Cover Images: (L) © George Zimbizi / CARE and (R) © Gift Bvekwa/ CARE

Gender Analysis Report
Takunda Resilience Food Security Activity
Study Authors: Sunungurai D. Chingarande (PhD), George Zimbizi andAgnes Nyakujawa
Date: December 2nd 2021
Disclaimer
This publication is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the UnitedStates Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of CARE and do
not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge Opper Maravanyika, Conrad Murendo, Walter Mwaasa, Charmaine
Chitate, Archibald Chikavhanga, Otilia Nyamkure, Reginald Sithole, Delilah Takawira, Andrew Patterson
and CARE USA Technical Advisors for their review comments and editorial support. The Takunda program
staff and program participants are acknowledged for their cooperation and support during the field work.

Takunda Resilience Food Security Activity: Award #72DFFP20CA00007 | Gender Analysis Report | iTable of Contents

List of Tables .............................................................................................................................................................. iii
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................................ iii
List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................................ iv
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................................v
Recommendations ......................................................................................................................................................x
1. Introduction and Background ............................................................................................................................... 1
1.1. Project Background ......................................................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Context Setting .................................................................................................................................................. 1
1.3 Objectives and Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 10
2. Design and Methods ............................................................................................................................................ 10
2.1 Design ................................................................................................................................................................ 10
2.2 Study Sites ....................................................................................................................................................... 11
2.3 Study Population ............................................................................................................................................ 11
2.4 Process and Methods of Data Collection ................................................................................................. 11
2.5 Data Management, Coding, and Analysis.................................................................................................. 16
2.6 Quality Assurance Measures ....................................................................................................................... 16
2.7 Ethical Guidelines and COVID-19 Context ................................................................................................. 16
2.8 Limitations ....................................................................................................................................................... 16
3. Gender Analysis Findings..................................................................................................................................... 17
3.1 Gender Roles, Responsibilities, Mobility Constraints, and Time Use ................................................ 17
3.2 Patterns of Power and Decision-making in the Home .......................................................................... 21
3.3 Access to and Control of Productive Assets and Resources ................................................................ 27
3.4 Access to Services, Participation in Leadership and Decision-making in Public Spaces ............. 31
3.5 Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 ................................................................................................................... 38
3.5 Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Mitigation Including Early/Child Marriage .................... 38
3.6 Gendered Impacts of Disasters, Shocks, and Stressors........................................................................ 42
3.7 Gender Capacity among Consortium Partners ........................................................................................ 45
4. Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................................... 46
5. Key Learnings ........................................................................................................................................................47
6. Recommendations ................................................................................................................................................47
7. Data collection tools............................................................................................................................................. 51

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List of Tables

Table 1: Youth Unemployment Figures 2019, Zimbabwe ..................................................................................................... 3
Table 2: Percentage of Women aged 15-49 who experienced any form of violence from 2005 - 2019 ...........................6
Table 3: Pregnancies registered between January 1st and February 5th 2021.....................................................................8
Table 4: Sampled Wards in each district ............................................................................................................................ 11
Table 5: Survey respondents reached by method of data collection .............................................................................. 14
Table 6: Patterns of Household Asset Access and Control and Access to Community Resources in the Takunda
districts .................................................................................................................................................................................28
Table 7: Gender capacity assessment of Takunda partners ............................................................................................45

List of Figures
Figure 1: Early childbearing by province (left) and by wealth quintile (right) - MICS 2019 ....................................... 7

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List of Acronyms
AGRITEX
CEDAW
DDC
FGD
FTLRP
GA
GBV
GDP
GMB
GoZ
HH
HIV
ICT
IGA
ILO
LFCLS
MP
NGO
SADC
SDG
SGBV
TREE
ZDHS

Agriculture Extension
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against WomenDistrict Development Coordinator
Focus Group Discussion
Fast Track Land Reform Program
Gender Analysis
Gender-Based Violence
Gross Domestic Product
Grain Marketing Board
Government of Zimbabwe
Household Head
Human Immune Virus
Information Communication Technology
Income-generating Activity
International Labor Organization
Labor Force and Child Labor Survey
Member of Parliament
Non-Governmental Organization
Southern African Development Community
Sustainable Development Goal
Sexual and Gender-Based ViolenceTraining for Rural Economic Empowerment
Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey

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May 26, 2021: Shamiso Matava, a Youth Officer at Takunda, conducts an in-depth interview with a program participant in Chivi
district. © Gift Bvekwa/ CARE.

Executive Summary

This report presents the findings of the Gender Analysis of the Takunda Resilience Food Security Activity.
Takunda seeks to promote sustainable, equitable, and resilient food, nutrition, and income, directly
impacting 301,636 people in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces in Zimbabwe. The overall objective of
the Gender Analysis is to identify gender gaps, potential risks, and opportunities for women, men, female
and male youth (disaggregated by sex, age, and life stage). The Analysis investigated socio-cultural norms,
behaviors, and religious practices that influence patterns of power, decision-making, access to andcontrol of assets, and intra-household role distribution, and how these impact household food securities,
nutrition, and the ability to cope with stressors and shocks. Findings will inform adjustments to the Theoryof Change and the design of Takunda's Gender Strategy, which will include an action plan to respond togender equity gaps and negative gender stereotypes. The Gender Analysis (GA) was conducted using
participatory, qualitative, mixed methods with diverse groups of community members in selected districtsof Mutare (Manicaland), Zaka, and Chivi (Masvingo).

Key Findings by Thematic Area and Recommendations
Gender and generational inequalities characterize social relations between women and men and the
young and old generations in the three studied districts. These inequalities are rooted in patriarchal,cultural, and religious values, beliefs, and practices. The inequality manifests in all spheres of life,
including household decision-making; access to and control over household and community assets;
gender roles and responsibilities; participation in public decision-making; GBV; access and utilization ofservices; resilience to disasters, shocks, and stressors; and migration patterns. The situation was
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worsened by COVID-19 that followed a dire humanitarian crisis linked to drought, floods, crop failures,and macroeconomic challenges. The COVID-19 national lockdown led to the closure of companies andmobility restrictions resulting in loss of employment and livelihoods. Gender and generational inequality
have serious implications on income-generating and resilient livelihoods capacity, nutrition, maternaland child health, hygiene, and community resilience to disasters, shocks, and stressors. The populationgroups most negatively impacted by gender and generational inequality are women in general, young
married women, adolescent girls, and other female and male youth, including persons with disabilities.
While the study findings confirm what is known and already published, it had a deeper dive on issues
that unearthed unique and new information not known to the public domain. Below is a summary of key
findings by gender domain.

Gender Roles, Responsibilities, Mobility Constraints, and Time Use••

While the general picture shows women (young and older) getting involved in daily routine work
relating to domestic roles and household chores with men mostly engaged in productive
activities that generate income (as providers of financial resources), women in Mutare revealed
that men's involvement in women's roles increases with the use of technology where they may
have to use the wheelbarrow or scotch cart when fetching water and firewood. In some contexts,
men who engage in family and childcare activities suffer from stigma and discrimination and areusually labeled weaklings. Adult men in Mutare and Zaka Districts revealed that a few fathers
knew about the needs of teenage girls (such as access to sanitary pads) because a majority ofmen view these as women's role. Role distribution continues to shift and expand for women due
to widowhood, seasonal and long-term migration for men in search of greener pastures. This has
continuously increased women's time poverty as they become more involved in productive
activities as well. In Zaka, widowed and unmarried women thatch houses and dig wells because
they lack resources to hire labor or there is no adult male figure in the household to perform thetask. The expansion of women's roles is also owed to gender equality and women empowerment
work, spearheaded by government and Non-Governmental Organizations where women aredeliberately targeted for community development initiatives.
Mobility constraints and gender roles and responsibilities for women have continued to limit
their participation in profitable markets. In Mutare, women experience challenges accessing
transport and its associated costs when taking their grain to the nearest Grain Marketing Board
depots. At times it takes several days for the selling process to be completed, and therefore
women with young children find it difficult to be away from their children for days. This forcesthem to resort to local markets where prices are not competitive.

Patterns of Power and Decision-making in the Home•

Overly, the husbands' decisions always prevail regarding high-value assets (scotch carts, plough)and large livestock (cattle). In most male-headed households, household decision-making isdone jointly by husband and wife. In cases where there is no agreement on a particular decision,
the husband or wife's decision takes precedence depending on the livestock and crops they areculturally associated with. Elderly men in Mutare district conceded that their wives yield moredecision-making powers than them, attributing the shift of decision-making powers to theirgrown-up and working children who always support their mothers against their fathers when
disputes arise. Since the elderly men are dependent on these children for financial support, they
opt to relinquish their decision-making powers to their wives so that financial support continues
to flow in. Positive changes in trends were noted among young couples in Chivi, where young
married women make joint decisions with their husbands on major issues around householdincome. The young men even allow their wives to buy assets like cattle and register them in theirnames. This change is tied to transformative gender awareness and male engagement activities
implemented by several NGOs operating in the district, including CARE International under the
Enhancing Nutrition Stepping Up Resilience and Enterprise (ENSURE) activity.

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•

•

•

Women in polygamous families from the Apostolic and non-Apostolic sects have the flexibility tomake decisions on land use, livelihoods, and income-generating activities compared to those inmonogamous marriages since the husband takes it as a complex task to make such decisions on
the big family considering the number of wives some apostolic sect men of 'Johanne Marange'
can have (ten wives or more). The husband usually makes decisions on household income.
In de-jure female-headed households, women independently make all decisions as they are notaccountable to a male figure. It is easier for these female-headed households to seek election
into committees, make decisions to participate in training programs, and decide on selling or
acquiring household assets. The position is unique with married women who may want to seek
permission from their husbands to participate in training.
Young people across the three districts felt systematically excluded and marginalized fromparticipating in household decision-making by the older generation because they lack resources,
citing unemployment and limited opportunities to engage in meaningful economic activities as
primary reasons for their limited resources. The young people also indicated that the older
generation has a monopoly on household assets, including land. Middle-aged participants
appreciated the need to involve children and young people in household decision-making.

Access to and Control over Productive Assets and resources
•

•

•

•

One's roles and responsibilities in the household determines the assets they control. While men
have control over high-value household assets, women have control over assets of lesser value.
The pattern differs for poorly resourced households where men want to control decisions
involving assets that are generally considered to be women's (goats and chicken, household
utensils, etc.). In such instances where there are no high productive assets and resources in thehome, the available assets cease to be individualized.
Most women with control over cattle have received the 'motherhood cow' (mombe yehuMai),
which comes as part of the bride price for their daughter who is getting married. There is a
general belief of 'ngozi' (avenging spirit-mishaps) that comes with this cow if culture is notprocedurally followed. Ultimately men avoid accommodating the cow into the family kraal forcing
the wife to send it to her relatives. There is also a culture of a woman's belongings being taken
to her relatives when they are deceased, leaving the children with nothing. This has grossly
contributed to some men not permitting their wives to own assets of high value.
Young people's access and control of productive assets and resources varied with age and sex.
The younger the child, the less access and control over household resources, and the opposite istrue with older children. The situation is worse for young women who are expected to get marriedand start their families. Perceptions around negligence, level of maturity, and responsibility havecaused younger children to access household resources under the strong supervision of an adult.
In Chivi, adult men indicated that some young boys, when entrusted with assets like scotch carts
to ferry firewood or water, will abuse the asset by speeding on rough roads, and this affects its
lifespan. As children grow older, they are allowed to access household assets like farming
equipment, even for personal use.
As is for decision-making, patterns of access and control of assets and resources also differ withthe household type. Female-headed households are independent and easily have control overproductive assets and resources.

Access to Services, Participation in Leadership and Decision-making in Public Spaces
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Access to Markets and Extension Services•••

Gender roles have shaped the organization, structure, and infrastructure in public spaces, e.g.
(WASH facilities and market infrastructure in the public domain. Across the three districts, public
spaces have been designed from a masculine perspective and promote an aggressive andmasculine environment with no gender-sensitive structures.
While women dominate local markets, more men access external markets. Persons withdisabilities and the elderly who suffer from mobility constraints send men to external markets tomarket their produce on their behalf.
Women's and youth's lack of control over productive assets affects their access to loans. The
situation is worse for the apostolic sect women because they do not possess identity cards. The
government of Zimbabwe has established the Women's Bank and Empower Banks to ease accessto loans by women and youth, but none of the respondents had received any loan support fromfinancial institutions by the time of the study. Barriers included the size of the loan that isallocated specifically for the youth, which cannot sustain a viable business enterprise. At the timeof the study, the loan size was at a tune of ZWL 1,000 (approximately USD 10) with over a month
repayment period. The loan can also be in the form of equipment or machinery and requires
collateral security. Group collateral is another option provided by the banks; nevertheless, most
women and young people's groups cannot raise the amount which warrants a loan. Alternatively,
women had formed VSL groups as a way of raising capital, but these groups were rendereddysfunctional due to COVID-19 restrictions that diminished the sources of income for the VSL
activities.

•

AGRITEX provides agricultural extension services to both female and male farmers in the form oftechnical support, training, and mentoring. Generally, AGRITEX extension officers are accessible,
but they experience transport challenges that sometimes limit the frequency of their visits tofarmers. While most districts save for Buhera have more female extension workers than males,
concerns were raised around young married women at times having difficulties in accessing
agriculture extension services specifically one on one mentoring sessions due to rumors ofsuspected sexual relationships with the male extension officers.

•

Unmarried youth are not much into farming, and the majority are usually represented by theirparents.

Maternal Health and Nutrition
•
•

•

•

COVID-19 had impacts on access to maternal health services by women of the reproductive agegroup.
Maternal health services are available in clinics, but in times when there are shortages,
adolescent and young mothers are requested to bring certain medications and supplements(razors, detergents, and cotton wool) from home. Some could not afford it, resulting in homedeliveries.
Due to poverty and food shortages at household level, some pregnant mothers avoid waiting at
the mother’s shelter at health centres. The reason being that food that is supposed to cater for
one household is now divided to cater for two households and in most cases resources do not
permit.
There were perceived institutional and attitudinal barriers on the part of health staff limiting men
from participating in maternal and child health care activities. Men also felt SRH, and maternaland child health issues are 'women’s issues’ since a majority of clinic and community healthworkers are women. The absence of men’s spaces who would have accompanied their wives forpre- and post-natal care is also a source of discomfort for most men since they are forced tomingle with women whilst their partners are being attended to.

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Access to ICT•While the main form of ICT accessible to men, women, and youth is the mobile phone, someelderly people did not have it because they lacked knowledge on how to operate the phone. They
rely on other family members for communication. While most lines were for mobile moneytransactions, young people with smartphones use them to access social media and the internet.
Some women had their mobile lines registered in their husbands’ names as the husbands were
the ones that had applied for the lines. Network challenges and sometimes high tariffs were citedas barriers to the effective use of phones.

Leadership and Decision-making in Public Spaces••

Participation in public decision-making platforms is skewed towards adult men across all three
districts, with women, young people, and people with disabilities being the least represented.
Most governance and decision-making positions that include District Development Coordinators(DDCs), Members of Parliament (MPs), councilors, and traditional and religious leaders are heldby men. However, the participation of both women and young people in decision-making
platforms has improved over the years. In Chivi and Zaka, some churches have played a significant
role in promoting female and youth leadership through their participation in both women andyouth ministries and their involvement as deacons or elders of the churches.
Generally, youths, especially unmarried young women and men and married young men, do notparticipate in community development meetings since they do not receive meeting invitations
because of the mobilization structure of the traditional leadership and councilors that tend totarget adults. For the few that attend, their voices are stifled since they are not supposed to argue
with adults. Youth are also demotivated by the perception adults have on them that they are lazyand immature. This is worsened by the attitudes of youth that adults do not want to work withthem.

Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Mitigation Including Early/Child Marriages
•
•

•
•
•

•

Child marriage has been a problem across the districts and was exacerbated by the COVID-19
pandemic. Most marriages among the apostolic sect are on religious grounds, arranged and forconvenience.
The GA established that GBV cases increase towards and during the agricultural marketing season
since men would want to take over and lead in the marketing of the agricultural produce, which
women and children would have labored for. Fears are around the potential misuse of the income
by men; hence women would want to directly get involved in the marketing of the produce.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, women and girls became vulnerable to sexual exploitation fromresourced men in exchange for food.
Access to GBV services was constrained by the COVID-19 restrictions.
Some people are knowledgeable of the components of the referral pathway for survivors of
sexual abuse, and there is tangible evidence that service providers (Childline, Musasa, ZWLA,
Legal Resources Foundation) into GBV programming and key government department (Social
Welfare, Ministry of Health and Victim Friendly Unit of the police) continue to coordinate andcollaborate to handle cases.
During the COVID-19 lockdown, some of the boreholes broke down and were not serviced by theDistrict Development Fund because of the skeletal staff that was available in government
departments resulting in the scarcity of clean and safe water. This impacted heavily on womenand girls since they had to travel for long distances to fetch water for their SRH and domestic
needs. Lack of financial resources due to the restriction had an impact on women’s access tomenstrual hygiene kits as well.

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•There is a general feeling of insecurity from men regarding women controlling the means of
production (land, draught power, farming equipment), resulting in GBV.

Gendered Impacts of Disasters, Shocks, and Stressors•

The effects of disasters, shocks, and stressors, as well as the coping strategies, were different formen, women, and young people due to their different gender roles, different resource access andcontrol profiles, and cultural expectations. The chronic drought resulted in poor harvests, andthe economic crisis coupled with COVID-19 made food unaffordable for poor families. The burdenof putting food on the table during disasters falls on women. Women and girls also walk for long
distances in search of clean and safe water. Men, especially the young and middle-aged, migrate
to search for opportunities and, in the process, leave their families behind, increasing the workburden for women since they are now expected to cover the gap left by their husbands. Maleoutmigration was common in Zaka and Chivi. Although both men and women use migration as a
coping strategy, men tend to migrate for longer periods than women. Other coping strategies foryoung men and young women include drug abuse, engagement in unsafe and dangerous
occupations like illegal mining and commercial sex work.

