Negotiating Livelihoods from the Margins During the Covid19 Pandemic: A Case of Informal Cross-Border Traders in Harare Zimbabwe

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe was characterised by periods of stringent lockdowns that were sometimes relaxed to ameliorate the effects on vulnerable members of the society’s livelihoods. These hard and soft lockdowns conditions, however, negatively impacted informal cross- border traders whose operations depended on continued movement across the borders. This study examines the coping mechanisms and livelihood responses employed by Informal Cross-Border Traders (ICBTs) in Zimbabwe during the COVID-19 pandemic era. This qualitative-oriented study was conducted in Harare with both women and men involved in informal cross- border trade during the COVID-19 crisis. The study employs the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and the Theory of Habitus, Capital and Field as propounded by Pierre Bourdieu (1984) as theoretical optics in explaining and understanding coping mechanisms employed by the ICBTs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research established that pandemic-induced crises can bring a host of challenges to ICBTs as livelihoods are destroyed, income levels decrease and vulnerability to poverty deepens. This is particularly the case with small businesses that are less socially, economically and financially established or networked to withstand a crisis. The COVID-19 crisis resulted in some ICBTs winding up their operations, failing to recover and falling back into the poverty trap. Thus, the study recommends inclusive social protection in national budgets and development plans, strengthening the systems of curbing sexual harassment, corruption and bribery, infrastructure modernisation, financial inclusion, strengthening legislative and policy frameworks and establishment of emergence response systems and protocols.