionnaire and an interview guide were the instruments used in collecting data. The study sample was made up of 156 respondents that comprised informal entrepreneurs, social workers, municipal officials and community development practitioners from Chitungwiza Municipality. The findings revealed that few informal entrepreneurs are benefitting whereas the majority are failing to improve household income due to stiff competition, limited funding, poor infrastructure and harsh municipal policies. The paper recommends that the government of Zimbabwe should build infrastructure (shelters) for the informal entrepreneurs in their designated area of work.
... In Zimbabwe, informal entrepreneurship is now the most dominant form of economy that many households are relying on to earn income. Studies conducted by Chirisa (2009) and Dube and Chirisa (2012) in Zimbabwe revealed that many entrepreneurial activities being conducted in urban areas targeted income generation for households. These include activities by street vendors, cobblers, hawkers, foreign currency exchange dealers, cross-border traders, and various home industries such as salons, renting out rooms to tenants, part-time jobs, urban farming, carpentry, sculpting, brick molding and street car washing (ZEPARU, 2014:12). ...
Informal entrepreneurship is a source of livelihood which provides employment and income to poor households in Chitungwiza Municipality in Zimbabwe. The dominant entrepreneurial activities are street vending, foreign currency exchange, urban farming, and home industries and cross border trading. The research approach that underpins this study is a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative. A semi-structured questionnaire and an interview guide were the instruments used in collecting data. The study sample was made up of 156 respondents that comprised informal entrepreneurs, social workers, municipal officials and community development practitioners from Chitungwiza Municipality. The findings revealed that few informal entrepreneurs are benefitting whereas the majority are failing to improve household income due to stiff competition, limited funding, poor infrastructure and harsh municipal policies. The paper recommends that the government of Zimbabwe should build infrastructure (shelters) for the informal entrepreneurs in their designated area of work.
... This era witnessed the indigenous majority manipulating the urban space where residential development expanded to accommodate the rural migrants. Administratively, there was a replacement by the indigenous authorities of colonial local authorities, where in practice of their colonial correction era they overstayed their honeymoon (Dube and Chirisa, 2012;Chirisa, 2009). Like other African cities, Harare became a city of people of all occupations calling for expanded infrastructure provision. ...
The state of the city of Harare in terms of its present general outlook and critical analysis of its carrying capacity as a colonial city tends to perpetuate an ingrained myth among urban planners and the common people alike that planning has failed the former so called sunshine-city. Yet such a view treats with amnesia the wealth in the elasticity of planning as an instrument for change as well as a strategic force to command and direct the trajectory of cities. It is in this context that this paper discusses the elasticity of planning of Harare as anchored on a complex but well-knit constellation of the factors of good urban governance and political will. These can allow for urban reform and smart transformation. A close look at the city after 1980 shows that the city of Harare has been subjected to much bickering, contestations and intergovernmental impositions of policy hence it exemplifies policy from above as opposed to policy from below. This is largely explained by the central government's hard and fast wrenching control in directing the affairs of the city hence negating the role of the residents' needs and wants. Recently the city has been facing several challenges, more than ever before, and the more critical challenge now is the adopted culture of colonial blaming rather that solving the deep seated problems of poor management approaches. The present study is skewed towards assessing the historical and contemporary socio-economic and political dynamics as far as they have inspired, championed, ignored, and arm-twisted planning. This has largely been to the detriment of the city. Thus, a vortex and maelstrom over the relevance of planning has been created which now requires planning to exonerate itself by proving its worthiness to the citizens and investors whose creeds and needs it has betrayed over the years.
... CALS, (2005) has noted that the majority of Ash Road women residents in Pietmaritsburg South Africa derive a living through the informal sector. This is the same situation in the urban areas of Zimbabwe, (Chirisa, 2009b). They sell food and merchandise and are dependent on jobs as day labourers or other jobs within the informal sector, where they are vulnerable to what can only be described as exploitation. ...
... Women in the informal sector are often caught in the crossfire of this confusion. In Zimbabwe the economic hardships brought about by Economic Adjustment Programme (ESAP) and the economy coupled with inflationary cycles and predominantly produced a socio-economic miasma (Chirisa, 2009b). A psycho-social analysis of the problems being faced by WIIS (Women in the informal sector) reveals that the informal traders are faced with a number of ethical dilemmas. ...