Key Learnings
•
•
•

•
•

•

Most jobs and self-employment opportunities, including household enterprises, are in theinformal sector, and hence access to finance, specifically tailored to meet the needs of young
people and women, is pivotal yet woefully inadequate.
Women and youth can own productive assets, develop a source of income, and take leadershiproles, but they may choose not to take advantage of such opportunities because of socio-cultural
constraints and feelings of inadequacy that continue to impact them.
Takunda's strategy needs to be constantly informed by a regular gender equality risk analysis totake into consideration changing social, political, economic, and humanitarian/disaster contexts
as to appropriately mainstream gender to address the emerging gender inequality challenges.
Awareness creation on generational equality should also be a key priority of the gender strategy.
Takunda acknowledges the different levels of partnership that need to be strengthened during
activity roll out including collaborating with relevant government ministries to achievesustainable outcomes.
Youth participation during data collection was low. The activity needs to reflect and criticallythink through ways that can enhance the participation of both married and unmarried youth
participation, ensuring that their diverse views, needs, and priorities are adequately captured
and addressed. This might call for alternative youth-friendly mobilization strategies.
Whilst the apostolic sect of Johanne Marange is a secluded group, findings show great opportunity
the activity can ride on to influence norm change amongst members of the sect, starting withthose already practicing positive gender behaviors.

Recommendations
IO 1.1.1: Adoption of improved agricultural technologies and practices increased•

Zimbabwe has made strides in Mutare and Chivi to promote gender equality and women
empowerment in the ward based agritex extension staffing program. Whilst there are more
female than male extension workers in all the target districts save for Buhera (statistics drawn
from literature review), there are concerns around married young women at times not accessing
extension services especially one on one mentorship sessions. There is need to engage agritex
extension staff in gender dialogues riding on the FFBS platforms to influence positive behaviour
and create safe spaces for women and men to fully participate in agriculture and markets

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extension activities. Engage men and women in collaborative problem solving and criticalreflections on gender inequalities that may impede meaningful participation.

IO 1.2.2: Increased formal and informal employment:•

Leverage the TVET opportunity to strengthen existing women’s artisanal skills sets (thatching andwell digging), including those of the apostolic sect (baking), making them more lucrative forincome generation. Allow transfer of skills to youth through a mentorship program.

IO 1.2.1: Participation in diversified formal and informal enterprises (IGA) increased:•

Work with young women and men to build assets and engage with older people, exploring
opportunities for mentorship. Train them on transformative behavior change, building theiragency, relations, and leadership competencies. Make women’s low-value assets and crops
lucrative business enterprises allowing opportunities to transition them to having control andownership of high-value assets and crops. Engage men (young and old) as allies to support
women’s economic empowerment. Identify and work with men from the apostolic sect tostrengthen male engagement. Train women, men, and young people, including theleadership/members of the apostolic sect, on ending child marriages and on GBV prevention andmitigation. Disseminate the Gender-Based Violence response virtual referral system for different
service providers, including Musasa and Childline WhatsApp numbers and toll-free lines toenhance access to GBV services (Psycho-Social Support, health care, and legal aid). Leverage
COVID -19 GBV essential service provision for connecting communities to GBV outreach services.
Promote joint ownership of household assets and resources by family, not individuals. Partnerwith relevant organizations to raise awareness on wills and inheritance riding on the Takunda
community gender awareness activities. Include learning modules for men and boys on positive
masculinity to support women's access to land and means of production. Engage youth in ICT andgreen energy solutions.

IO 1.1.3 Access to markets and business services increased:•

Engage women in local producers’ organizations and strengthen the local market system to makeit viable and profitable for women and other people who suffer from mobility constraints(persons with disabilities, apostolic sect women, the elderly). Identify exemplary women that are
doing well and work with them to influence change of behavior for men who do not permit theirwives to participate in markets. Use the Farmer Field Business School model to engage men on
the value of women’s and youth participation in markets and decision-making. Identify and workwith youth champions who hold power in the home/community and are pro-women
empowerment to support women in Takunda. Increase anti-GBV activities during the marketing
season. Use Takunda’s leverage to work with financial institutions to advocate for theGovernment of Zimbabwe Women Empower Bank (created for women and young people to easily
access loans), to constantly review the amount of loan allocated to youth for income-generating
activities. Strengthen the social group collateral (group guarantor) approach making the model
lucrative for loans, and extend the model to the Youth Savings and Loans (YSL) groups. Consider
strategic partnerships with stakeholders, including those in the health sector, to promote gendersensitive and inclusive infrastructure (e.g., market infrastructure or infrastructure at clinics).
Facilitate the sharing of market information through mobile phones to enhance access to emarkets that present better opportunities for women and young people.

IO 2.1.1: Availability of diversified nutritious foods at HH level increased
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•Make use of the Chivi model young couples who own high-value assets and engage in joint
decision-making to raise awareness on the importance of family dialogue or joint decisionmaking in maternal health and nutrition.

IO 2.1.2: Adoption of improved IYCF, Maternal and Adolescent girl care practices increased•

Use couples’ dialogue platforms to engage polygamous women of the apostolic sect and nonapostolic sect who already have decision-making powers over non-financial issues at ahousehold level to influence the expansion of decision-making around household income.
Leverage existing platforms, such as the men’s forum in Zaka to engage in equitable decisionmaking around nutrition. Engage with individual religious leaders, relevant government
ministries, and other stakeholders, including the Union for Development of Apostolic and Zionist
Churches in Zimbabwe (UDACIZA), whose leadership has an influence on what happens at
grassroots levels within the apostolic sect religion, to influence positive norm change aroundchild marriages, maternal health, and nutrition. Takunda should leverage the Ministry of Healthand Child Care already established Village Health Workers platforms that have individuals fromthe apostolic sect as members and the community based Apostolic Women Empowerment Trustto influence change of behavior around intra-household decision making and asset control
towards improved maternal health and nutrition.

IO2.2.1: Adoption of promoted MNCH practices increased•

Build on efforts by the Ministry of Health and Child Care to promote male participation inmaternal and child health care. Advocate for parallel health services for men like screening forprostate cancer/SRH education (HIV/ STIs) to encourage men to accompany their pregnant andlactating women for pre- and post-natal care. Combine this with education on child health andnutrition, especially for pregnant and lactating mothers/women and men from the apostolic sect.
Deliberately target women of the reproductive age group, including pregnant and lactating
mothers, for Takunda interventions like cash for assets/VSL and FFBS to enhance their access toincome.

IO 2.2.2: Adoption of improved WASH practices increased•

Inventory to establish the boreholes that broke down during COVID-19 in the target areas andwere not repaired due to resource constraints. Where possible, partner with the local authorities
on borehole rehabilitation to increase access to clean and safe water for communities, especiallywomen and girls of the reproductive age group with SRH needs. Work with model men who
support the menstrual hygiene needs of girls as agents of change.

IO 3.1.1: Household mechanisms/strategies to manage climate shocks, market failures, andmacro-economic context enhanced•

Enhance household capacity to accumulate assets that can be disposed of for cash or exchanged
for food during climate shocks and market failures through life-skills training that enables young
people to accumulate financial, human, and social capital. Deliberately target young men andyoung women for Takunda Cash for Assets interventions and register them as plot holders in the
Takunda Community gardens. Target the apostolic sect households and groups (Apostolic Women
Empowerment Trust) for transformative dialogues to enhance economic empowerment andequitable decision-making on household income.

IO 3.1.2: Community-based planning and management systems for shared resources
strengthened
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•Work with model young people who can also be mentors working closely with adult champions
where possible to change the community’s negative attitudes towards them. Identify and work
closely with middle-aged men and women who believe in the need to involve young people indecision-making processes despite their economic status.

IO 3.2.2: Household access to appropriate risk information and services improved•

Facilitate dissemination of early warning information using the mobile phone devices membersof the community have.

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1. Introduction and Background1.1. Project Background

CARE International in Zimbabwe – along with partners FHI360, International Youth Foundation (IYF),
Nutrition Action Zimbabwe (NAZ), Bulawayo Projects Centre (BPC), and Environment Africa (EA) – isimplementing Takunda, a five-year, USD $55 million Resilience Food Security Activity (RFSA), fundedby USAID. Takunda is being implemented in two provinces: Masvingo (Chivi and Zaka Districts) andManicaland (Mutare and Buhera Districts). Takunda seeks to promote sustainable, equitable, andresilient food, nutrition, and income, directly impacting 301,636 people. Target population groups
include vulnerable adult women and men, adolescent mothers, male and female youth (aged 18-35),
women of reproductive age, and children under five years (CU5), who are made vulnerable by socioeconomic challenges, the impacts of climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Genderedbehaviors and social norms continue to shape power dynamics in decision-making between womenand men (young and old) in the target communities, and this has significantly impacted household
food security and nutrition, leading to deeply entrenched poverty.

The Takunda Theory of Change (TOC) directly responds to the underlying causes of food insecurity
and malnutrition. These include poverty, limited financial resources, gender inequality, persistent
negative social norms, cultural beliefs and behaviors, limited youth empowerment, and weak
institutional/organizational governance and accountability. Activities addressing these causes fallunder the following three purpose areas.
•••

Purpose 1 – Increase incomes from on-farm, off-farm, and non-farm livelihoods activities.
Purpose 2 – Improve the nutritional status of children under five years of age, adolescent
girls, and women of reproductive age.
Purpose 3– Build institutional and local capacities among ultra-poor and chronicallyvulnerable households to cope with shocks and stressors and reduce risk.

Across all-purpose areas, gender equality and youth empowerment are cross-cutting themes aimed
at reducing disparities regarding access, control over, and benefits obtained from resources, assets,
and opportunities; reducing gender-based violence (GBV) and increasing the ability of women andgirls to realize their rights, determine their life outcomes, and influence decision-making at thehousehold, community, and institutional levels.

1.2 Context Setting
Gender Inequality and Discrimination in Food Security
The estimated total population of Zimbabwe is 15.6 million1, with approximately 52 percent females
and 48 percent males2, while 62 percent are youth. About 65 percent of households in Zimbabwe areheaded by males and 35 percent by females. Most women (about 86%) depend on land for theirlivelihood and food production for their families3. However, they faced with myriad challenges to this,1

http://data.worldbank.org/country/zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Country Gender Assessment FAO Report 20173
National Gender Policy 2013-2017
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including poor access to and control and ownership of the means of production (capital, labor, land,
and mechanization, and irrigation infrastructure). They also have little or no control over resourcesand decision-making powers4.

Agriculture accounts for about 15-20 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), and it provides themain source of livelihood for about 70 percent of the rural population5. Agriculture was previously
dominated by large commercial farms until the Fast-Track Land Reform Program (FTLRP) of 2000. Now
90 percent of the farmers are smallholders, who work 73 percent of the agricultural land (Moyo 2011).
Smallholder farming is characterized by low productivity, lack of access to markets, lack ofcompetitiveness, limited extension services, and poor access to finance and inputs. Land tenure is amajor constraint to production, especially among women. Only 20 percent of women involved inagriculture are landowners or leaseholders. This places them at a disadvantage in that they lackcollateral in accessing credit (Chingarande 2009). These challenges have exacerbated Zimbabwe’s
food security situation to be “serious,” according to the 2017 Global Hunger Index (where it ranked
108th out of 119 countries).
Between 2009 and 2014, an average of 1 million (8.3%) of the population was considered foodinsecure, of whom 38 percent were chronically food insecure. A five-year trend analysis of foodsecurity in Zimbabwe reveals that the number of food-insecure people has been increasing from2,629,159 people in the 2015/16 season to 4,071,233 people in the 2016/17 season. A drop in the numberof food-insecure population was witnessed in the 2017/18 season to 1,052,768 followed by an increase
to 2,423,568 and 5,529,209 in the 2018/19 and 2019/2020 seasons, respectively (SADC 2019). Food
insecurity is a complex problem with many direct and underlying drivers that span different sectors
and contextual factors as espoused in the definition of the concept itself. The definition of food andnutrition security by the Committee on World Food Security (2012) is ‘when all people at all times
have physical, social and economic access to food which is safe and consumed in sufficient quantityand quality to meet their dietary needs and food preferences and is supported by an environment ofadequate sanitation, health services and care allowing for a healthy and active life. Diets are mainly
cereal based, where food is available, which is not necessarily nutritious, and many suffer
micronutrient deficiencies (iron, iodine, folate, vitamin A and zinc), and undernutrition andmalnutrition rates are high, especially in rural districts where diets lack diversity (maize being themain staple) and are poor in essential nutrients (SADC 2019).

The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) embraces gender equality, women, and youth empowerment toachieve food security, development, and growth and partners with several organizations on
agriculture and rural development to eliminate hunger and poverty. Additionally, the GoZ has signed
and ratified numerous international and regional instruments promoting gender equality andwomen’s empowerment. Zimbabwe’s active National Gender Policy 2013–2017 (revised 2017 to alignto SDGs among other new frameworks) places a strong emphasis on gender equality and equity andenvisions a gender-just society in which men and women enjoy equity and benefit as equal partners
in the development of the country. However, certain policy provisions are not adequately enforced,
and limited gender considerations are present in some policy frameworks (e.g., on management andprotection of the environment and natural resources (SDG 13)). Zimbabwe is ranked number 27 out of
188 countries on the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s World classification of women in parliament andnumber four among Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. However, a large

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Zimbabwe Country Gender Assessment Report 2017
Zimbabwe Country Gender Assessment FAO Report 2017
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majority of women are excluded from participating in governance and national development
processes due to gender bias, gender inequalities, cultural norms, gender-based violence (GBV), andlow economic status6.

Gender and Youth Unemployment
Youth unemployment is high in Zimbabwe, higher than the national average of 16 percent. In 2019,the national unemployment rate for youth was 21 percent and was higher for females at 22 percent
than for males at nearly 20 percent7. Table 1 below shows the rate of youth unemployment by genderand location.

Table 1: Youth Unemployment Figures 2019, Zimbabwe
Nationally

21%

Males

20%

Female

22%

Urban

17.2%

Rural

24.6%

Source: LFCLS, 2019

Data from the 2019 LFCLS indicates that unemployment was higher in rural than in urban areas (24.6%
and 17.2%, respectively). The unemployment rate in rural areas for females (24.1%) and males (24.9%)
was almost the same, while there was a significant difference in urban areas where female
unemployment at 21 percent was 7 percent higher than that of males (14.2%). This indicates thatfemales face more hurdles compared to males when seeking employment in urban areas. Most of theZimbabwe’s youth, including those with good qualifications, fail to secure formal and informal work
due to a lack of skills and work experience. Additionally, their education is often an inadequate matchfor the requirements of the labor market in terms of skills and experience8.

The Government of Zimbabwe came up with a draft National Youth Policy (2020-2025), whichprioritizes skills development as well as employment and entrepreneurship as key areas ofintervention. The efforts by Takunda to create opportunities for youth employment,
entrepreneurship, and skills development to ensure the active involvement of young people indevelopment processes are therefore relevant to the country context. The ministries of Women
Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Youth, Sports, Arts, and Recreation have been
undertaking youth empowerment initiatives through the provision of loans to youth across thecountry. However, the loans were difficult to access for some young people as they were a preserveof politically connected and financially secure youth, thereby excluding some young people,

Zimbabwe has 36% women in parliament, 16% local government and 19% top party positions
Labor Force and Child Labor Survey, 20198
British Council 2020 Next Generation Zimbabwe
6
7

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especially young women, some of whom complained about sexual exploitation to access the loans(ZAYIMO, 2018, Youth Empowerment Bank, 2019). Development partners such as the International
Labor Organization (ILO) have also been working with the government to implement the Training for
Rural Economic Empowerment (TREE), YES JUMP, and the Green EnterPRIZE programs through theprovision of training and post-training support to improve young people’s economic opportunities
and income security. These programs had a strong gender component through targeting young
women for involvement and supporting the crossing over of young women into traditionally maledominated trades.

As a result of high unemployment levels, most of the economically active youth are likely to be injobs they did not train for, while others end up in “precarious occupations” in the transport andmining sectors characterized by uncertainty, low income, and limited social benefits and statutory
entitlements. The LFCLS indicates that 65 percent of youth (age 15-35 years) in precarious
employment were males in both rural (69.8%) and urban areas (59%). Young women are the mostaffected by unemployment because of restrictive social norms that confine women to domestic or
unpaid care work within and outside their homes. Their male counterparts are primarily found in
precarious employment because they are pressured by social norms to venture into dangerous
occupations such as artisanal mining to demonstrate that they are ‘men.’ Young men are oftenpressured by social norms to demonstrate the ability to fend for themselves and implicitly, their
future family.

Youth unemployment has forced some youth to go beyond the borders to seek employment, some ofthem doing so illegally. The draft Zimbabwe Labor Migration Policy states that most of the labor
migrants are largely young men. Due to their irregular status, they fill the “three-D” jobs: dirty,
dangerous, and degrading; where decent work deficits abound, characterized by absence of
employment contracts and social protection, exploitative wages and long working hours, lack ofunionization (cannot join labor unions) and thus often lack representation and support from thehome country (Chingarande and Guduza 2011). In crossing borders irregularly, young women are more
at risk compared to young men as they are vulnerable to sexual abuse by both security personnel
and criminal gangs roaming across the borders.

Youth unemployment results in several risky behaviors that are gendered, such as drug abuse among
young men as an avenue for countering boredom in the pretext of temporarily forgetting their
troubles and transactional sex among young women and men. Drug abuse is also closely linked tohigh crime rates. Among women, youth unemployment is associated with having multiple sex
partners in exchange for money and having inter-generational sexual partners. Age mixing (that is,young girls and teenagers having sex with men at least ten years older than them) as a source of
livelihood has become common. For example, in 2015, 17% of young women aged 15-19 reported
having sex with a man ten years older in the past 12 months (ZDHS 2015). This presents the risk ofcontracting HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This partly explains the high HIV
prevalence for women, particularly adolescents and young women. In 2018, around a third of all new
HIV infections in people above the age of 15 in Zimbabwe were among young people under the ageof 24. There were 9,000 new infections among young women, more than double the number of new
infections among young men, which was pegged at 4,200.9

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Ministry of Health and Child Care 2019 Zimbabwe Population Based HIV Impact Assessment
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The challenge of providing adequate, quality, and decent employment for most young people in the
SADC region, and particularly in Zimbabwe, is certainly daunting and multifaceted. Most jobs and selfemployment opportunities, including household enterprises, are in the informal sector, and hence
access to finance, specifically tailored to meet the needs of young people, is pivotal yet woefully
inadequate. Meanwhile, the agrarian nature of the Zimbabwean economy presents unique
opportunities to harness the potential of young people to (a) innovate in the face of climate change
and explore the potential for creating green jobs (especially at the nexus of energy and agriculture)that will contribute to overall sustainable growth; and (b) identify opportunities in agro-processing,and service provision in specific value chains.

