Poverty among women in Zimbabwe: The case of the Xangani women in Chikombedzi rural communities

This study was undertaken to investigate the causes of poverty among women in Chikombedzi, Masvingo. Zimbabwe. The quest to identify the causes of the failure of positive change to the lives of women in Chikombedzi was the motivation behind this research. A descriptive study was conducted using a mixed design to solicit respondents’ views, opinions and sentiments through the use of questionnaires and interviews. The study established that Xangani women were side-lined in all economic activities. Lack of academic and professional qualifications as well as culture were identified as limitations that affected women’s economic status. The study recommends education programmes that target girls and women to promote basic skills of reading and writing since most women in Chikombedzi lack such skills; women in Chikombedzi need to organise themselves into a women organisation advocating for women rights in their communities; civil society should come up with advocacy programmes that target both women and men so as to change the mind-set of the whole community on how they view women; and there is need for the alignment of traditional leadership with the rights of women as enshrined in the constitution of Zimbabwe and other global agreements such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Key words: poverty, women, Xangani, Chikombedzi, rural communities, discrimination, Masvingo