Unemployment, drug abuse, early marriages hamstring urban youths

Harare, (New Ziana) – Unemployment, drug and substance abuse and early marriages are the major challenges faced by youths in urban areas, a recent government survey has found.

These findings are contained in the Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee (ZimLAC) 2024 Urban Livelihoods and Nutrition Assessment report presented to Cabinet on Tuesday.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Dr Jenfan Muswere said Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka presented the report to cabinet together with the second round crops, livestock and fisheries assessment findings.

“The main youth development challenges reported by surveyed households are unemployment; drug and substance abuse; and early marriages,” said Dr Muswere. “The surveyed youths indicated that their priorities are job creation; income-generating activities; vocational training or skills development; and start-up capital or loans.”

The 2024 ZimLAC Urban Livelihoods and Nutrition Assessment was conducted to estimate the urban population likely to be food insecure in 2024, their geographic distribution and the severity of their food insecurity, assess the status of nutrition among the urban population in order to facilitate evidence-based decision-making and programming for better nutrition outcomes.

It is also meant to determine access to basic services such as education, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, sources of income, expenditure patterns, food consumption patterns and consumption coping strategies.

He said the assessment established that 65 percent of urban households are food secure, while 35 percent are food insecure with the proportion of food insecure households translating to 1 732 770 people.

Regarding urban nutrition assessment, the survey found the household dietary diversity score to be high across all provinces with 79 percent of households at the national level consuming five or more food groups.

Seventy one percent of urban households were found to consume acceptable diets which include meat, fish, eggs complemented by other foods such as pulses, fruits and milk.

The second round crops, livestock and fisheries assessment report confirmed that both agricultural production and productivity for the 2023/2024 agricultural season were severely negatively impacted by the El Nino induced drought.

“The whole of the Southern African region experienced drought induced by El Nino season, although Zimbabwe seemed to be the epicenter for the phenomenon,” said Dr Muswere.

“A total of 1 777 540ha was planted to maize in the 2023/2024 season, which represents a seven percent reduction on the target area of 1 782 000ha.

“The area planted to maize was 12 percent lower than the previous year, and this was a reflection of agro-ecological tailoring, which entails a shift to traditional grains in drier regions. There was a 16 percent increase in the hectarage planted under traditional crops from 533 625 hectares to 621 048 hectares.

“Cumulatively, the area under cereals (maize and traditional grains) was 2 496 201 hectares, and was initially expected to yield 2 579 237 metric tonnes. “However, a 77 percent reduction in production to 744 271 metric tonnes is estimated for the 2023/2024 summer season, indicating a major shortfall for both food and stock feed. In anticipation of the severity of the impact of the El Nino phenomenon and the consequent reduction in the volume of cereals produced to feed the nation, His Excellency the President, Cde. Dr. E.D. Mnangagwa declared a State of Disaster on 2 April 2024,” said Dr Muswere.

New Ziana