Owing to youth unemployment and its related challenges, coupled with the fact that Zimbabwe’s
population is youthful (a broad-based population pyramid), government policy and development
initiatives across all sectors place emphasis on the socio-economic empowerment of young people.
The 2013 Constitution in Section 20:1c stipulates that youth shall be afforded opportunities for
employment and other avenues for economic empowerment. The Draft National Youth Policy (20202025) has major objectives focused on: (i) achieving equitable access to relevant education and skills
development for all youth; and (ii) increasing the employment and entrepreneurship opportunitiesof young people as well as steering coordinated responses by relevant stakeholders (government
and non-government) involved with youth socio-economic empowerment. In addition, the country
has a standalone Ministry whose remit is to implement the youth policy and coordinate different
programs at national and sub-national levels, including the setting up of enterprises and availing oftargeted funds10. However, the challenge is the lack of implementation of the progressive policy
provisions.

Gender-Based Violence in Zimbabwe
Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), teenage pregnancies, and child marriages are widespreadin Zimbabwe, and their acceptance impacts Government commitments to end violence and advanceequality. A 2012 GBV costing study revealed that the country was losing close to 2 billion dollars per
year towards GBV related services.11 In 2019, 39.4 percent of women and girls aged 15-49 experienced
physical violence since age 15, and the perpetrators were current husbands or partners (71.6%),
former husbands or partners (21.2%), and other relatives (4.6%). Relating to sexual violence, in thesame year, 11.6 percent of women experienced this type of violence; the majority of whom fall into
the 40-49 age group (14.8%), followed by the 30-39 age group (13.8%), and then the 20-24 age group(12.5%). The following table (Table 2) shows the percentage of women aged 15-49 years who haveexperienced any form of violence since age 15 between 2005 and 2019; it indicates an upward trend
in GBV cases.

https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Environmental-and-SocialAssessments/ESMP_Summary_-_Zimbabwe_Youth_and_Women_Empowerment_Project.pdf
11
SIDA, Report on GBV Zimbabwe, 2012.
10

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Table 2: Percentage of Women aged 15-49 who experienced any form of violence from 2005 - 201912
Age

Year
2005-2006

2010-20112015

201913

15-19

29.4

22.7

27.9

25.3

20-24

40.3

34.9

34.8

41.4

25-29

38.3

33.3

42.4

45.8

30-39

37.4

28.7

36.7

49.8

40-49

35.4

30.7

32.7

47.9

An increase in GBV cases has been recorded over the years for the 15-19 and 30-39 age groups. About
50 percent of women aged 15-49 years had experienced emotional, physical, or sexual abusecommitted by a current or previous husband or partner in their lifetime14. However, this could reflect
reporting patterns, given that since the enactment of the Domestic Violence Act, utilization of the law
has remained limited mostly due to the dependence of women on men in many facets of their lives;
meaning that many survivors are unable to leave the perpetrator. The challenge of lack of reporting
and withdrawal of cases by victims to preserve the family honor continues to stand out. Statistics
from the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association revealed that in 2012 there were 13,173 cases ofsexual violence reported to the police. Of these, 5,000 were withdrawn by the survivor at the police
station, and 1,000 were withdrawn by the survivors at the court. Since 2012, there has been an upward
trend in withdrawn cases. In 2016, 21,755 cases were reported nationwide to the Victim Friendly Unit.
Of these cases, 9,000 were withdrawn at the police station by the survivor, and 1,944 were withdrawn
at the court.
In recent years Zimbabwe has experienced an increase in short-term shocks or disasters that have
had an impact on SGBV, teenage pregnancies, and early marriages. In 2016, the country experienced
the El Nino-induced drought, followed by a cholera outbreak in 2017 and later the political, economic,
and financial crisis that started in 2017, spilling into 2018 and 2019. In March 2019, Zimbabwe
experienced Cyclone Idai that caused significant loss of lives and left about 270,000 people in urgent
need of humanitarian assistance, causing widespread property and infrastructure destruction.
Currently, the country is experiencing an economic crisis, a long-term stressor stemming from botha widening fiscal deficit that has affected the provision of most basic and social services and theeffects of COVID-19 both on the economy and service delivery. On the micro-level, these emergencies
have resulted in more fragile and less resilient family units and have compounded SGBV, teenage
pregnancies, and early marriages because of loss of livelihoods and capacity to access basic goods
and services. Evidence continues to show that disasters are likely to increase in Zimbabwe,particularly those that are weather-related, due to climate change, with a projected overalltemperature increase and more extreme dry and wet periods, resulting in more droughts and floods.
COVID-19 has led to a spike in SGBV, teenage pregnancies, and child marriages in Zimbabwe. This ismostly because the pandemic has come against the backdrop of a dire humanitarian crisis linked to

ZDHS, 2005/6; 2010/11; 2015.
Makes reference to physical or sexual violence, excluding emotional violence an indicator in MICS,
2019
14
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2019)12

13

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drought, floods, crop failures, and macroeconomic challenges combined with austerity measures.
Measures taken by the government to contain and reduce the spread of coronavirus have led to the
spike in SGBV cases, teenage pregnancies, and early marriages, as shown in the following sections.
The national lockdown resulted in the disruption of livelihoods and lost time for economic
engagement, especially for women and men in the informal economy; the temporary closure ofborders also affected cross border traders, a majority of whom are women, resulting in price hikes ofbasic commodities especially food items; access to the full scope of health services was disrupted,
as health facilities concentrate on emergency cases, with most of the cases being referred toprovincial hospitals due to limited or no capacity to handle COVID-19 related cases; and schools andtertiary institutions were closed15. All this resulted in an increase in SGBV as men and women inabusive relationships are locked together with their perpetrators in a tense environment. The
national GBV hotline recorded a total of 5,306 GBV calls from the beginning of the lockdown on March
30, 2020, until 7 October. This is roughly a 60% increase compared to pre-lockdown trends.
Regarding child marriages, 2019 statistics show that within urban areas, 2.1 percent of women are
married before the age of 15, and 21.3 percent are married before the age of 18. In rural areas, 6.4%
are married before age 15 and 40.0% before age 18. Thus, more women in rural settings enter into
early marriages than their urban counterparts16. Child marriages are linked to early childbearing. Girlswho get pregnant are not physically (or emotionally) equipped to have a healthy pregnancy and baby
because they are still growing themselves. The risk of stunting in their babies is much higher than inolder women. The percentage of women 15-19 years who have had a live birth is 9.5 percent for thosein urban areas and 21.7 percent for those rural areas. For women aged 20-24, this percentage
increases to 15.7 percent in urban areas and 30.9 percent in rural areas (Figure 1). Teenage pregnancy
varies across provinces ranging from 7.1 percent in Harare to 28.2 percent in Matabeleland North
among women aged 15-19 years and from 11 percent in Bulawayo to 37.8 percent in MashonalandCentral for those aged 20-24 years. Teenage pregnancy is also determined by the wealth quintile, withthe rate being highest among the poorest women17.
Figure 1: Early childbearing by province (left) and by wealth quintile (right) - MICS 2019

Care (April 2020) Rapid Gender Analysis for COVID-19
Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2019, ZIMSTAT
17
Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, 2019, ZIMSTAT
15

16

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The rural-urban risk factors underlying child marriages remain consistent with the MICS 2014
findings18, where Mashonaland Central still had the highest rates of child marriages at 50 percent,followed by Mashonaland West at 42 percent and Masvingo at 39 percent19. The situation was also
compounded by COVID-19. Statistics show that there has been a spike in child marriages and teenage
pregnancies in most provinces in Zimbabwe (Table 3). The highest numbers were recorded in
Mashonaland Central. Between the beginning of January and February 5, 2021, the country recorded
4,959 teenage pregnancies and 1,774 child marriages. Of the teenage pregnancies and early marriages
recorded in the country, 90.2 percent (4,475) and 81% (1,436) respectively were from MashonalandCentral.

Table 3: Pregnancies registered between January 1st and February 5th 2021

Province

Teenage Pregnancies

Child Marriages

Mashonaland West27

85

Masvingo

61

49

Matabeleland South

290

65

Bulawayo

1

0

Harare00Manicaland

13

13

Mashonaland East

26

28

Matabeleland North

0

24

Midlands

66

74

Mashonaland Central

4,475

1,436

Total

4,959

1,774

(Source: Parliament of Zimbabwe Hansard)

A baseline study conducted by Plan International Zimbabwe revealed that some parents accept childmarriages. The study showed that 44 percent of male parents surveyed believed that the acceptableage of marriage could be below 18 years20. Major drivers of child marriages remain connected topoverty and teenage pregnancies. This reflects early sexual debut and lack of information on andaccess to contraceptives in an environment of risky and unprotected sex. These challenges arefurther compounded by inadequate service delivery, policy, and regulatory frameworks21. Despite

Extended Analysis of Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2014: Child Protection, Child Marriage
and Attitudes towards Violence. UNICEF ZIM 2016
19
Plan Int. Zimbabwe Country Strategy, 2018-2020
20
Plan Int. Zimbabwe (2019). Baseline Report for the Strengthening Civil Society to end Child Marriage
in East and Southern Africa Project: Mutare and Mutasa Districts, Zimbabwe
21
John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (2015). ASHR Strategic Plan Review. Commissionedby the UNFPA on behalf of the Steering Committee of the National ASHR Strategy
18

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much lobbying, engagements, events, and programs conducted across all sectors (i.e., CSOs,
Parliament, the Judiciary, and the Executive), harmonized legislation outputs and other instruments
to end child marriages remain outstanding22. Child marriages often result in children forgoingeducation, thereby affecting their career development and lifelong choices. Food and economic
insecurity also drive violation of young girls’ sexual and reproductive health rights. A 2019 assessment
by Plan International confirmed that some negative household coping mechanisms include marrying
off girls to get food and other forms of support from their new (often well-up) in-laws. Experience
also shows that adolescent girls who marry early often face domestic violence23.
The country has in place the National GBV Strategy (2015-2020), the National Plan of Action Against
Rape, the National Plan to end Child Marriages, and the National Gender and HIV Implementation
Plan (2017-2020), which guides action against GBV. The GOZ and its partners are implementing
programs aimed at improving awareness of the laws, including GBV issues integration into the school
curriculum, establishing One Stop Centres to allow survivors to access medical, psycho-social, legal,
and counseling services under one roof as well as establishing Victim Friendly Units across thecountry. However, not all police stations have these, and not all police officers are trained in GBV
issues.
The Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) has shown commitment to promoting gender equality andwomen's empowerment through enacting laws and policies as well as ratifying international andregional gender legal frameworks. These include the Convention on all Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW), the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, the Solemn Declaration on
Gender Equality in Africa, the Beijing Platform for Action, United Nations Resolution 1,325 on Women,
Peace, and Security, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the
Rights of Women in Africa. In addition to the National Gender Policy, Zimbabwe has passed 17 piecesof legislation to advance gender equality and equity objectives – along with an institutionalframework to pursue these objectives – namely the national gender machinery coordinated by the
Ministry responsible for women affairs, a Gender Commission, the Anti-Domestic Violence Council,
the Zimbabwe Women’s Parliamentary Caucus, UN agencies, donor agencies, and civil society
organizations.

Gendered Impacts of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic, on top of the already existing drought and economic meltdown, induced
greater food insecurity, with approximately 5.5 million people in rural areas and a further 2.2 million
in urban areas facing severe food insecurity because of the national lockdown. The GoZ forced
informal markets in towns and cities to close with the intent of containing the spread of the virus,
and these measures landed a heavy blow on the informal sector of Zimbabwe. This sector employs
up to 90% of Zimbabweans, with women and youth making up the greatest percentage of informal
traders. Individuals working in this sector suffered a sudden loss of income given their inability towork remotely and lack of savings to cushion the impact of the economic downturn. Additionally,
Zimbabweans who are formally employed are often still involved in informal part-time jobs to
supplement low salaries or participate in cross-border trading, which abruptly stopped and remained
severely curtailed as movement was restricted and borders remained closed. Increased levels of foodinsecurity were noted, especially among the very poor, with households adjusting the number ofmeals per day from three to as low as one meal. Given the limited access to vitamin supplements

Parliament of Zimbabwe (2017). Ending Child Marriages in Zimbabwe, Tying the loose ends. Policy
Brief no. 5
23
Plan International Zimbabwe (2019) Rapid Assessment of the Situation of Children
22

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coupled with the increase of unbalanced diets, malnutrition with those under-5, pregnant andlactating women, and people with chronic illness (such as HIV) faced the greatest hardship.

1.3 Objectives and Research Questions

The overall objective of the Gender Analysis was to identify gender gaps, potential risks, andopportunities for women, men, male youth, and female youth (disaggregated by sex, age, and life
stage). The Analysis investigated socio-cultural norms, behaviors, and religious practices that
influence patterns of power, decision-making, access and control of assets, and intra-household role
distribution, and how these impact household food security and nutrition. Findings will informadjustments to the Theory of Change and the design of Takunda’s Gender Strategy, which will include
an action plan to respond to gender equity gaps and to negative gender stereotypes. Key research
objectives for the Gender Analysis are as follows:1.

Examine and analyze gendered vulnerabilities around socio-cultural norms, behaviors, andreligious practices that influence patterns in power of decision-making, access, and control ofassets, intra-household role distribution, and how these impact household food security andnutrition.
2. Investigate gender-power relations by age differences and life stage, across different groups ofmen, women, and youth (lactating or pregnant women, teenage mothers, girls, and boys),religious groups, and gendered HH types; to put together gender strategies that support
equitable power distribution in HH decision-making and planning around maternal health andnutrition.
3. Identify opportunities, entry points, institutions, key stakeholders, and existing practices inproject interventions that can be leveraged to help inform and build on interventions for
Takunda and challenge harmful socio-cultural norms and beliefs that hinder the achievementof set objectives identified as important in the purpose area TOC (e.g., those dictating childfeeding practices; early marriages/teenage pregnancies).
4. Identify potential risks in relation to negative or unintended consequences due to changes inhousehold and community gender dynamics and relations (gender-based violence, community
backlash) to inform gender-responsive and targeted interventions that reduce gender barriers
to food security and nutrition outcomes; including how Takunda mechanisms mitigate risks
during successful program implementation.

2. Design and Methods
2.1 Design

The Gender Analysis (GA) for Takunda was informed by CARE’s Good Practice Framework for Gender
Analysis, complemented by the USAID’s ADS Chapter 205 Framework. The study employed a crosssectional qualitative research design aimed at gathering deep cross-cultural insights into gender
dynamics in the targeted districts and implications of these gender dynamics on the three purpose
areas of the activity. The Analysis also adopted a participatory mixed-method, or a pluralist method
approach, to integrate data from different data gathering methods. The use of mixed methods offered
diverse perspectives on the gender dynamics in the targeted districts, promoted the participation ofdifferent and diverse groups of targeted project participants and stakeholders, allowed multiple
voices to be heard, provided a more holistic picture of the gender issues in the districts, and allowed
for triangulation of data for reliability and validity as data from different sources were compared andany inconsistencies were followed upon. The qualitative methods of data collection that were
employed included key informant interviews (KII), in-depth interviews (IDIs), focus group discussions(FGDs), observations, and desk review.
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2.2 Study Sites

The GA was conducted in three districts of Mutare (Manicaland), Chivi, and Zaka (Masvingo). Mutare
District in Manicaland Province was prioritized over Buhera District because the two districts have
similar socio-cultural and religious characteristics that could have produced similar findings; results
and lessons from Mutare will be used to inform Activity interventions in Buhera District. In addition,
the Activity will capitalize on the participation of the Buhera District in ENSURE while seeking tounderstand the gender dynamics in Mutare as a new district under the USAID-funded RFSA program.
The study was conducted in six wards, with two wards having been selected per district. Being aqualitative study, the GA sought to have an in-depth understanding of the gender dynamics in each
district; hence the focus was on a few wards to allow for the in-depth conversations instead of having
a larger and more widespread, and therefore less comprehensive/detailed, sample. The following(Table 4) are the specific wards that were sampled in each district:

Table 4: Sampled Wards in each district
District
MutareChivi
Zaka

Sampled Wards
17 and 19
13 and 19
14 and 21

2.3 Study Population

The GA study population included the following population groups:
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Key stakeholders and partners from relevant institutions in the respective districts, includingfrom ministries of Women Affairs, Agriculture, Youth, Health/Nutrition, District Development
Fund (DDF)-department of WASH, Environment, District Development Coordinator, Rural
District Councils, Technical and Vocational Training Centers, etc.
Traditional and religious leaders
Adult men and women over 35 years
Married young men and women 35 years and below (employed and unemployed)
Unmarried young men and women 35 years and below (employed and unemployed)
Pregnant and lactating women
Adolescent mothers
Adult women and young men and women in leadership positions
Women and men from the apostolic faith religious organizations

2.4 Process and Methods of Data Collection
Process
The GA was conducted by a team of 19 people (13 females; 6 males), comprising two independent
consultants, four gender specialists/advisors, and 13 program officers from the Takunda program.
The program officers were responsible for different components of the program, including youth,
nutrition, economic empowerment, and gender. A three-day training of the GA team was conductedin Mutare to familiarize the team with the GA approach, methodology, and tools. The methodology
and training tools were piloted in Mutare before being further refined for the actual data collection
process.
The GA team spent three days in each district, with the first two days being mainly focused on datacollection in the two sampled wards, while the last day was reserved for key informant interviews
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and debriefing. All interviews, except for the government stakeholders KIIs, were conducted in thelocal language (Shona) that encouraged active participation. Upon completion of data collection ineach district, a debrief session was convened where the data collection teams discussed highlightsof the fieldwork, focusing on challenges encountered and key issues emerging from the datacollection process. A final debrief session was conducted in Chivi District, where the data collection
teams presented key findings emerging around different thematic focus areas of the GA. The
presentations were compiled and were part of the data that was analyzed in producing this report.
Two weeks were set aside for verbatim transcriptions that incorporated all the notes, observations,and voices for the interviews and FGDs.

