ActionAid International Southern Africa Partnership Programme (SAPP-Zimbabwe)
Box 5: judging the severity of food insecurity
to this may be due to the destruction of livelihoods and the preoccupation that members
of communities find themselves in meeting survival strategies. Again households hosting
orphans and female headed households according to the survey results were more likely
to cite this as one aspect affected by the operation. This therefore suggests that there is a
greater likelihood of future school enrolment as a result of the Operation in households
hosting orphans and female headed households. Other factors apart from pupil
dislocation also include teacher dislocation, failure of children to sit for exams in June,
disruption of children friends, problems accessing schools because of persistent fuel
shortages coupled with increased transport cost.
3.4.4
Property
During the Operation
Table 8: Proportion of households affected by Murambatsvina, property
was lost as security of
Operation Murambatsvina
household property was
Area
Property (%)
Health (%)
compromised, breakage
Harare
46
21
of property as a direct
Bulawayo
47
34
result of the demolitions,
Mutare
70
56
property seized by the
Kariba
47
31
police and council police.
Beitbridge
31
7
Furthermore,
some
Victoria Falls
39
10
artisans sold products at
Overall
48
26
give away prices in order
to minimize losses as a result of the Operation. Forty eight percent (48%) of homesteads
visited reported that they had incurred losses of property.
Apart from Mutare that recorded a high of 70% of the sample that had lost property,
other surveyed areas recorded almost similar results (Table 8). Generally, households
assets are used as a source of revenue in extreme cases, now with the loss of property,
this can only mean that household security and safety needs had been reduced.
Nonetheless no apparent difference was noted for the type of household and the
vulnerability category in this respect.
3.4.5 Health
The well being of the community is one important indicator of social wellbeing. And as
such the survey explored how individuals had coped health wise, after Operation
Murambatsvina. It is noted that slightly over 26% of people interviewed, attributed the
deterioration of health of their loved ones as a direct result of the Operation. Moreover,
considering the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe, it would be safe to assume
that individuals who were receiving comprehensive treatment (ARTs) and quality support
(food, HBC, counselling) had lost these services as a result of the Operation. These two
aspects are further interrogated in following sections. Fifty four percent (54%) of
households hosting chronically ill persons claimed that chronically ill individual health
had further deteriorated as a result of the Operation.
3.4.6 Food security
Understanding the severity of food insecurity is essential for determining the best type of
response. In livelihoods approach the best type of approach, the severity of food
Zimbabwe Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order National Survey Report
21
Select target paragraph3
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