ActionAid International - Combined Harare Residents’ Association - A Study on the impact of “Operation Murambatsvina/Restore Order” respectively. Furthermore, worryingly, was the increased incidence rate in non attendance rates for households hosting orphans against those not hosting orphans (40% vs. 14%). 3.2 Livelihoods Currently, Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis. Consequently unemployment is estimated at above 70%. The respondents were asked what their primary source of income was before the Operation. Secondary information suggests that the Operation has had an adverse effect on the livelihoods. A majority (73%) of urban dwellers were engaged in informal trading 5 prior to Operation Murambatvsina/Restore Order from the sample. Households derive income from a number of different sources. Figure 1 shows the proportion of households in the survey and their primary sources of income prior to the Operation. The primary sources of livelihood that have were cited to have been disrupted (73%) as a result of the Operation from the sample include: tuck shop ownership (9%), flea market (11%), fruit and vegetable vending (17%), offering accommodation (18%), cross border trader (6%) and petty trade (5%) such as sale of firewood. It is approximately 2 months since the Operation commenced and to date individuals are still waiting for police clearance, operating licenses from council, the construction and allocation of vending stalls. Considering that informal trading contributions towards the family are not large, one wonders how these people are currently managing with no income for the past two months in such a hype-inflationary country. Figure 1: Livelihoods before the Operation A further in depth analysis reveals that a majority of the Begging respondents in the 5 Cross border trader vulnerable categories, Petty trade primary source on Rentals income lies in the Formal salary informal sector Skille trade (range 91% - 100%). Vending This gives credence Tuck shop to the claims that the Operation has had Flea Market massive negative remittance impact on families 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% that were relying on Proportion (%) informal trading as a livelihood. Moreover, considering these would naturally have high dependency ratios (, fewer coping strategies access to social protection and safety nets. Income sources vary somewhat by strata (Table 5). Male and female-headed households vary most in the percentage that receive income from the formal sector (18% vs. 9%). Households with chronically ill members mimic closely the general population, while households hosting orphans rely less on formal employment, slightly more on vending and petty trade. Source of income No source of income 5 Informal trading includes; flea market, tuck shop, vending, skilled/artisan, offering accommodation, and petty trade. 8