Data collection methods
The GA employed the following data collection methods:(a) Desk Review
A review of program documents, reports, and relevant literature was conducted to enable the GAteam to understand Takunda’s objectives and implementation framework. Further documents
reviewed also included literature on gender equality and youth empowerment in Zimbabwe, including
some relevant policy and legal frameworks. Information from documents complemented that which
was collected through other methods such as IDIs, key informant interviews, and FGDs. The purposeof the desk review was to identify through secondary data the gender inequality context in Zimbabwe,
the gendered and youth vulnerabilities, and underlying religious, socio-cultural, legal, andinstitutional practices and gaps that affect livelihoods, food and nutrition security, and resilience
outcomes in Manicaland and Masvingo provinces; as well as to analyze and adapt positive trends andbest practices on gender, youth, and social dynamics integrated at the local level, leveraging lessons
from programs and policy-related frameworks relevant to livelihoods, food security, and nutrition.
(b) Key Informant Interviews
In each district, KIIs were conducted with officials from key institutions that include stakeholders andpartners in the implementation of Takunda. KIIs were conducted with district heads of the following
key government departments: Gender, Youth, District Development Fund, Agriculture, District
Development Coordinator’s Office, Rural District Council, Environment and Health/Nutrition;
traditional and religious leaders, women, and male and female youth leaders. The key informants
were interviewed to enable them to provide their perspectives on (1) gender issues and dynamics
within their respective districts and areas of specialty; and (2) how these gender dynamics can havean impact on the outcomes of Takunda. All the interview audio was recorded and later transcribed
into English. A total of 34 key informants, out of a target of 32, were interviewed during the GA,
representing a 106 percent achievement of the target.
(c) In-Depth Interviews
These were conducted with individuals from the targeted population groups to establish an in-depth
understanding of life experiences regarding gender-related issues and dynamics from an individual
perspective. The in-depth interviews were conducted with purposively selected individuals in each
district representing grandparents, young and adolescent mothers, young fathers, unmarried youngmen, unmarried young women, and the Apostolic sect members. The purpose of the IDI was to gather
detailed gender-related experiences of individuals representing different population groups
targeted by Takunda and to determine how these experiences can impact the three purpose areas ofthe program. Out of the 96 targeted IDIs, only 69 were conducted, representing an achievement rateof 72 percent. The failure to reach the target was mainly a result of difficulties in mobilizing young
women and young men owing to the perception they have around community development work
being for adults. Others reported not being interested in participating in community meetings and
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activities, preferring to spend their time engaged in income-generating activities such as artisanalmining. In addition, the target apostolic members of the ‘Johanne Marange’ sect are mostly dominant
in Mutare and not the other districts where the study was conducted.

May 26, 2021: Shamiso Matava, a Youth Officer at Takunda, conducts an in-depth interview with a program participant in
Chivi district. © Gift Bvekwa/ CARE.

(d) Participatory Focus Group Discussions
Participatory FGDs were conducted with separate groups of adult women and men, married young
women and young men, and unmarried young women and young men in each of the targeted districts.
The purpose of FGDs was to develop a broad understanding of community perceptions of culturalvalues, beliefs, practices, and gender norms and how these impacts the gender equality situation in
the districts as well as on the three purpose areas of the Takunda program. The participants were
purposively sampled into separate groups by age, sex, and marital status to capture specific gender
dynamics that are influenced by these demographic variables. A total of 28 out of 24 targets FGDs
were administered, representing a response rate of 117 percent. The overachievement is owed togroups of adult men, young married men, and young married women who came in large numbers inZaka Ward 21. In such large numbers, the research team had to divide them into smaller groups tomanage the risk associated with COVID-19 spread. The team also capitalized on the mining activities
taking place at the research site to reach out to the young population. Table 5 provides a summaryof the target respondents reached by the KIIs, IDIs, and FGDs.

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Targets Key Informant Interviews (KIIs)

Adult
men

Marriedmale
youth

Unmarrie
d
male
youth

Marriedfemaleyouth

Unmarried
female
youth

Total
FGDs

Targets

6

6

3

3

3

3

24

117%

Achieved

6

7

7

1

5

2

28

Gender/Yo
uth/
WASH/
Health/Agriculture/
Environme
nt/
TVET
Principal/D
istrict
Developme
nt
Coordinato
r/RuralDistrict
Council
Officials
etc.

Traditional
leaders

Religious
leader
s

Young
men
in
leadershi
ppositions(elected
youth
leader,youth
clubs/net
works, or
youth
organizati
on

Young
women inleadershi
ppositions(elected
youth
leader,youth
clubs/net
works, or
youth
organizati
on

Wome
n
in
leadership
positions/
elected
womenleader/community
leaderTotal KIIs

8

6

6

3

3

6

32

12

9

6

3

0

4

34

Grandpare
nts

Young
mothers andadolescent
mother
s

Young
unmar
ried
men

Young
unmarrie
d women

Membe
rs of
the
Apostolic sect(wome
n, men,male
andfemaleyouth

Youngfathers

Total

18

18

18

18

6

18

96

19

22

6

10

5

7

69

Achieved Targets

In-depth Interviews

Achiev
ed

Adult
women

% Achievement

Focus Group Discussions

Table 5: Survey respondents reached by method of data collection

106%

In-depth
Interviews

72%

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During FGDs, participatory Social Analysis Tools such as the gender box, Venn diagrams, access andcontrol matrix, GBV tree, pile sort, and the activity calendar were employed to enable meaningful
participation and open and frank discussions amongst the target groups. The Daily Activity Calendar
explored factors that shape gendered divisions of labor and their impact on food and nutrition
security outcomes, looking at areas like (a) gender roles and responsibilities; (b) productive andreproductive chores divided among men, women, boys, and girls; (c) the variations across seasons,during shocks and stressors; and (d) the variations across gendered household types. The Access,Control, and Benefits Matrix was employed to assess access to and control over different types ofassets and resources at the household level by women, men, male and female youth, and how
different household members have different power or authority to make important decisions on
assets and resources in the home. The Analysis focused on assets and resources such as land, labor,
finance/credit, knowledge/skills, information, technology, employment, income, and household
utensils. The Gender Box tool was used to establish the social norms that define women, men, girls’
and boys’ behavior, activities, and interactions in society. The Venn Diagram/Social Mapping tool wasused to identify institutions, services, and social networks available to men, women, male and female
youth at the community level; including social norms and practices that fuel the inequality that acts
as a barrier to women, girls, men, and boys’ access to services and capacity to respond to shocks andstressors. The GBV tree explored GBV root causes, common forms, contributory factors, and impacts
on different groups of people in the studied districts.

May 31, 2021: A participatory focus group discussion with women in Chivi district. © George Zimbizi/ CARE.

Each FGD was conducted by at least two people, including a moderator and a note-taker. The
moderator was responsible for guiding the discussion, while the note-taker was responsible forrecording the interviews using a voice recorder. Once recordings were obtained, they were
triangulated with notes to ensure that a verbatim final transcript was obtained for data analysis.
Informed written consent was sought from study participants before the start of the FGD.
(d) Observation
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During field visits, the GA team made observations of gender-related behavioral patterns andactivities within the community during community entry processes and meetings. The observations
were documented and are discussed in this report.

2.5 Data Management, Coding, and Analysis

Primary data collected and transcribed was reviewed and coded into themes around each researchquestion. After the coding, data under each code or thematic area was then analyzed using thecontent. Content analysis identified the most common responses to questions under each thematicarea, identifying data or patterns to answer research questions, and finding areas for further
exploration. The data was further analyzed to establish relationships, common trends and emerging
issues, diversity of perception or experience, similarities or differences among the focus groups, andopinions or positions that appear to be outliers. Meaningful conclusions were then drawn from theanalyzed qualitative data.

2.6 Quality Assurance Measures

By employing mixed methods and gathering data from different data sources, the GA findings were
triangulated for consistency, validity, and reliability. Triangulation is a process for comparing,
contrasting, verifying, and substantiating various views and perspectives on information. Mixed
methods sought to overcome the bias that comes from single informants, single methods, single
observer, or single theory studies. Data gathered using one method was compared and triangulatedwith that collected through another method as a data quality assurance measure. As part of the data
quality assurance measures taken during the study, the research assistants (data collectors) werecomprehensively trained in the methodology. In addition, the data collection tools were pre-tested
before the beginning of the field data collection exercise. Furthermore, the consultants and genderspecialist from CARE International/Takunda conducted routine quality checks during the datacollection and transcription processes for completeness and consistency.

2.7 Ethical Guidelines and COVID-19 Context

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the methodology was designed to ensure the safety of both
the researchers and research participants. Some of the KIIs were conducted remotely to minimize
physical contact, while others, including FGDs and IDIs, followed the COVID-19 protocols during datacollection (i.e., wearing protective masks, washing hands, and maintaining social/physicaldistancing). Ethical considerations during the research included obtaining informed consent fromparticipants, anonymity, confidentiality, respect for community socio-cultural values, and do-noharm principles.

2.8 Limitations
The main limitation of the GA was the general unavailability of young unmarried women and men andmarried men across the districts to participate in some of the interviews. Community leaders notedthat this group is generally difficult to mobilize because young people are mobile, and they spend
most of their time engaged in livelihood activities like artisanal mining. There is also the belief
amongst unmarried young men and women that community development work is for adults, andhence they give less priority to community meetings and activities. In Zaka Ward 21, the GA team had
to visit some of the young people in their mining places to access them. Where unmarried young
people did not reach enough for meaningful FGDs to be conducted, in-depth interviews were held
instead. Lessons drawn from the low participation of young men and women in the Gender Analysis
will be used to inform better strategies to effectively mobilize the youth in other Takunda studies.
There is a need to reflect and critically think through ways that can enhance their participation in the
Takunda Resilience Food Security Activity: Award #72DFFP20CA00007 | Gender Analysis Report | 16

formative studies and the activity moving forward, ensuring that their diverse views, needs, andpriorities are adequately captured.
In wards where more discussion participants came than expected, no participant was turned away.
In line with community etiquette and respect for the time invested in the meetings, the teaminnovatively split participants of the same characteristics into manageable sub-groups, with eachgroup focusing on specific thematic areas rather than discussing all the themes with one group. This
process, however meant that some of the participants had to wait for their turn to participate in thediscussions for much longer than initially planned.

3. Gender Analysis Findings
3.1 Gender Roles, Responsibilities, Mobility Constraints, and Time Use
The GA sought to understand the extent of division of labor and time use and its implications on offfarm and on-farm livelihoods and income generation and use (Purpose Area 1) as well as nutrition,maternal health, and hygiene (Purpose Area 2). The findings show that gender roles are culturally anddemographically defined in all the studied districts. There are cultural expectations that men andwomen, old and young, perform specific gendered roles in the household. Men are culturally regarded
as heads of the families. This is rooted in patriarchal norms and values that determine family power
structures in the studied districts. Men, and some women too, justified men’s dominant position over
women from both a traditional and religious perspective. Traditionally, men are expected to provide
for the family through involvement in productive tasks outside the home and completion of tasks
that are believed to pose security risks to women (e.g., herding cattle far away from the community);
while women are expected to support men at home by looking after the family by performing
domestic tasks such as caretaking and feeding of infants and young children, cooking, washing, andfetching water and firewood. These gender roles are said to be informed by the biological differences
between men and women that are reinforced through socialization. Men are believed to be physicallystronger than women and are therefore expected to perform physically demanding tasks that expose
them to various risks, while women are believed to be physically weak and therefore deserve toperform “light” tasks in safe and protected home environments. The vulnerability of women is also
age-specific – the younger the woman, the more vulnerable they are believed to be, and the lighter
the tasks the woman is expected to perform within the confines of women’s roles. Additionally,
grandfathers interviewed in Chivi District pointed out that men are also responsible for disciplining
children to ensure that they help their mothers. Adult boys have authority in the household over theirsiblings, particularly female siblings. The older son serves as a father figure in the absence of thefather.
Gender roles are more distinct in male-headed households and blurred in female-headed andpolygamous households, where women tend to exercise some form of autonomy. A key informant
interview with a community leader in Ward 13, Mubaiwa Village Chivi, revealed that if the householdhas both husband and wife, the husband is responsible for very laborious activities while the wife isresponsible for household duties such as washing, cooking, breastfeeding, and taking care of thechildren. While participants in an FGD with young married women in Mutare revealed that men’s
involvement in women’s roles increases with the use of technology in performing the task (fetchingwater and firewood using the wheelbarrow), some roles, like those having to do with childcare, werestill regarded as belonging to women across the districts with men mostly involved in providing
financial resources.
In Zaka, some widowed and unmarried women thatch houses and dig wells because the husband is
not there or there is no adult male figure in the household (Zaka community leader KII). While it isdifficult for them to do such hard labor, they do so because they do not have an option, especially inthe absence of resources to hire labor.
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In Chivi and Zaka, in some households, husbands accompany the wife or carry the child to the healthfacility, but it is still rare for husbands to take children to the clinic on their own without the wife.
The action by some men to accompany their pregnant or lactating wives to the health centers is
prompted by the Ministry of Health and Child Care's thrust to incentivize those partners by serving
the couple first before everyone else. This is also complemented by NGOs education around maleengagement in child health and nutrition, which is seen to have yielded fruit in some contexts. Suchchange remains isolated owing to the stigma that comes with it and the belief that pre and postnatal
care activities are a women’s role. In some communities, husbands provide support in the form oftransport money to enable their wives to access maternal health care from nearby clinics. In Mutare
District, young men generally were not comfortable with accompanying their wives when they go forpre-and post-natal care, arguing that this is a “woman’s responsibility,” and when a man is seen
accompanying their wife, it can be misconstrued by the community as a sign of weakness.
Mothers also play a critical role in children’s vaccinations and the health and wellbeing of teenage
girls. Adult men in Mutare and Zaka Districts revealed that a few fathers knew about the needs ofteenage girls (such as access to sanitary pads). Some fathers do not even budget for it, ‘so the motherhas to be firm, even to the extent of stealing some money to buy sanitary wear for the child’. In termsof hygiene, women are generally responsible for keeping the home environment clean. Men provide
hygiene structures such as toilets and garbage pits. Children assist their mothers in keeping theenvironment clean.
It also emerged that age, disability status, marital status, employment or economic status, andhousehold composition determine the roles that men and women play. Unmarried and unemployedyoung people were regarded as contributing less to the household economy; hence their roles involve
supporting their parents in their various roles, and therefore, they participate less in community
development activities compared to their married counterparts. In female-only households, thefemales perform selected male tasks, and in households where the wife is deceased, an adult female
who is a relative is temporarily brought in to perform tasks traditionally done by women until thewidower remarries. In the three districts, very few isolated cases of men who stay alone, performing
domestic tasks by themselves, were reported to be in existence.
Household size, the stage of the life cycle of that family/household, and the gender composition of
the household also determine the gender division of labor in that household. Households with more
men than women find the men are more heavily involved in women’s gender roles. In some cases,
larger households result in more tasks, but this makes women more likely to delegate some of theirdomestic chores to household members. In young families and households, women are burdenedwith domestic responsibilities, but as the household grows, some chores can be performed bychildren. For example, grandmothers delegate tasks to their grandchildren and daughters in law as
they take up the responsibility of caring for grandchildren while the daughter-in-law juggles
productive, domestic, and community management roles.
Gender roles have, over the years, limited women’s access to public spaces and their appreciation of
how these spaces are organized and structured. They have also shaped the organization, structure,and infrastructure in public spaces (like public markets), as these spaces have been designed from amasculine perspective and promote an aggressive and masculine environment with no gendersensitive infrastructure. At the same time, men’s appreciation of the domestic (or so-called women’s
space) has also been limited by their gender roles that have restricted them to public spaces. The
gendered division of labor also extends to tasks performed by men and women in agriculture, thelivelihood mainstay of the three districts, where women dominate production, processing, andhousehold nutrition; yet they are not significant players in decision-making in the household foodsupply chain, that is, decisions on what to plant, where and how to market products as well as what
to do with sales. Young women assist their mothers in their various roles in production, processing,and household nutrition, while young men work with their fathers to handle what they described aslaborious tasks in production, such as clearing land through cutting down trees. Similar to young
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women, young men across the three districts indicated that they participate in crop harvesting by
cutting down the stalks and ferrying the harvest home. Processing was regarded as a women’s task,
and it was mostly done manually.
On nutrition, men are less involved in household nutrition and community nutrition programs eventhough they play a pivotal role in determining household nutrition outcomes by dominating themarketing of the produce and decision-making in the household food supply chain. Externalmarketing of produce was considered a responsibility for men while women dominated local markets
because of their domestic roles that required their presence around the home. In all three districts,
marketing of major crops such as maize outside the communities is seen as a responsibility for adultmen because they are believed to be well informed about market forces and strong enough tonavigate the marketing ecosystem, which is dominated by brokers. Women find it difficult to go toexternal markets since, in some cases, people must spend a week or more away from home,marketing their produce. Restricting women to local markets only deprive them of the benefits ofexternal markets, which are high-value markets that could bring in better income. Both men andwomen reported that COVID-19 had worsened the access to the market due to market closures.
However, men faced the greatest economic impact because of mobility restrictions that affected theiraccess to external markets. In all the districts, female-headed households, people with disabilities,
and the elderly send men to such external markets to market their produce for them in return for
cash or agricultural produce.
Commenting on whether chores for women differ between women from a wealthy household andthose that come from a poor household, community leaders in Chivi and Zaka concurred that women
who come from poor households spend most of their time on ‘food for work’ projects or looking forcasual work while chores in their households are left unattended. On the other hand, life is generallysmooth for a woman from a wealthy household because she can afford hired labor and labor-saving
technologies.
The gender roles and division of labor explain: (a) the resources, assets, and equipment that men andwomen use; (b) the ownership patterns and gender gap in the public sphere; (c) the limited incomethat women, regardless of age, generate; (d) women’s limited access to markets and information; (e)the financial exclusion that women experience; and (f) women’s dominance in savings groups since
they can access group members easily and locally. The resources women use in the savings groups
come from the sale of their crops and other off-farm activities. Analysis of these findings shows that
owing to their various childcare and productive roles; women have acquired diverse knowledge andskills in areas of nutrition, natural resources, savings, and management of multiple tasks that are
relevant to Takunda.
Women’s roles were reported to have expanded over the years owing to gender equality and women
empowerment campaigns, government gender equality initiatives, increased NGO work targeting
women, climate change, and changing household demographics due to migration, death, or the life
cycle stage of the household. Most women in the studied districts are now involved in both productive
tasks outside the home and domestic tasks at home, resulting in the ‘double burden’ or ‘second shift’
phenomenon that describes the workload of people who work to earn money and are, at the sametime, responsible for significant amounts of unpaid domestic labor. In Zaka District, both women andmen reported that this sometimes affects the number of women that attend meetings and training.
There is also a risk that the water, energy, food shortages, and increased health risks resulting fromclimate change intensify time-consuming domestic roles that are often the domain of women,
limiting their time to engage in decision-making, income-generating, and community activities,
thereby restricting their opportunities for empowerment or strategic change. In Zaka, older womenconcurred with a woman who remarked on the sharing of household workloads.

