Article
Version 1
This version is not peer-reviewed
Socio-economic Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Smallholder Livelihoods in Zimbabwe
David Mhlanga
Emmanuel Ndhlovu
Version 1
: Received: 13 April 2020 / Approved: 14 April 2020 / Online: 14 April 2020 (08:50:30 CEST)
How to cite: Mhlanga, D.; Ndhlovu, E. Socio-economic Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Smallholder Livelihoods in Zimbabwe. Preprints 2020, 2020040219 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202004.0219.v1). Mhlanga, D.; Ndhlovu, E. Socio-economic Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Smallholder Livelihoods in Zimbabwe. Preprints 2020, 2020040219 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202004.0219.v1).
Abstract
The article revisits previous viruses such as Ebola to extrapolate the socio-economic implications of the COVID-19. Using secondary sources and the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) to guide understanding, the article argues that unless measures are put in place to safeguard smallholder activities in Zimbabwe, COVID-19 has the potential to reproduce the same catastrophic implications created by Ebola in West African countries where peasant food systems where shattered and livelihoods strategies maimed. With a perceptible withdrawal of the government from small-scale farming towards large-scale capital intensive operations, smallholders could now be even more vulnerable. The article concludes that social assistance should now be intensified to protect its vulnerable population from the ravages of COVID-19.
Subject Areas
COVID-19; livelihoods; smallholders; Zimbabwe
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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