I was pointed to an intriguing World Bank report recently–Creating markets in Zimbabwe: Mobilizing the private sector in support of economic transformation – that came out earlier this year. It is striking in a number of ways. Not only is it rather positive about the private sector, especially in agriculture, but it also is honest and realistic about the important role of the informal economy. It offers I think some important pointers for the future.
Zimbabwe aspires to be a middle-income country by 2030, similar to Egypt, Turkey, South Africa or Indonesia. For anyone living and working in Zimbabwe this frankly seems far-fetched, but the World Bank seems surprisingly positive, especially around agriculture’s potentials. For example, the report finds that Zimbabwe is highly competitive in several agricultural value chains including sugar, cotton, horticulture, as well as meat and dairy. Yet informality, it argues, restricts potential, even if the informal sector generates jobs and livelihoods on a mammoth scale.
This article is from Zimbabweland, a blog written by IDS Research Fellow Ian Scoones. Zimbabweland focuses on issues related to rural livelihoods and land reform in Zimbabwe.