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“For a woman to get time to rest, it requires everyone at home to help out with thehouse chores. Helping each other with the chores gives the mother more time to rest.
If all the household chores are left to the mother, the workload becomes too muchfor her, and her resting time is lessened, but if people help out, the workload becomesless, and the resting time is extended. In some households where the husband assists
with fetching water and watering the garden, women find time to rest.” (Participant
in FGD with older women in Zaka)

Social norms around gender are still prevalent in all the studied districts, as exemplified bystatements like ‘kutongwa nemukadzi (control of men by women)’ and kudyiswa (being given somelove portion to silent the men).’ In some areas, task sharing is conditional. In Mutare, some of theyoung married men in an FGD revealed they could not do chores like cooking and washing clothes
unless the wife was not feeling well. If a man has to participate in women’s roles, there has to be astrong and valid reason that the community will appreciate, such as the woman not feeling well,having a pregnancy that is nearly due or have traveled. In a different ward in Mutare, young marriedmen revealed that they used to make sure that tasks like cooking, ironing, and meal planning weredone by women, but this is now changing. They revealed that although most men in their area are
not helping their wives, it is encouraging that through awareness campaigns (radio programs andchurch services, especially in orthodox and Pentecostal churches), some men are beginning toappreciate the importance of helping women and the benefits thereof to the household economy.

Regarding mobility, married women, both old and young in the three districts, highlighted that they
do not travel to faraway places without their husbands’ permission because culturally, they are under
the custodian of their husbands. In addition, because their gender roles demand their availability athome most of the time, their travel to faraway places must be cleared with a plan in place outlining
who will perform their gender roles in their absence. This equally affects young women of theapostolic sect of Johanne Marange, who are not allowed to participate in distant markets because ofreligious beliefs that limit their movement. Nevertheless, they are allowed to engage with other
women in community development initiatives. This is what one young woman of the apostolic sect
had to say:‘As women under religious churches, we are allowed to interact with VSL groups andcommunity clubs. Our husbands now allow us to work with the other farmers.
However, we need to operate within reasonable hours during the day since ourhusbands are sensitive to time’.

Unmarried young people seek the permission of their parents, especially the father, to travel tofaraway places. There are limited mobility restrictions for travel within the vicinity of the village. On
the other hand, men do not seek the permission of their wives to go anywhere; they just inform themof their intention to travel. COVID-19 lockdown restrictions have further reduced the mobility ofwomen due to transport challenges, whereas men can afford to travel even under the harsh
circumstances of limited public transport availability.

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3.2 Patterns of Power and Decision-making in the HomeThe GA sought to establish patterns of power and decision-making within the home in terms of offfarm and on-farm livelihoods and income generation and use (Purpose Area 1) and in terms ofnutrition, maternal health, and hygiene (Purpose Area 2). The analysis assessed decision-making
power patterns in different types of households, including those headed by male and female adults(M&F), female no adult male (FNM), adult male no adult female (MNF), Child No Adults (CAN), andpolygamous households. It further assessed the role of young married and unmarried men andwomen as well as children in household decision-making.

May 26, 2021: A program participant presents the results of a household decision-making pattern assessment made bymembers of her community on a chart. © Tariro Chuma/ CARE.

Across all districts, the main source of livelihood for most households is agriculture and related value
chains. Other sources of household income include illegal mining, cross-border trading, remittancesfrom abroad, casual labor on farms, and piece jobs. The major household income decisions for mosthouseholds are thus centered on agriculture-related activities.
Those with assets and resources tend to make household decisions. The GA established that power
dynamics within households varied with the type of household, age, economic status, and level ofwomen’s assertiveness, among other factors. The social structure in all three districts is patriarchal,
implying that generally, men wield more power than women, who society expects to be subordinate
and submissive.

In male-headed households, decisions on household incomes are generally made jointly between
husband and wife. These decisions include crops to grow in a particular season, hectarage to be
Takunda Resilience Food Security Activity: Award #72DFFP20CA00007 | Gender Analysis Report | 21

planted, marketing of crops, and use of income. Across all the three districts, women concurred thatthey make joint decisions on household livelihoods and income. However, in cases where there wasno agreement on a particular decision, the husband or wife’s decision takes precedence dependingon the nature of the decision to be made. If the decision involves small assets such as chickens orgoats or crops such as groundnuts that are regarded as women’s crops, men, in most cases, allow thedecisions of their wives to prevail. If the decision involves high-value assets such as land and cattle
or high-value crops such as maize, tobacco, or cotton, the husband’s decision will prevail should
there be differing decisions.

Women in all three districts conceded that husbands’ decisions always prevail when it comes to highvalue assets. This is the norm based on the literature and evidence that exist. However, the genderanalysis also focused on the access and control patterns for poorly resourced households, and thefinding was that, in resource-poor households, men even tend to want to control decisions on assetsthat are generally considered to be women. Such resources as goats and chickens; since in thesehouseholds, these assets are regarded as assets for the family not only belonging to women. The
patterns of control thus vary depending on the value placed upon an asset or decision by a particularhousehold. Religion and culture were used as justification why men’s decisions should override theirwives,’ should there be a disagreement.
In all three districts, women tended to gain more decision-making powers within the household withage. Decision-making powers for older women have increased because of their maturity andincreased agency after having participated and interacted with previous programs that seek topromote gender equity and women empowerment. The engagement of men in gender sensitization
meetings and security of men to share decision-making with their older wives has equally contributed
to this, including women’s economic empowerment through VS and L activities which have broughtsome financial independence and commanded respect because women can now afford to bringsomething on the table. At the same time, depending on household power dynamics, decision-making
by women may not translate to women’s empowerment if there is limited control of the income by
women at the household level. Findings show that ownership of assets enhances participation indecision-making and access to services; hence economic empowerment should be linked to asset
acquisition and control.
Some cultural differences also come into play between older women and younger women when it
comes to decision-making patterns. Older women revealed that they are now able to make decisions
within the households that previously would have been left to the husband because they are now
more respected by their husbands than they were when they were younger. One woman in the older
women’s FGD group in Mutare had this to say:“When we were young, our husbands would make all the decisions. We grow cotton
here, and they would take the cotton after harvest and sell it without you being
involved, even though you will be the one who would sweat in the fields together withyour children. They would spend all the money, and you could not say anything. Thesedays it's now different because we sit down and plan together. They respect us, andthey respect our decisions even if we differ. The problem is now with the young
generation; they do not listen to their wives.” (Participant in FGD with older womenin Mutare)

Some elderly men expressed concern that their wives yield more decision-making powers than themnow. They attributed this shift in decision-making powers to grown-up and working children who
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always support their mothers against their fathers when disputes arise. Because elderly men are
dependent on their children for financial support, they feel vulnerable and relinquish their decisionmaking powers.
The level of decision-making influence among young married women varied from district to district.
In Mutare and Zaka Districts, the young married women complained that their husbands impose
important household decisions should there be a disagreement. The young married men, on the other
hand, justified their monopoly of major decisions arguing that they are the heads of households andtherefore they have the right to make decisions such as the types of crops to grow, how to market
the crops, and the type of income-generating activity the household should embark on.
“The issue is that we marry our wives; they do not marry us. When we get married,they leave their families to come and stay with the husband’s family, and they comewith nothing. I, as the man, own the land, and I am a breadwinner for my family, andtherefore I have a right to decide on how best to look after my family. Besides, it isclearly stated in the bible that women should be subordinate to us. We can consult,yes, but if we do not agree, then my decision prevails. That’s what I personally do.”(Participant in FGD with young men, Mutare)
The young married women in Mutare attributed the control that their husbands wanted to impose onthem to a lack of education.
“The problem we have is that we were married by very dull people who have not goneto school. Our husbands are lazy, and at the same time, they want to control what wedo and the little money that we get from piece jobs. They don’t bring any income, butwhen I bring home my little money, they want to get it and spend on beer andwomen.” (Participant in an FGD with young married women)
In Zaka District, young married women expressed concern that their husbands do not allow them toengage in income-generating activities outside their communities where they have the potential tofetch more money. Young women involved in garden projects noted that they would have wanted tosell their produce at Zaka Centre, where they fetch higher prices, but their husbands do not allowthat to happen for fear that their wives might engage in extra-marital affairs, or they would become“big-headed” or arrogant should they start earning more money than them.
“The challenge is that we know these wives of ours. You think that they are going toJerera to sell their vegetables, but they will go there to sell everything, even theirbodies. We have had cases like that. And if they make money there, you will not tellthem anything. That is why most men are not comfortable to let their wives travel tofaraway places.” (Participant in FGD with young married men)
The same sentiments were also shared by a community leader in a key informant interview as below:“The men are not working but do not allow their women to work. Men are afraid that
if women go to work, they will start cheating on them; I am not sure if it is called
infidelity, married women dating other men. So, there is oppression here; I used to do
this long ago. I didn’t want my wife to go to work, but I later realized it's unfair as
women want to buy their own stuff, and they can even help the husband in feeding
the family. You see. So, there is some level of oppression here. Even if the women get
employed, they are sexually harassed and abused at workplaces as the employer’s
demand sex in return, so it is difficult for women in these companies. The woman willbe left with no choice because of poverty, she ends up being involved in external
marriages, and they start dating other men, which is not right. So, there is a problem
here.” (Key informant interview with a Community Leader, Mutare).

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The young married men in Zaka expressed frustration at the lack of employment opportunities whichhave resulted in them failing to fulfill their roles as breadwinners for their families. This makes themwant to assert control over their wives for fear that they could become economically independentand abandon them.
In Chivi, young married women revealed that they make joint decisions with their husbands on major
issues around household income. Should there be disagreements, they would try and convince eachother by presenting persuasive arguments. The young married men also acknowledged that they
make joint decisions with their wives, and they even allow them to buy big assets such as cows andregister them in their own names. The household power dynamics in Chivi District seem to have been
influenced by gender awareness activities implemented by a number of NGOs operating in the
district, including the male engagement model that deliberately targeted men to create safe spaces
for gender equality and women empowerment conversations. There is a great opportunity to identify
these young women and men role models in Chivi and work with them to influence patterns ofdecision-making among young couples in Takunda activity sites.
In polygamous households, particularly among the apostolic faith sects, although the man has
overall decision-making when it comes to major decisions such as selling livestock, powers are
sometimes delegated to individual wives who make decisions regarding their households. The wives
make decisions on crops to plant, harvesting, marketing of the crops, and other income-generating
activities. One apostolic faith sect woman noted that:“If women are in a polygamous marriage, they can own and control land, but if froma monogamous household you cannot own land as you will be the only wife in thehousehold.” (IDI with an apostolic woman, Mutare)
Women in polygamous families from both the apostolic and the non-apostolic sect appeared to havemore leeway compared to married women in monogamous marriages when it comes to household
decision-making related to land use, livelihoods, and income-generating activities. The flexibility
comes after the man takes it as too much work for him to be making decisions on such a big family,
considering that other men within the apostolic sect of ‘Johanne Marange’ have more than ten wives.
The husband usually appears on decisions to do with the use of the income generated, and, in mostcases, he has the final say. This is what one male key informant of Apostolic sect said:‘Practically, it would be burdensome for the husband to make household decisions
for all the wives as some of the men have up to ten wives.’
In de-jure female-headed households, women have more flexibility in making decisions as they are
not accountable to a male figure. The women make decisions related to agriculture production,
income-generating activities, and participation in community development activities. It is easier forthese female-headed households to seek election into committees, make decisions to participate intraining programs, and decide on selling or acquiring household assets because they do not have toseek permission from a male figure.
“Sometimes you see that single women or widows do better than married women
because they can make decisions that are good for their children without interference
from a man. For us married women, if you want to sell a goat to pay for school fees,
you have to first seek permission, if you want to participate in training, you also haveto seek permission, and in some cases our husbands are jealous, and they would notallow you to participate even when you can see that I can benefit from this training.
At times you can see that being widowed has advantages (laughter)”. (Participant in
an FGD with young married women, Mutare)

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In de-facto female-headed households, the husbands, in most cases, are working in towns orneighboring countries such as Botswana and South Africa and are gone for long periods of up to ayear without coming back. In such circumstances, the wives become de-facto household heads, andthey can make most of the decisions pertaining to agricultural productivity and disposal of small
assets as well as livelihood activities. However, these de-facto female household heads still need toseek permission from their husbands on major household decisions such as acquiring and disposalof high-value assets such as cattle or productive assets such as ploughs and scotch carts. The women
also need to seek permission to attend training programs outside the community. In some cases, thede-facto household heads fail to reach their husbands on time and will wait to get feedback fromtheir husbands before implementing decisions. Making decisions without consulting the husband wasregarded as a sign of lack of submissiveness that can result in gender-based violence

Younger de-facto female household heads have limited household decision-making powers
compared to their older counterparts. This is mainly because most are left in the care of their inlaws, who act as their husbands in terms of control and decision-making. The younger women haveto seek permission from their in-laws to attend training and other community meetings and toparticipate in income-generating activities such as Village Savings and Loans (VSL) groups thatinvolve the participation of large groups of people and attending meetings outside their homes.
However, they make decisions on what to plant, management of low-value assets such as chickens
and goats, and marketing of their produce.

The level of participation of young people in household decision-making largely depended on age,gender, and level of income contribution. Across the three districts, gerontocratic tendencies
amongst elderly respondents were evident, with older people generally not appreciating the needfor involving young people in household decision-making. There was a perception among older
people that young people are lazy, want quick money, and are disrespectful of their elders, and hence
there is no need to involve them in decision-making.

“Why should they be involved in decision-making when they spend most of their time
drinking and not wanting to work. We can only involve them when we know they areserious and when they contribute something to the household income. Otherwise,
how could I consult someone who has nothing and doesn’t want to work and comeshome drunk all the time.” (Participant in an FGD with older men, Chivi)
Participation in household decision-making for young people was therefore largely based on theirhousehold income contribution and age. Those young people bringing income to the household had
increased chances of participating in household decision-making compared to those that had no
assets and were contributing nothing. Unmarried young men seemed to be better involved inhousehold decision-making compared to unmarried young women. The latter are less involved
because of the patriarchal assumption that they will be married and will eventually go and live with
their husband’s families and therefore cannot make decisions when they are bound to leave theirfamily.

Young people across the three districts felt that the older generation is systematically excluding themfrom household decision-making because they are not resourced. The young people cited the highunemployment rate in the country and limited opportunities for them to engage in meaningful
economic activities to contribute to household income as the primary reasons for their limited

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resources. The young people complained that the older generation is marginalizing them because
they are not employed and because they have a monopoly over household assets.
“As young people, we are not given the opportunity to contribute to household
decisions, especially when you are not married, and you do not bring in anything.
Most young people resort to heavy drinking due to frustration because of a lack of
employment opportunities. The older people view this as delinquency, and they shutdoors on us. They own productive assets such as land, which at times, they are
reluctant to share with us. That is why you see that in this community, very few young
people come for community meetings because we feel not wanted, we feel excluded.”(Participant in an FGD with young people, Mutare)
Discussions with middle-aged participants revealed an appreciation for the need to involve children
and young people in household decision-making. There was an appreciation that children and young
people in households have a right to contribute to decisions that affect them even when they are notable to contribute to the household economy economically.

