Youths, livelihoods and covid-19: the Old Highfields case in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Abstract

Despite the vast existence of several studies on youths and livelihoods, there is dearth of research on COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown effects on youths in the informal sector. The purpose of this research was to ascertain the youth’s knowledge and practice of COVID-19 in Old Highfields, Harare. This qualitative study explored the main issues raised by youths in the informal sector in regard to the challenges they are facing due to COVID-19 public health response as mandated by Statutory Instrument 83 of 2020. All participants were from Old Highfields operating at Machipisa shopping centre, Nyandoro main road and Willovale road. The Resilience Theory was used as the main theoretical framework guiding this study. Participants were purposively selected and fourteen in-depth semi-structured online interviews and an online focus group discussion were conducted. Data were analysed from recurring themes during collection. The study revealed that youths in Old Highfield had rich knowledge and practice on COVID-19 symptoms and preventative measures. Online interviews with youths in the informal sector revealed a decline in their livelihoods and rights due to the induced national lockdown. Youths in the informal sector are being disregarded and are not included as essential workers. The study revealed that Zimbabwe's government has no respect for human rights, and youth is one of the categories of society whose socio-economic rights are not recognised. It was found in the study that youth are showing their full potentials of channeling in new modes of survival and quickly adapting to technology when doing business. From youths’ experiences, one can therefore, conclude that many of them are languishing in poverty due to their physical business premises being closed because of COVID-19 induced national lockdown. There is need for further research focusing on COVID-19 and its impacts on all sectors of society and marginalised groups.