The objective of the study was to capture the challenges that are faced by young informal traders in Bindura town, Zimbabwe. The study was motivated by the lack of attention to the challenges faced by young informal traders by the governing authorities at local and national level. We believe our study extends the understanding of the challenges faced by young informal traders, drawing on their everyday experiences and the navigation of the complex challenges they face. Deploying a qualitative research approach with in-depth interviews, focus group discussion and documentary analysis as data generation tools, the study found that young informal traders face several challenges that include lack of capital and harassment from municipal authorities as well as lack of mentoring and competition from established traders. Thus, the study established and concluded that within this difficult environment, young entrepreneurs employ different survival strategies such as raising capital from friends and relatives, relying on multifarious mentoring and coaching programmes from various sources. The paper recommends that government and private sector take up responsibility in nurturing these young entrepreneurs.

This article discusses the principles and practice of monitoring and evaluation and emphasises that monitoring and evaluation (M and E) is paraphernalia for effective development. The discourse of monitoring and evaluation in development practice and theory has gained prominence over the years. It is uncontested that the purveyors of development are increasingly prioritising monitoring and evaluation as a platform for learning and accountability. This growing importance has been caused by the growing voice of the civil society’s scrutiny on good governance, and a demand for efficient public administration. At the same time, a plethora of development funders demand that M and E be implemented as a platform for learning and accountability. Despite growing importance of M and E, there seems to be a lack of clarity on the principles of M and E. The article finds its value in locating how M and E, augmented by appropriate principles, leads to effective development. Underlined by qualitative data collection methods, the article discusses relevant principles such as learning, accountability, participatory approaches, quality assurance, and reporting in monitoring and evaluation.

In this paper, the author applies the Sustainable Livelihood Framework (SLF) to unravel the complexities inherent in the ‘Zimbabwean Crisis’. When unravelled from the SLF, the ‘Zimbabwean Crisis 2000-2008’ portrays a decimation of various forms of capital–financial, social, human, physical and natural–and forced Zimbabweans to innovate, show resourcefulness and ingenuity in generating various forms of capital to survive the scathing crisis. Broadly, the kukiya kiya strategy has received little scholarly study and despite various survival strategies inherent in the kukiya kiya strategy. The kukiya kiya livelihood strategy prominence is seen in its adoption across the broad spectrum of society–educated, uneducated, employed, and unemployed, women, and men, young and old. The study of kukiya kiya livelihood strategy is important because it sustained thousands of households as the Zimbabwean formal sector collapsed. This reality is largely unappreciated in literature.

This paper analyses the potential contributions of volunteers to community development. Little is known about the contribution of volunteers to community development although almost every non-governmental organisation in Zimbabwe relies on volunteers. This research used a qualitative approach with in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions to collect data from community volunteers, officials of non-governmental organisations, and government officials. Community volunteers play an important role in driving and sustaining community development. The researcher established that volunteers act as an intermediary between the community and non-governmental organisations. Moreover, activities like the targeting of beneficiaries and the implementation of activities are unthinkable without the involvement of volunteers. Despite volunteers’ importance, there are serious drawbacks that influence the effective contribution of volunteers to community development. Volunteers disable community development through corruption, polarisation, falsifying reports and a lethargic approach to work. These drawbacks contradict the ubuntu value system that underlines the concept of volunteerism. Some of the drawbacks can be rectified by incentivising community volunteers, and by recruiting volunteers with acceptable levels of literacy.

This article is a theoretical interrogation and appreciation of the relationship that hitherto exists between the dependency theory and donor aid. A number of scholars have heaped aspersions on the relevance of the dependency theory. This article argues that dependency theory is still relevant and has flared in this current epoch. Donor aid has emerged as a symbol of dependency, supporting the argument on the relevance of dependency theory. Donor aid has emerged as a nuanced form of dependency on western countries. Dependency theory, which originated in the 1950s, has Singer and Prebisch as the progenitors— and emerged as a result of the growing dissatisfaction with modernity theories that had propounded that economic growth in developed countries was similarly going to lead to unabated growth and development in poorer countries. The theory is premised on resources being extracted from poorer countries to enrich wealthy nations. The continuation of this scenario has resulted in a situation where poverty has been exacerbated among the poorer nations, while the wealthy nations are becoming richer. . Donor aid has, in a plethora of ways, enriched the rich countries while dialectically impoverishing poor countries. It is not an exaggeration that donor money that is being extended to Third World countries, has created more employment, demand for goods and services in richer countries than in poorer countries, thus perpetuating underdevelopment in the latter. Donor aid has undoubtedly, been used as a rod to whip Third World countries at variance, with self-serving interests.  On the other hand, the insatiable desire for aid has forced the poorer countries to submit to the dictates of the richer countries.