Household Decision-making on MCHN
The GA also sought to establish household decision-making patterns around nutrition, hygiene, andmaternal health. Women are largely responsible for the provision and choice of nutrition for thehouseholds. Empowered women can: input on intra-household food allocation (including withchildren/ child feeding); what to save for home consumption and what to grow, what to sell from theagricultural produce farms, what to purchase from markets; all of which will impact nutrition.
Traditionally, women are responsible for the provision of food for the family, going to great lengths
to ensure that the family is fed. In times of food crisis, the whole family looks up to the mother toprovide food. During FGDs, women complained that although traditionally men were breadwinners
for their families, that role has gradually been relegated to women as most men are unemployed andwomen have to make sure food is put on the table.
“Long back, men were viewed as breadwinners. That was possible then because there
were jobs, and men were employed in towns and would send back remittances thatthe families would use to buy food with. Today this is no longer the case as most men
are unemployed, they are failing to play their breadwinner role, and that role has
been left to women. If there is a food crisis, it is the mother who will go to do piecejobs to feed the family. Men are too proud to do these piece jobs. So even if they left
home when there was no food, they expect to find food on the table when they comeback home, and if this food is not there, that can lead to a fight. And you wonder
where they expect me to have got the food when they left the house knowing that
there was no food. So, what it means is if you, the mother of the house, don’t look for
food, your children will starve. And when the children cry because of hunger, they
don’t go to the father; they look you in the face.” (Participant in an FGD with young
women, Mutare)
To a large extent, the nutrition available to a household is based on the ability of women to accessfood. In Mutare District, it emerged that grandparents have a large say in the type of nutrition that
their grandchildren have access to. Elderly grandmothers were opposed to letting their grandchildren
consume modern child supplementary foods such as baby formula milk and cereals such as“Cerevita,” arguing that these modern foods will make their grandchildren grow as weaklings. The
grandmothers preferred traditional foods such as “soaked porridge,” which they argued enabled
their grandchildren to grow healthy. Young women, on the other hand, wanted to feed their children

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on the modern supplementary feeds because they believe that these are more nutritious than the
traditional “soaked porridge” that the grandmothers insist on. A young mother reflected on this issue.
“The problem we have when it comes to child nutrition is that our mothers-in-law arevery old and old-fashioned. They do not want us to feed our children with Cerevita orother supplements such as yogurt because they think this will make the children
become weak as they grow. But these are the kind of foods that are recommended
when we go to the clinics. So, what we do is we buy these foods and hide them andfeed our children secretly without the grandmothers noticing. If they ever see you do
this, they will be very angry, and they report you to your husband. They will also
threaten you by saying, ‘if that child ever gets sick, don’t ever come to me for help.
Even if the child dies, don’t ever tell me because I have told you not to give the childthese types of foods. And with such threats, sometimes we are forced not to feed ourchildren with the most nutritious foods”. (IDI with young mother, Mutare).
FGDs also revealed that culturally, children were not supposed to eat eggs because it was believedthat doing so would cause children to “hallucinate.” Although this cultural belief is being dissuaded
and is gradually fading, there are some communities that still hold onto these beliefs, particularly insome parts of the Mutare District. Young mothers complained that this limits the range of nutritious
foods that are available to their children.
Although women are the main providers of food in the household across the three districts, in times
of food crisis, they are the last to eat as preference is first given to children and then the husband.
Mothers will make sure that their children are fed; first, the husband comes next, and they come last,in some cases eating less food in terms of quantity or leftovers. Among the apostolic sects, wives ina polygamous union compete for the attention of the husband by providing him with the best foodat the expense of the children and the wives themselves. This compromises their health status,
particularly for pregnant and lactating mothers, as well as the health status of their children.
Among the other apostolic sects outside the ‘Johanne Marange,’ decisions on child and maternal
health care are generally made by husbands who determine the type and source of maternal healthservices that their wives can access. Women in the ‘Johanne Marange’ apostolic sect is not allowed
to access modern health services and therefore cannot visit clinics for pre-and post-natal care. The
women usually give birth at home, are not allowed to use modern contraceptive methods, and receive
severe reprimands, including divorce, should they go against the church doctrine. Children are also
not allowed to be immunized or receive any form of modern medical services. FGDs in Mutare
revealed that the church doctrine has led to high maternal and child mortality rates among the sects,
with some of the deaths not officially reported and victims secretly buried.
Elderly women have a key role in making decisions regarding the maternal and child health of theirdaughters-in-law and grandchildren. The elderly women are highly regarded as experienced and offer
advice on what herbs to take, when to go to the clinic, and what cultural practices to follow before,
during, and after giving birth. However, some of the advice given to pregnant and lactating mothersby these elderly women is regarded as unhealthy by health professionals. Herbs prescribed can leadto infections, and the traditional practice of healing ‘nhova’, ‘fontanelle’, which health professionals
regard as dehydration in children, can cause irreparable damage to the health of children. Young
women, however, often follow the advice from their mothers-in-law on maternal health as a sign ofrespect expected of a daughter-in-law.

3.3 Access to and Control of Productive Assets and Resources

Access and control over critical productive resources and assets are gendered in all the Takunda
districts. One’s roles and responsibilities in the household determine the assets they control,
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regardless of the amount of income they bring to the household. Table 6 below shows household andcommunity resource access and control patterns typical in all the districts.
Table 6: Patterns of Household Asset Access and Control and Access to Community Resources in the
Takunda districts
Resources women
typically accessHouseholdassets

•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•

Community
assets

•
•

•
•
•
•

Chickens
Ducks
Money
realizedfrom thesaleofvegetables
fromgardens
Land
CattleDonkeys
SewingmachineBed
Kitchenutensils

Clinics
Water points(when water isfor household
use)
Dams
Schools
Community/nu
trition gardens
Business
centresResources
women
typically own andcontrol

•
•
•

•
•
•

Chickens
Ducks
Money
realizedfrom thesaleofvegetables
fromgardens
Bed
Kitchenutensils
SewingmachineResources men typicallyaccess

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•

•
•

Land
Cattle
Money
Sheep
Goats
Land
HousesOxcartandploughs
BicycleAxe
Chickens
Ducks
Money realized
from the sale ofvegetables fromgardens
Bed
Kitchen utensils

Resourcesmen
typically own andcontrol

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Land
Cattle
Money
Sheep
Goats
Land
HousesOxcart andploughs
BicycleAxe

Dip tanks
Dams
Business
centres
Clinics
Water
points(when water isfor household
use)Schools
Community/nut
rition gardens

Both men and women have access to both household and community assets. Young people’s accessand control of resources vary with age and sex. The younger the child, the less access and control
over household resources and vice versa. Usually, children have access to household resources under
the strong supervision of an adult due to the perceived lack of maturity attached to their age. For
example, in Chivi, adult men revealed that some young boys, when given scotch carts to use to ferry
firewood or water, will abuse them by speeding on rough roads, thereby affecting the lifespan of that
asset. It was revealed that as young people grow older, they are entrusted with household assets.
Some are even granted access to agriculture equipment for personal use by parents. However, access

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to household and community assets by young people is dependent on perceptions of their level ofmaturity and responsibility.

Gender and age are both important factors that contribute to the exclusion of young women fromaccess to and control over resources and assets. Across all three districts, there is a generalperception of young people being labeled as irresponsible, especially unmarried individuals. Aftermarriage, young people acquire status as adults and are entrusted with responsibilities, and areallowed to acquire assets. The perception of young people as irresponsible and immature has
resulted in their financial exclusion, especially when asset-based collateral is required to accessloans.

Due to patriarchy, young women are excluded from ownership and control of key productive
resources and assets. Regarding land, unmarried young people in all the districts revealed that mostof the land is owned and controlled by elders who usually parcel it out to their sons upon getting
married. They complained that when one is still single, they are not considered an adult, and hence
they are not prioritized in the allocation of communal land. Married young men are regarded as headsof households and breadwinners and therefore are expected to own and control resources and large
assets that will enable them to adequately provide for their families. For this reason, within the family
setup, preference is given to young married males over unmarried young women and men. Althoughyoung men have access to land through the arrangements described above, total control of the asset
rests with the elders. For unmarried young women, the situation is different because the expectationis that they get married and will utilize their husband’s land. Women, especially young women (bothmarried and unmarried), are more disadvantaged than their older female and male counterparts interms of access to land and access to household productive tools and equipment. Unmarried young
people noted that their parents’ unwillingness to relinquish control of the land significantly
constrained their ability to exploit opportunities in agriculture. When resource competition
intensifies, the least powerful, which are typically young men and women, are the most vulnerable toexclusion. This affects the viability of their on-farm and off-farm activities.

This justifies the need to enhance household capacity to accumulate assets that can be disposed offor cash or exchanged for food during climate shocks and market failures through life-skills trainingthat enables young people to accumulate financial, human, and social capital. It was revealed thatthe situation for young women is worse than that of young men as they face double exclusion related
to both gender and age. A key stakeholder from the Ministry of Women Affairs remarked,“Women’s lack of control over resources has affected their access to finance becauseof lack of collateral; they have therefore not been able to access loans as men. Owing
to this, the government has established the Women’s Micro Finance Bank to assist
women with access to funds.” (KII, Chivi)

While the Government of Zimbabwe established the Empower and Women’s Banks to ease access toloans by women and young people, there are still structural challenges like lack of collateral that
impact the loan size. At the time of data collection, the amount loaned was as small as ZWL 1,000(approximately 10 USD), which is not adequate to sustain a viable business enterprise. No one
amongst the interviewed participants was confirmed to have benefited from the loan. Available
options include the loan in the form of equipment or machinery; however, it also depends on the
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capability of women and young people’s groups to meet collateral requirements. While groupcollateral is acceptable, most groups cannot afford to raise the amount enough to secure a loan.
Traditional innovative financing mechanisms that include the guarantee fund mechanisms, microcredit, credit enhancement, third party ownership/payment, pre-paid, rental and lease finance need
to be introduced and strengthened, paying special attention to the financial and technical needs ofwomen and youths.
In all districts, the study established that in male-headed households, both young men and young
women have limited access to resources of production, but young men control certain resources,
particularly those that are traditionally regarded as belonging to men. Married young men are
regarded as heads of households and breadwinners and therefore should own and control resources
and large assets that will enable them to adequately provide for their families. In the three districts,
the productive assets owned and controlled by young male heads of households are still few and ona small scale, including farming implements such as ploughs, scotch-carts, and large livestock suchas cattle; women cannot lend these in the absence of the man. Small livestock (e.g., chickens) andkitchenware belong to women in general. Given this, young married women have access to andcontrol of this small livestock and therefore have the flexibility to dispose of them without needing
to consult or acquire permission from their husbands.

Generally, as noted above, men have control over high-value household assets, while women havecontrol of assets of lesser value. In all the districts where women have control over cattle, they aremostly older women who have received the ‘motherhood cow’ (mombe yehuMai), which comes aspart of the bride price when their daughter is getting married. This control comes as a result of thefact that there is a general belief of ‘ngozi’ (avenging spirit) that comes with this cow; hence men
generally do not want to attract misfortunes by controlling this cow. In all districts, men were clearthat the best way to handle this cow is not to accommodate the cow in the family kraal but that the
woman send it to her relatives.

A grandfather in Zaka district remarked,“Culture dictates that the kitchen belongs to the wife, and if there is no round hut,
her relatives will say our child does not have a house here because the kitchen isimportant to them. This culture was introduced by our ancestors, but even though weare now Christians, people still believe in our traditions, and if you do not respectthese traditions, you will suffer the consequences. The challenge with letting thewoman own big assets is that when she dies, all these things are taken by her
relatives. It is a tradition that when a woman dies, her relatives take everything
believed to be hers, leaving the children with nothing.” (IDI Grandfather, Zaka)

Limited access to and control of land by young people also extends to community gardens andirrigation schemes where most adult women are in control of the small plots and can make decisions
on what is produced and advanced on the small piece of land. In most instances where young people
have access to community gardens, it is typically because they are renting, or they are related to theplot owner. Regarding other community assets, access is open to everyone, although it is generally
skewed to those who use the asset the most. For example, schools, clinics, and water points aremostly frequented by women due to their gender roles. Dip, tanks, and dams, which are aligned withmen’s gender roles, are mostly accessed by men.

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Dynamics are also seen within the polygamous families of the apostolic sect of Johanne Marange.
While husbands overly own the land, each wife is allocated a plot which she controls and manages
on her own. The husband also allocates himself land, which is managed and maintained by his wives,
meaning the wives provide all the labor requirements needed on the piece of land. The husband thendecides on what to do with the harvest, and sometimes the product contributes to the family's foodsecurity and nutrition needs. Is used to provide for the whole family. One woman had this to say:‘Men, especially those in polygamous marriages, need training on managing theirfamilies since most are being looked after by women. Even though they allow us towork, they also need to support the wives in IGAs’.

3.4 Access to Services, Participation in Leadership and Decision-making in
Public Spaces
3.4.1 Access to services
During the GA, access to services by different population groups was assessed. The assessment
focused on access to employment opportunities, agricultural extension services, health services, ICT
services, and other social services that the communities are entitled to.

May 20, 2021: This image shows the results of a participatory mapping of service availability and access measured as the
distance community members need to travel to gain access. © Gift Bvekwa/ CARE.

Employment Opportunities: Across all three districts, formal employment opportunities were noted
to be very limited for all the targeted groups, including old and young women as well as old men andyoung men. Most of the young people are now resorting to artisanal mining, particularly in Mutare
and Zaka; others are engaged in cross-border trading, and some do piece jobs within theircommunities such as fetching firewood, digging wells, and brick making. Some of the young people
are running small agro-based projects such as horticulture and poultry. Young women in Chivi were
engaged in catering, detergent making, and gardening, while in Zaka and Mutare, they were selling

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food and drinks to artisanal miners working in the illegal mines. Some were doing laundry at growth
points, mostly for civil servants working in the district.
Employment opportunities in the formal sector are very limited, and the informal sector presents
opportunities for both women and men, old and young. Although entry requirements into the formal
sector for the identified economic areas are difficult for both men and women, women face extra
huddles because of their gender. In the artisanal mining sector, the high level of violence that ischaracteristic of these mining areas and the tough conditions that the miners endure and make it
difficult for women to participate in the sector as they will become highly vulnerable to gender-based
violence. At an artisanal mine in Zaka, women were not allowed to participate in mining activities or
to have mining claims because of the belief that if they do, the “gold will disappear.”“We are not allowed by men to go near their mining pits because they believe that if
we do so, their gold will disappear. So, we only come here to sell food to the miners,
but we can’t participate in the actual mining. Since I came here, I have never been to
the pits because we are not allowed. But in other districts such as Chivi, we know thatwomen are also allowed to participate, but we don’t know why we are not allowed
here” (IDI with a young woman selling food at an artisanal mine, Zaka)

The above gender discrimination means that women cannot benefit the same as men from artisanalmining, which at times can be lucrative. Without necessarily going through the physical rigors ofmining, women should be allowed to own claims and access machinery that can make themsuccessful miners.
Another key challenge for women and young men was the unavailability of startup capital to support
their income-generating projects. In all three districts, none of the respondents indicated that they
had received any loan support from any institution. It is even worse for some of the apostolic sect
women because they do not possess identity cards. ‘I cannot access any loans for I do not have anational identity card.’ Women had formed VSL groups as a way of raising capital, but these groups
were rendered dysfunctional upon the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed the economic
activities that the women were engaged in to support the VSL group lending mechanism.
Informal opportunities are also available for the women and men (old and young) of the apostolic
sect of Johanne Marange. Some of the skills include building and welding for young and old men andfirewood selling petty trading for women (curtains and second-hand clothes. One KII had this to say,‘young married women of the Apostolic sect have their groups where they come together to engage
in buying and selling activities. However, the groups are still very few. Challenges experienced byyoung women of the apostolic sect include the need to comply with their husbands’ controlling
attitudes and behaviors.

“Sometimes it’s a challenge to continue with your own business enterprise andaspirations as you are supposed to abide by the husbands’ laws’.

ICT AccessIn all three districts, the main form of ICT accessible to men, women, and youth is the mobile phone.
Most of the male and female youth, as well as young married men and women, owned mobile phones.
Although a significant number of the older men and women had mobile phones, some of the elderly
did not have one. The elderly women noted that they do not know how to operate the phones and
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hence rely on family members for communication. Compared to older people, there were more young
people with smartphones, which they used to communicate via social media while others had accessto the internet. In households of young married couples, the husband was likely to have a smartphone
while the wives had basic phones (although, in some cases, they would also have smartphones). Someof the women had their phone lines registered in their husbands’ names as the husbands were theones that had applied for the lines.
In all three districts, network connectivity was a major challenge. This made accessibility to social
media and the internet difficult. Most of the respondents with mobile phones reported that theirlines were registered for mobile money use. Although mobile money was used for financialtransactions, there were concerns that the charges were too high. The utilization of ICT across thethree districts was limited for all the targeted groups owing to limited connectivity and high tariffcharges.
Communities also accessed services from several service providers, including AGRITEX (foragricultural extension services), Ministry of Health (health services including maternal and childhealth), Police, Traditional Leaders, Rural District Councils, Schools, Grain Marketing Board, and otherservice providers from the government and NGOs. The service providers that were ranked as the mostimportant were health facilities, AGRITEX, Department of Social Services, and schools. Under Purpose
1 and 2 of the Takunda project, AGRITEX and the Ministry of Health are key institutions that provide
services in the three districts.

Access to Markets and Agricultural Extension
AGRITEX provides agricultural extension services to farmers in the communal areas. These include
technical support and advice, training, and mentoring. Across the districts, AGRITEX extension officers
were said to be easily accessible, with the main challenge being their lack of mobility as some ofthem do not have motorbikes. The extension officers were accessible to both men and women. While
the government of Zimbabwe has made progress in ensuring gender equality on Agritex Extension
staffing in the target districts, literature has shown Buhera lagging behind with 13 female and 43 maleextension staff. Mutare, Chivi and Zaka have (41 Female: 28 Male), (54 Female: 37 Male) and (55 Female:49 Male), respectively. While, female extension workers, are more than men in most districts,
concerns were raised that it was at times difficult for young women to access services in theirindividual capacity as women as that could fuel rumors of sexual relationships with the maleextension officers. This was particularly difficult for married women, who might face resistance fromtheir husbands to attend training programs led by male extension officers. This ultimately limits theavailability of extension services to married young women, in particular one-on-one mentoring
sessions.
The AGRITEX officers that were interviewed all concurred that few youths come to them to accessextension services. They attributed this to a general lack of interest in agriculture by young people
who regard it as unprofitable, particularly in rural areas where there is reliance on rain-fed
agriculture that is susceptible to droughts. The extension officers also concurred that there is a needfor more female officers so that they can assist other female farmers without causing maritalconflicts.
Married women complained that when AGRITEX officers come for meetings, men in most cases opt togo, but they do not share the information that they get with their wives even though it is the women
who spend the most time in the fields. If there are meetings with veterinary officers, men are theones who mostly go because they own most of the livestock. Single or widowed women benefit a lot
from these extension services because they attend these meetings in their capacities as heads ofhouseholds.

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Farmers sell their grain through the Grain Marketing Board (GMB), which is the sole official buyer ofgrain in the country. Previously, the board used to come to communal areas to collect grain fromfarmers, but currently, farmers have to deliver the grain to the GMB depots using their own transport.
Women in Mutare complained that transporting their grain to the nearest depots is a challenge not
only in terms of transport costs but also in terms of their gender roles and responsibilities. At times
it takes several days for the selling process to be completed, and therefore, women with young
children find it difficult to be away from their children for days. There are also security concerns for
women when they are away from their homes. Women end up either giving the responsibility ofselling their grain to men or they sell locally at a much lower price than they would get if they soldto the GMB. This means that women end up getting less value for their produce.

Nutrition, Maternal, and Child Health Care Services
Nutrition and maternal health services are accessed by adolescent and young mothers from the local
health clinics where they offer prenatal, delivery, and post-natal care. The health centers provide
education on good nutrition for children and share the maternal health services that are available towomen. Adolescent and young mothers confirmed that services are available at the local clinics, but
at times, there are no medications or supplements and other commodities such as razors, detergents,
and cotton wool, and they are often asked to bring these items from home. Some women cannot
afford to buy these items leading to these women delivering at home. In some wards, health centerswere said to be located far away, thereby making it difficult for pregnant and lactating women to
travel these long distances. A Key Informant from Chivi district highlighted that due to poverty andhunger in the home, some pregnant mothers avoid waiting at the mother’s shelter at health centres.
The argument is that food that is supposed to cater for one household is now divided to cater for two
households (home and health facility) and in most cases resources do not permit. Women from someof the apostolic faith sects are not allowed to access services from hospitals, and therefore, they loseout on the nutrition and maternal health services and information that other women obtain from thelocal health centers. There were reports in Mutare District that most of the apostolic sect women
were delivering at home, and some died during delivery, but the deaths were kept a secret by the
church leaders. While the apostolic religion does not permit children’s vaccination, the empowered
few women secretly go to the hospital to get their children vaccinated and access family planning
services like depo provera without the husband knowing.