The paper characterises women in the informal sector in the peri-urban settlement by way of a case study of Ruwa. Qualitative methodologies, with a little mix of the positivist approach, were adopted. Forty women engaged in informal sector operations ranging from street (offplot) and on-plot activities were adopted. Challenges that these operators faced were noted as relating to elements (rain, wind, and the sun), service provision, marketing of products,and regulatory forces. It is recommended that all stakeholders dissect common issues and formulate poverty-tolerant strategies that are accommodative of the plight and challenges of the peri-urban women. Critical to note is strength of the will-power and resilience most of the
respondents displayed. The most important thing is perhaps of harnessing on this intrinsic
virtue to nurture and develop it for local developmental gain.
... The escape from official records implies economic leakage and free-riding. Chirisa (2009a) has observed that the informal sector in Harare, the capital city has been in a process of metamorphosis, with the actors surviving by this mode to living. They now employ various strategies, most to outdo the police who trouble them from all sides, evicting them from the places of choice. ...
... The majority of Ash Road women residents in Pietmaritsburg South Africa derive a living through the informal sector (CALS, 2005). This is the same situation in the urban areas of Zimbabwe (Chirisa, 2009b). They sell food and merchandise and are dependent on jobs as day labourers or other jobs within the informal sector, where they are vulnerable to what can only be described as exploitation. ...
... They sell food and merchandise and are dependent on jobs as day labourers or other jobs within the informal sector, where they are vulnerable to what can only be described as exploitation. The engagement by households in the informal economy is not only a headache to local authorities in the developing countries but also heartache to the households themselves... " (Chirisa 2009b:257). Women in the informal sector are often caught in the crossfire of this confusion. ...
... Women in the informal sector are often caught in the crossfire of this confusion. In Zimbabwe the economic hardships brought about by Economic Adjustment Programme (ESAP) and the economy coupled with inflationary cycles and predominantly produced a socio-economic miasma (Chirisa, 2009b). A psycho-social analysis of the problems being faced by WIIS (Women in the informal sector) reveals that the informal traders are faced with a number of ethical dilemmas. ...
The paper maps and the struggles and challenges that women in the informal sector face in emerging satellite towns providing a case of Ruwa which is located some 20 kilometres from Harare the capital city of Zimbabwe. The study engaged forty women in informal sector and trading goods and services of various
types with the objective of eking a living given the constrained job market dictated upon by the unstable macro-economic environment in urban centres and the country at large. Simple random sampling was adopted to cover street (off-plot) and on-plot activities by the women in the settlement. Besides, non-probability sampling applied with some of the respondents who the research interviewed to let
the story of the realities of the women unfold. In their struggle to eke a living the women face and have to brace with challenges including exposure to elements weather (rain, wind, and the sun), service provision, marketing of products, and regulatory forces. Given the macro-economic stability the country has been facing since the year 2000, some of the stakeholders like the town council and private actors in Ruwa have been on a precarious position to offer services. The industry and other employment sectors are operating below capacity. Despite this ‘freeze’ situation, stakeholders can still work together inclusive of the women in the informal sectors to create a forum of dialogue. Through dialogue, it is possible to formulate poverty-Reduction strategies that are accommodative of the plight and challenges of the peri-urban women and coin that in local developmental planning.
This chapter considers the evolution of the role of Zimbabwean cross-border traders against a backdrop of the development of the informal economy, whose significance in Zimbabwe has increased since the colonial era. It highlights the changes in the demographics of traders, the nature of goods traded and the countries in which cross-border traders operate. Importantly, it highlights the significance of cross-border trade in providing access to outside markets for local producers in other countries, matching supply and demand across borders, and promoting food security. The chapter demonstrates that despite their significant socio-economic role, the position of cross-border traders in Zimbabwean law is at best ambivalent.
The study assessed the role and importance of Local Economic Development as a means of enhancing urban development paying particular attention to the regulators of Local Economic Development in Harare. Local Economic Development is a process which encourages partners from the community, public sector, private sector and non-governmental sectors to work collectively to create better conditions for economic growth and employment generation with the aim of improving the locality economic future and the quality of life for all citizens. The study was premised on the theory of competitive advantage which puts up that prosperity and wealth creation is determined by microeconomic factors and that prosperity means increasing the standards of living for the local people and ultimately their quality of life. Primary data for the research was gathered through observation and key informant interviews. Data on key stakeholders understanding on the concept of Local Economic Development, how it is being practised and how the current regulatory framework enhance or impinge on local people’s participation in Local Economic Development was collected. Secondary data was also collected from Harare’s 2014 budget, census and existing forward plans. The study revealed that the practice of Local Economic Development in Harare is biased towards the setting aside of land zoned for industrial and commercial uses and implementation of development control parameters. Small to Medium Enterprises and the informal sector have also been identified as the major forms of Local Economic Development that citizens are involved in. However, the study revealed that proper policy frameworks which guide practice of Local Economic Development initiatives were missing