Participation of men in maternal and child health care is limited in the three districts. However, there
are some men who now actively support their wives when they seek nutrition, maternal, and childhealth services, in response to the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s male engagement in thematernal health program, which incentivizes serving couples first before everyone else. Issues
around nutrition and maternal and child health are generally regarded as the women’s domain, andmen are reluctant to support because they will be regarded as weak and controlled by their wives.
Men’s lack of knowledge on maternal health issues was noted to be one of the challenges resulting
in their limited support for women during pregnancy. A key informant in Mutare noted that,“Yeah, men do not understand what women will be going through when they are
pregnant. I think it’s a lack of knowledge; they must know that a pregnant woman
needs support, even love. The performance of the child while in the womb can beaffected. Men think that pregnant women are troublesome, yet it is not the case. This
fuels cases of Gender-Based Violence. When a woman is pregnant, her attitudechanges, so men should understand that.” (KII, Mutare)
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At times, the lack of resources for transport forces men to forego accompanying their wives to clinics
as they would rather give the little resources available to their wives to go for pre- and post-natal
care.

“Even if you want to accompany your wife for clinic checkups, sometimes it is notpossible because you will not have transport money for the two of you to go, so you
would rather give that money to your wife to go for health services. Most men will bebusy engaging in income-generating activities to fend for their families, and hence
they will not have time to accompany their wives. And there are also those men thatstill think it’s embarrassing for a man to accompany his wife to the clinic becausethat might show that “wakadyiswa1.” (Participant in an FGD with young married men,
Mutare).

It also emerged that men are reluctant to accompany their wives to clinics for fear of getting tested
for HIV. In most cases, men are considered as “vectors” of HIV transmission by their partners andthey, therefore, fear being blamed when the HIV test comes out positive.

“It is difficult to convince our husbands to go with us to the clinic. Many people fear
being tested for HIV when we get to the clinics, and thus, they give excuses for not
wanting to go with you. They know about their risky sexual behaviors and therefore
would not want to be tested. They will argue that there is no need for them to get
tested because “if you test negative (the wife), it also means I am also negative.”(Participant in an FGD with young married women in Chivi).

The traditional practice of “kusungira24” makes it mandatory for a pregnant wife to give the first birthwhilst with her parents. This means that as the date of delivery nears, the husband will have to go
and leave his wife with her family, who will take over in terms of assisting and preparing her fordelivery. After delivery, the wife will continue staying with the family for weeks while she is beingtaught how to look after the baby. For this period, the husband will not be involved in the maternaland child health services of his wife and child because of this traditional practice.
There were perceived institutional barriers for men’s participation in maternal and child health care.
In all three districts, men saw the clinics’ design and layout as potentially inappropriate anduncomfortable spaces for men. For example, there are shades for “waiting for mothers” and no suchshades for waiting fathers, and this makes it uncomfortable for men to be mingling with women while
waiting for their wives to be attended to. Long waiting times at health facilities were viewed as awaste of time. Men felt “redundant and bored” while they waited for their partners as they would nothave anything to do. They noted that there are no parallel health services for men that they could
also access, such as prostate cancer screening while their wives are being attended to. Men believed
health care workers have negative attitudes towards men who accompany their spouses. The majorityof clinic and community health workers are women, making it difficult for men to participate in

A traditional practice where the newly married wife, when about to give birth, goes to her family todeliver whilst in the hands and care of her family
24

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discussions regarding SRHR and maternal and child health with these female health workers and they
regard these meetings as “women’s meetings.” Male health champions or male-only meetings wererecommended. Male engagement and awareness creation on the need for men to support their wives
in seeking nutrition and maternal and child health services is key in promoting men’s participation.

3.4.2 Participation in Leadership and Decision-making in Public Spheres
The Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action (1995) points out that women’s equal participation indecision-making is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as anecessary condition for women’s interests to be considered. Achieving the goal of equal participationof women and men in decision-making will provide a balance that more accurately reflects thecomposition of society and is needed to strengthen democracy and promote its proper functioning.
To this end, the GA assessed the participation of women, men, and youth in leadership and decisionmaking.

May 20, 2021: Participation in leadership and public decision-making matrix. © Tariro Chuma/ CARE.

The findings reveal that most governance and decision-making positions in all the districts that
include District Development Coordinators (DDCs), Members of Parliament (MPs), councilors, andtraditional and religious leaders are held by men. Participation in public decision-making platforms
is skewed towards adult men across all the Takunda districts. Leadership positions are dominated byolder men, with women, young people, and people with disabilities being the least represented. In
all the districts, however, respondents revealed that the participation of both women and young
people in decision-making platforms has improved over the years. Interviews with religious leadersin Chivi and Zaka Districts revealed that some churches had played a significant role in promoting
female and youth leadership through their participation in both women and youth ministries andtheir involvement as deacons or elders of the church.

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Women and young people who can read and write and are able to attend meetings wherever they are
members of decision-making platforms dominate filling of the secretary positions, responsible fortaking minutes. For women, this confines women to their traditional gender roles and does nottransform gender relations.

The participation of women, young people, and other marginalized groups in public forums was
regarded as not meaningful; final decisions are made by older men, some of whom have a tendency
to disregard the contributions made by these groups of people. The ineffective participation of
women in meetings was attributed to their low self-esteem.

Participation by young men and young women in public meetings is limited in all three districts. They
argued that they do not receive meeting invitations because of the mobilization structures of the
traditional leadership and councilors that tend to target adults. When they attend meetings,
culturally, they are expected to not argue with adults; therefore, when in meetings with adults, their
voices are stifled. In addition, even if they make contributions, their participation in these publicforums is not meaningful as the final decisions are made by older men who tend to disregard thecontributions made by young people and women. However, when in their own spaces, young men andwomen contribute actively in meetings.

FGDs with older men and women revealed the attitudes of these older people towards theparticipation of youth in decision-making meetings. In all the districts, young people were accusedof not being serious with their lives, immature and irresponsible, and therefore not worthy of being
involved in decision-making. In addition, the mobility of young people was blamed for their exclusionfrom decision-making platforms. In Chivi, older men revealed that when they roped in young people
to committees, they make sure to give them less powerful positions (e.g., committee member) in
consideration of their high levels of mobility so that if they relocate to another place the committee
and its business are not severely affected. The FGDs revealed an ideological gap between young
people and older people. The gap is both political and generational and has caused friction between
these two generations, leading to the limited participation of young people in decision-making
processes in all the districts.
The findings of this Gender Analysis reveal that there is unanimous agreement that there are serious
challenges related to youth participation in development processes. Paul Bennell (2007), for example,
notes that “youths are viewed as presenting problems which need to be solved through theintervention of old people.” This perception has informed the limited participation of youth ingovernance and decision-making. This confirms the findings of the Zimbabwe Youth Development
Report (2015) on the major challenges faced by young people in relation to their participation indevelopment processes stated as follows:•••

Economic, social, and political forms of exclusion that hamper their optimum growth anddevelopment into responsible adults.
Systematic marginalization from national development processes through a gerontocraticvalue system and structures that ensure domination by older people in economic, political,
and social spheres.
Young women are less likely to participate in decision-making (private and public) than theirmale counterparts.

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3.5 Gendered Impacts of COVID-19

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a disruption in service access. The lockdown
restrictions that were put in place by the government to contain the spread of the virus disrupted
economic activities such as agriculture and IGAs as people found it difficult to market their products
and continue with the IGAs as they were restricted to their homes.
“COVID affected both men and women. People failed to go back to work. Some used
to order their stuff for resale in places such as Mozambique, where they used to orderclothes for resale. Some were going to South Africa. Some were even going to Jerera
to sell vegetables. All these places were no-go areas during COVID. People were told
to stay at home to avoid the spread of COVID, and this led to hunger.” (Participant in
an FGD with young married men, Zaka).

“Yes, people watered their vegetables, but there was nowhere to sell them.
Vegetables and tomatoes were rotting because there was nowhere to sell since noone was allowed to move around. So, gardens were affected more by COVID. For
women to get money for milling mealie meals, they depend on selling tomatoes. But
due to COVID, there was nowhere to sell them. You just sat seeing them rotting.” (FGD
participant, Chivi)
Accessing services, including agricultural extension services and maternal and child health care, also
became increasingly difficult owing to the movement restrictions and the limited number of service
providers available as some of the government service providers were asked to stay at home. For
example, cattle were no longer selling due to COVID-19, which resulted in a loss of large numbers of
cattle in the three districts. Public transport was also restricted, and this made it difficult for womento travel to clinics to access pre-and post-natal services. There were reports of home deliveries inthe targeted districts because of the lack of transport to get expecting mothers to the health centers.
Because of the need for social distancing and decongesting health institutions, health centers wereadmitting a limited number of expecting mothers, and some of the mothers had to deliver at homebecause of limited services at the clinics.

3.5 Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Mitigation Including Early/Child
Marriage

KII, FGDs, and IDI conducted across all the districts confirmed that GBV is highly prevalent in the
districts. The primary forms of GBV identified were sexual abuse, including rape, and sexual, physical,
emotional, and economic abuse. District Officers from the Ministry of Women Affairs also confirmedthat they have high GBV prevalence rates in the district, as reflected below:“I would say we are number one within the province in terms of GBV, although I do
not have the statistics with me right now. But l know that GBV within this district isrife and especially sexual and physical violence. The district is patriarchal and maledominated, and there are masculine ideas that fuel GBV every month at these local
police station, we receive at least two cases of rape and many more are not reported
due to various reasons” (KII, Zaka).

While the GBV referral system is a critical component for communities to be knowledgeable about, it
does not translate to effective GBV response by service providers. Other factors hindering effective
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response include non-reporting of GBV cases due to lack of economic security by women making it
difficult to report their abusive husbands who are the household bread winners, pressure fromperpetrator victims not to report the abuse, long distances to the nearest police station, and theperception that the police and justice system is corrupt and therefore it is of no use to report the
GBV cases.
Several reasons were put forward as the main drivers of GBV in the districts. These include poverty,
where couples fight over control of assets and the limited financial resources; patriarchal religious
and cultural norms, beliefs, and practices that promote and justify GBV as a form of disciplining
married women; drug abuse by young people that increases their level of violence against women;
and conflict over conjugal rights. For the latter, women were refusing to allow their husbands to enjoy
their conjugal rights for a number of reasons, including accusations of infidelity and fear ofcontracting HIV and STIs; tiredness because of the heavy burden of performing their reproductive
and productive roles; withdrawal of conjugal rights as punishment to men for failing to adequately
provide for the family; and the cultural belief that if women continue to have sex after menopause,they will develop complicated false pregnancies. When men fail to fulfill their breadwinner role, they
are easily frustrated and irritated when their wives ask them about household provisions.
Below are perceptions of causes of GBV by men and women in the Mutare and Chivi Districts“Poverty is the main cause of domestic violence. If resources and supplies of food in
the household are low, there is bound to be some misunderstandings. If poverty
increases in the household, even if you ask about where the wife is going, she cananswer you in a rude manner, she will no longer give you that respect as the head of
the household, and that often leads to conflicts.” (FGD with adult men, Mutare)“The problem is that I can go and do my piece job, or I sell my vegetables to getmoney for the household. The husband is not even willing to assist me. When I comeback, the husband will demand to get part of the money to go and drink beer, andwe resist that, and this can lead to violence.” (Participant in an FGD with young
married women in Chivi)

The GA established that GBV cases increase towards and during the agricultural marketing season.
This is mainly because, although most of the labor in the fields is provided by women and children,
men want to take the lead in marketing the agricultural produce. This often leads to conflicts aswomen want to be involved in the marketing process for fear that the income obtained might bespent recklessly by their husbands.

“People here grow cash crops such as cotton and tobacco as well as grain such asmaize, and as you know, it's labor-intensive. In most cases, women and children are
the ones that provide most of the labor, and men rarely participate when it comes tolabor. But when it comes to selling, they want to be at the forefront, and we knowthat they do this because they want to control the income, which, if you are notcareful, will all be spent on beer. So, when women insist that they want to get involvedin the marketing process, men resist, and that always leads to conflicts and fights”(Participant in FGD with young married women, Mutare).

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Young married women blamed their mothers-in-law for fueling domestic violence. The young women
expressed concern that when they have conflicts with their mothers-in-law, these mothers-in-law
report to their sons, in some cases exaggerating the blame on the daughter-in-law to encourage theson to “discipline his wife.” When the young married women complain to their mothers-in-law about
the abuse that they are subjected to by their husbands, the mothers-in-law and even the relatives of
the women encourage them to stay in the marriage as that was also the case when they were newly
married.

“At times, our mothers-in-law are to blame for the beating that we receive from ourhusbands. These old women might feel jealous that you are doing well in your IGAs,
and they can go on and lie to their sons that “your wife is making money fromprostitution.” Our husbands believe their mothers so much that they can just start
beating you without first hearing your side of the story. When you are being beaten,
you can tell that the mother-in-law is enjoying it, and they often say, “it also used tohappen to us, so stay strong.” (Participant in an FFG with young married women,
Mutare)

GBV, particularly Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), was noted to have increased after the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic. The increase was attributed to several factors: (a) increasing poverty levels as
IGAs of households were halted due to lockdown restrictions; (b) spending most of the time in thehouse in a stressful environment easily ignited conflicts; (c) GBV victims being locked down withabusers and unable to travel to report the abuse cases; and (d) limited access to GBV services becauseof public transport shutdowns.
In all three districts, child marriages were reported to be common and, in fact, increased after theoutbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Child marriages were spurred by: (a) religious practices among
the apostolic faith sects who encourage girls to be married young whilst there are still “pure”; (b)poverty which forces parents to marry off their daughters in anticipation of economic benefits orchildren seeing marriage to escape from poverty; and (c) idleness during the lockdown period asschools remain closed leading to children experimenting with sex. Although specific figures were notavailable, teachers interviewed reported that there was an increase in girls dropping out of school
because of pregnancy or getting married during the lockdown period. Some parents blamedchildren’s access to the internet where they can view pornographic material that can motivate themto indulge in sexual activities leading to pregnancies and subsequently early marriages. There werealso concerns from some parents that the Sexuality Education that children were receiving fromschools could motivate them to engage in sexual activities.
It emerged during the GA that some adults were condoning child marriages for various reasons. Someargued that once a girl gets pregnant, it is better for them to get married so that the responsible man
can look after the girl and her child. If the girl child is prevented from marrying the man who
impregnated her, they reasoned, the girl will fall into poverty and will end up engaging in sex work
which will expose her to HIV infection and other social ills. Other respondents argued that since girls
are becoming sexually active at an early age (such as 13 years), the legal age of marriage should also
be reduced as well.

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“We saw it during the COVID time when children were not going to school. In thiscommunity, a lot of young girls got married because they had nothing else to do
except sleep with boys. They end up being pregnant, and the parents would send
them to their boy’s homes. There is something that is happening on how we werecreated by God. The time of maturity or puberty when the girl child starts her
menstrual cycles and also the boy is capable of impregnating a woman, it used tohappen around 22 years, but these days at 13 years the girl will have feelings for aman. So, it is better than the age of maturity, which is pegged at 18 years should be
adjusted to 13 years. It is difficult for a person to stay alone when he/she is ready forreproduction for seven years. It’s actually difficult. It’s a God-given talent because
already she will be mature. She will be feeling the desire. You can deny her, but she
will be ready for that. (Participant in an FGD with Adult men, Mutare).

Besides poverty at home, some young girls get married to flee from domestic violence at home. If
there is continuously no peace at home, the girl child will consider marriage as an escape route. There
are also some girls, abused by step-parents, who will run away from the abuse by getting married
early.
Young apostolic women’s FGD highlighted that most marriages are on religious grounds. The
relationships are not based on true love. It is marriage for convenience. ‘In my case, I have now
realized what love is from seeing other women with their husbands; due to our polygamous setting,one gets to be intimate with own husband for a limited number of times in a month. For example, weare six wives, and I can only be intimate with my husband twice a month’. They argued that arranged
child marriages would never come to an end as mothers are sometimes greedy to marry off theirdaughters. They indicated that child marriages are secretly arranged between families. The aspiring
husband visits the young girl and impregnates her, after which she then comes back and joins thehusband’s family secretly. That as it may, the apostolic sect leader no longer condones child marriage.
He has since built a secondary school (St Noah) in Marange to promote the education of both boys
and girls.

Access to GBV services varied from one district to another. In all the districts, clinics and hospitals
provided clinical services to survivors of GBV. In Marange, clinics were nearby in the ward that was
visited during the GA, and in Zaka, survivors had to travel long distances (up to 50-60 km) to accessthe health and police services. This was also the same with police Victim Friendly GBV services and
GBV One Stop Centres. Long distances traveled to access the services means that some survivors
would abandon their quest for GBV services, with the GBV incidence remaining a dark statistic
because it would not have been officially recorded. There are efforts in all districts by NGOs and theMinistry of Women Affairs to sensitize communities on the GBV referral pathways and availability of
GBV services. This has helped to create awareness, but the main challenge has remained – the long
distances that must be traveled and the financial implications for the survivors. Additionally,
traveling to seek GBV services has also been made difficult by the COVID-19 movement restrictions,although GBV services have been designated essential services. Public transport remains largely
unavailable.
The GA also established that the level of awareness of GBV services is low in some communities, as
captured in discussions with FGDs and KII participants:

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“We hear that there are toll-free numbers to give a call anonymously, but we haven’t
been educated about it. We are just hearing about it, and we are also afraid to click
the toll-free numbers to call them that in this place, GBV is happening because wemight be charged, and our names might be revealed. We need to be educated on
this.” (Participant in an FGD with young married women, Chivi)“GBV is very prevalent. Some people, especially women, do not know where to go (forGBV services). Even some men can be victims, but they also do not know where toreport and or how to handle it (KII, Zaka)

Some of the young women that participated in FGDs noted that some GBV victims keep quiet because
they do not have someone trustworthy enough to confide in regarding their predicament. Some wereafraid of the lack of confidentiality, which could result in the whole community knowing about the
GBV incident if they tell family or friends about the case.

3.6 Gendered Impacts of Disasters, Shocks, and Stressors
Disasters Experienced
The three districts experienced several natural, climate change, and man-made disasters over the
past ten years. These disasters have had a negative impact on the communities’ livelihoods as wellas on their nutrition, and maternal health, and hygiene. Disasters encountered from 2010-2020
included recurrent droughts caused by the El Nino phenomenon linked to global warming, twocyclones (Eline and Idai), a cholera outbreak in 2009, cattle disease outbreaks that almost wiped-out
entire heads, HIV, an outbreak of Newcastle disease that wiped out chickens, outbreaks of crop pests
such as armyworm and Quella birds, runaway inflation as the national economy almost collapsed,andmostrecently,
the
COVID-19
pandemicoutbreak.

May 19, 2021: Identification of disasters experienced in the community over the past ten years in a participatory FGD. ©
Lynette Chipendo/ IYF.

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Communities are warned about impending disasters through the radio, phone text messages, phone
calls, Village Health Workers, Village Heads, and Councilors. Some of the participants reported thatthey get warnings of impending disasters from prophets. Given that more men have access to mobile
phones and radios, they are likely to receive news of impending disasters first compared to womenand youth. Women, in most cases, must rely on men to receive such information.

Gendered Impacts of the disasters and shocks
Participants in the GA concurred that although everyone in the community is impacted negatively by
disasters, women bear the most burden. This is because disasters disrupt critical household foodsystems. Food is an urgent and emergency need in a disaster. Women bear the traditional role ofproviding food and nutrition to the family, and hence the burden of providing food during disasters
falls on them. While men are traditionally regarded as breadwinners for their families, they might
move away from their families in search of viable livelihoods and are therefore spared the pain of
seeing their children going hungry. In whatever disaster, women stay with their children and engage
in all means necessary to ensure that their children are fed. Cyclone Idai destroyed crops andgardens, while the recurrent droughts have resulted in poor harvests, and the economic crisis thatthe country experienced made food unaffordable for the poor families. When men migrate to lookfor jobs to support livelihoods, this leaves women heavily burdened with household duties andresponsibilities. Male outmigration was reported to be common in Zaka and Chivi. Although both men
and women use migration as a coping strategy, men tend to migrate for longer periods than women.
Single women were regarded as having male tendencies when it comes to migration because of alack of responsibilities around childcare. While there is a lot of outmigration in Chivi and Zaka forcertain categories of women and men, the situation is different for women of the apostolic sect who
are not allowed to migrate to other towns or cities to look for work. ‘We must just maximize with theresources we have locally and always hope for non-governmental organizations to come and uplift
us. Another apostolic sect woman had this to say ‘Very few of our men here migrate to other areas insearch of jobs; the majority of us stay with our husbands.’

Apart from migration, for young men in all three districts, one of the coping strategies is drug abuseand engagement in unsafe and dangerous work such as artisanal mining, especially in Mutare District.

The COVID-19 outbreak impacted household food production and income generation as people wererestricted within their homes under the lockdown measures imposed by the government. This all
created household food deficit that women are generally expected to meet.

“I think this COVID is more straining for us women as we are the ones responsible forthe day-to-day running of the home. It was painful in that you would see yourchildren crying because of hunger, and you failed to provide for them. As women, weare the ones who see to it that our children get everything they need. The men can
get something to eat somewhere, but the women will be suffering while at home
without food. So, the woman is affected more compared to men.” (Young Married FGD
participants, Chivi).

Because they are the most affected, women embark on several coping strategies, some of whichmight be detrimental to their health and wellbeing. Some of the coping strategies adopted included
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the selling of household assets, consuming less food (while still ensuring that children have enoughto eat), and engaging in transactional sex to raise money for food. Some of the households resorted
to sharing the little food that was available. During the COVID-19 lockdown, women and girls in thethree districts became vulnerable to sexual exploitation from resourced men in exchange for food.

“During the COVID-19 lockdown, girls are the most affected compared to boys as they
get taken advantage of by older men and engage in sex work in exchange for foodand money which they need to buy essential necessities such as sanitary pads. Thishas caused early and unwanted pregnancies which then caused the girls-child todrop out of school.” (FGD with older women, Zaka).

In disasters, the ability of women and youth to cope is eroded by their limited access to resources.
For example, during the first phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, women could not generate income
from their gardens because of access and movement restrictions. They could also not participate intheir ISAL groups as they had no capacity to generate income because of the lockdown and could notmeet as groups since meetings had been banned. All these developments had a negative impact onnutrition and maternal and child health.
Limited access to nutrition gardens reduced the nutrition options for households, and this affected
the nutrition status of pregnant and lactating mothers and their children. Some of the lactating
mothers revealed during the FGDs that they gave birth to underweight babies because they mainly
resorted to a diet of dried vegetables and “sadza” (thick porridge or a cooked pulverized grain mealthat is the staple food in Zimbabwe) during the lockdown period. Others said their diet consisted of“mutombera” (salted water and sadza) and wild fruits, which all have limited nutritional value.
Expecting mothers had difficulties in accessing maternal health services from local clinics becauseof COVID-19 restrictions, as noted during FGDs with women:“COVID-19 caused a lot of maternal deaths. A lot of women were pregnant during the
COVID era, and they were not allowed to go and access waiting mother’s homes in
hospitals; as such many resorted to home deliveries since vehicles were also notallowed to operate. Home deliveries could not cater for different complications that
arose, and this caused a lot of both maternal and neonatal deaths. These are painfulsituations that were caused by COVID” (Participant in an FGD with married young
women, Zaka)

Women are also traditionally tasked with the burden of maintaining household hygiene. They are
therefore responsible for fetching water for bathing and cooking. During disasters such as droughts,
cyclones, and COVID-19, some of the water infrastructures such as boreholes were destroyed or were
not repaired, forcing women to travel long distances or fetch water from unprotected sources suchas dams. During the COVID-19 lockdown, some of the boreholes broke down and were not serviced
by the District Development Fund because of the skeletal staff that was available in government
departments. Women and girls also had challenges in accessing sanitary pads because of movement
restrictions and financial constraints. As mentioned under the section on GBV, there was a surge in
GBV during the COVID-19 lockdown, and yet many services providers had limited capacity tomainstream GBV in disaster situations.

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The GA established that communities in the targeted districts lacked the resilience capacity to absorb
shocks and stressors during disaster situations. This was particularly the case for women and youth
who had limited access to resources and assets that could be used to cushion them from the negative
impacts of these disasters. With limited capacity to absorb shocks, communities embark on negative
coping strategies such as disposal of productive assets, GBV, transactions shocks, child marriages,
drug abuse (particularly among the youth), and engagement in unsafe and dangerous work such as
artisanal mining.
The GA also established that institutions that provide essential services such as health, water, GBV,
agricultural, and veterinary extension services had limited capacity to mainstream gender during
disasters. This resulted in an increase in home deliveries leading to maternal and neonatal deaths;
an upsurge in GBV with survivors having limited access to services; an increase in child marriages andgirls dropping out of school; women having to travel long distances to fetch water or accessing waterfrom unsafe sources because the water infrastructure had broken down and not been repaired; andloss of income due to restrictions in movement and loss of livestock (a key productive asset) becauseof suspension of dipping services. Women and youth were the most affected by this lack of
responsiveness during disasters by responsible institutions.

3.7 Gender Capacity among Consortium Partners

The table below (Table 7) is a visual presentation of the capacity assessment of CARE International in
Zimbabwe and the Takunda implementing partners. The color green denotes adequate capacity inthat particular area, while red indicates capacity deficits in that area.
Table 7: Gender capacity assessment of Takunda partners
Nutrition
ActionZimbabwe

International
YouthFoundation

Environment
AfricaBulawayo
Project
CenterFHI 360

CareInternational

Existence of gender policy
Is policy implemented
Genderbalanceinseniormanagement
Strategies in place to ensure genderbalance
Flexible working arrangements
Sexual harassment policy in place
Supportforparentingandcaregiving roles for staff
Do advocacy, communications, andpublication materials reflect genderequality values
Are financial resources allocated forgender mainstreaming activities
Is gender considered in projectplanning and design
Is gender considered in project
implementation
Do staff have the technical capacity
to mainstream genderSpecific indicators for gender
Gender disaggregated data

Key
Yes

No

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As the lead agency, CARE International in Zimbabwe has global experience, strategies, tools, andframeworks to mainstream gender equality in its programs. These include (a) the Vison 2030, the corefocus of which is gender; (b) the Global Policy on Gender Equality; (c) organizational gender policy;(d) Gender Equality and Women’s Voice Framework; (e) CARE Global Gender, Resilience andGovernance Markers; (f) Gender and Climate Vulnerability Assessment tool and Gender
Transformative Framework; (g) Social Analysis and Action tools among other instruments,
frameworks, policies, and tools for promoting gender equality. The Human Resources andRecruitment Policy and the prevention of sexual harassment policy also reflect CARE’s focus on
women, girls, and gender equality. Efforts are being made at the organizational level to ensure that
there is gender parity at all levels of the organization.

At the Activity level, CARE develops strategies for gender integration, and most of the programs areallocated budgets for gender integration actions. CARE Zimbabwe employs a Gender Advisor who
provides guidance on mainstreaming gender into CARE’s work. All staff members are trained on
gender equity and diversity to ensure that they are gender-responsive and sensitive in conducting
their work. At community levels, field officers and community leaders are trained and sensitized on
gender-sensitive approaches and programming. The biggest challenge that CARE Zimbabwe faces,
however, is that some donors do not have an appreciation for gender mainstreaming, leading tolimited budgets for gender mainstreaming activities. CARE’s policies are also largely silent on Lesbian,Gays, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) issues.

Most of the partners seem to be capacitated to mainstream gender as they have gender policies inplace and staff has the technical capacity to mainstream gender. However, the project needs to do
more and engage all the partners on CARE’s gender-transformative approaches and tools tostandardize implementation. Some of the partners are unaware of CARE’s gender policies,
frameworks, and key expectations in terms of gender mainstreaming and gender equality outcomes.
There is a need, as part of the orientation process, to create awareness among CARE’s partners on
gender equality guidelines, policies, and expectations in terms of indicators, outcomes, impacts, andreporting so that all the IPs have a common understanding of CARE frameworks and expectations.
BPC needs further capacity strengthening in terms of Gender Responsive Budgeting andimplementation of gender policies. Their capacity can be further strengthened by the involvement ofpartners in the Takunda consortium, who seem to have specific systems and structures in place forgender mainstreaming, including gender officers and specialists, and NAZ spearheading gendermainstreaming with Care International providing technical guidance.

4. Conclusions
Rooted in patriarchal, cultural, and religious values, beliefs, and practices, gender and generational
inequality characterize social relations between men and women and the young and old generationin the three districts in which this GA was conducted. This inequality manifests itself in all spheres oflife, including household decision-making; access to assets and control; gender roles andresponsibilities; participation in public decision-making; GBV; access and utilization of services;
resilience to disasters, shocks, and stressors; and migration patterns. Gender and generational
inequality have serious implications for income-generating and resilient livelihoods, nutrition,maternal and child health, hygiene, and community resilience to disasters, shocks, and stressors. The
most negatively impacted population groups, by these forms of inequality, are women in general,young married women, adolescent girls, and male and female youth. The gender and generational
inequality gaps unearthed by this GA need to be adequately addressed to ensure that the Takunda

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project can have a significant impact on the livelihoods of the targeted population groups in the three
districts through the recommendations.

5. Key Learnings
•
•
•

•
•

•

Most jobs and self-employment opportunities, including household enterprises, are in theinformal sector, and hence access to finance, specifically tailored to meet the needs of young
people and women, is pivotal yet woefully inadequate.
Women and youth can own productive assets, develop a source of income, and takeleadership roles, but they may choose not to take advantage of such opportunities becauseof socio-cultural constraints and feelings of inadequacy that continue to impact them.
Takunda strategy needs to be constantly informed by a regular gender equality risk analysis
to take into consideration changing social, political, economic and humanitarian/disaster
contexts as to appropriately mainstream gender to address the emerging gender inequality
challenges. Awareness creation on generational equality should also be a key priority of thegender strategy.
Takunda acknowledges the different levels of partnership that need to be strengthened
during activity roll out including collaborating with relevant government ministries to achievesustainable outcomes.
Youth participation during data collection was low. The activity needs to reflect and criticallythink through ways that can enhance the participation of both married and unmarried youth
participation, ensuring that their diverse views, needs, and priorities are adequately captured
and addressed. This might call for alternative youth-friendly mobilization strategies.
Whilst the apostolic sect of Johanne Marange is a secluded group, and findings show great
opportunity the activity can ride on to influence norm change amongst members of the sect,
starting with those already practicing positive gender behaviors.

6. Recommendations
IO 1.1.1: Adoption of improved agricultural technologies and practices increased
Zimbabwe has made strides in Mutare and Chivi to promote gender equality and women
empowerment in the ward based agritex extension staffing program. Whilst there are more female
than male extension workers in all the target districts save for Buhera (statistics drawn from literature
review), there are concerns around married young women at times not accessing extension services
especially one on one mentorship sessions. There is need to engage agritex extension staff in genderdialogues riding on the FFBS platforms to influence positive behaviour and create safe spaces for
women and men to fully participate in agriculture and markets extension activities. Engage men andwomen in collaborative problem solving and critical reflections on gender inequalities that may
impede personal and economic development.

IO 1.2.2: Increased formal and informal employment:
Leverage the TVET opportunity to strengthen existing women’s artisanal skills sets (thatching andwell digging), including those of the apostolic sect (baking), making them more lucrative for income
generation. Allow transfer of skills to youth through a mentorship program.
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IO 1.2.1: Participation in diversified formal and informal enterprises (IGA) increased:
Work with young women and men to build assets and engage with older people, exploring
opportunities for mentorship. Train them on transformative behavior change, building their agency,
relations, and leadership competencies. Make women’s low-value assets and crops lucrative businessenterprises, allowing the opportunity to transition them to having control and ownership of highvalue assets and crops. Engage men (young and old) as allies to support women’s economic
empowerment. Identify and work with men from the apostolic sect to strengthen male engagement.
Train women, men, and young people, including the leadership/members of the apostolic sect, on
ending child marriages and GBV prevention and mitigation. Disseminate the Gender-Based Violence
response virtual referral system for different service providers, including Musasa and Childline
WhatsApp numbers and toll-free lines to enhance access to GBV services (Psycho-Social Support,
health care, and legal aid). Leverage COVID-19, GBV essential service provision for connecting
communities to GBV outreach services. Promote ownership of household assets and resources byfamily, not individuals. Partner with relevant organizations to raise awareness on wills andinheritance riding on the Takunda community-based gender awareness activities. Include learning
modules for men and boys on positive masculinity to support women's access to land and means of
production. Engage youth in ICT and green energy solutions.

IO 1.1.3 Access to markets and business services increased:
Engage women in local producers' organizations and strengthen the local market system to make it
viable and profitable for women and other people (persons with disabilities, apostolic sect women,
the elderly) who suffers from mobility constraints. Identify exemplary women that are doing well andwork with them to influence change of behavior for men who do not permit their wives to participate
in markets. Use the Farmer Field Business School model to engage men on the value of women’s andyouth participation in markets and decision-making; identify and work with youth champions who
hold power in the home/community and are pro-women empowerment to support women in
Takunda. Increase anti-GBV activities during the marketing season. Use Takunda’s leverage to workwith financial institutions to advocate for the Government of Zimbabwe Women and Empower Banks(created for women and young people to easily access loans), to constantly review the amount ofloan allocated to youth for business. Strengthen the social group collateral (group guarantor)
approach making the model lucrative for loans, and extend the model to the Youth Savings and Loans(YSL) groups. Consider strategic partnerships with stakeholders, including those in the health sector,
to promote gender-sensitive and inclusive infrastructure (e.g., market infrastructure or infrastructure
at clinics). Facilitate the sharing of Market information through mobile phones to enhance access toe-markets that present better opportunities for women and young people.

IO 2.1.1: Availability of diversified nutritious foods at HH level increased
Make use of the Chivi model young couples who own high-value assets and participate in household
joint decision-making to raise awareness on the importance of family dialogue or joint decisionmaking in nutrition.

IO 2.1.2: Adoption of improved IYCF, Maternal and Adolescent girl care practices increased

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Use couples’ dialogue platforms to engage polygamous women of the apostolic sect and nonapostolic sect who already have decision-making powers over non-financial issues at the household
level to influence the expansion of decision-making around household income. Leverage existing
platforms, such as the men’s forum in Zaka to engage in equitable decision-making around nutrition.
Engage with individual religious leaders' relevant government ministries and other stakeholders,
including the Union for Development of Apostolic and Zionist Churches in Zimbabwe (UDACIZA),
whose leadership has an influence on what happens at grassroots levels within the apostolic sectreligion, to influence positive norm change around child marriages, maternal health, and nutrition.
Ride on the Ministry of Health and Child Care already established Village Health Workers platforms
that have individuals from the apostolic sect as members and the community based Apostolic Women
Empowerment Trust to influence change of behaviour around intra-household decision making andasset control towards improved maternal health and nutrition.

IO2.2.1: Adoption of promoted MNCH practices increased
Build on efforts by the Ministry of Health and Child Care to promote male participation in maternaland child health care. Advocate for parallel health services for men like screening for prostatecancer/SRH education (confidential HIV/ STIs programs) to encourage men to accompany theirpregnant and lactating women for pre- and post-natal care. Combine this with education on childhealth and nutrition, especially for pregnant and lactating mothers. Deliberately target women of the
reproductive age group, including pregnant and lactating mothers/ women and men from theapostolic sect for Takunda interventions like cash for assets/VSL and FFBS to enhance their accessto income.

IO 2.2.2: Adoption of improved WASH practices increased
Inventory to establish the boreholes that broke down during COVID- 19 in the target areas and were
not repaired due to resource constraints. Where possible, partner with the local authorities onborehole rehabilitation to increase access to clean and safe water for communities, especially womenand girls of the reproductive age group with SRH needs. Work with model men who support the
menstrual hygiene needs of girls as agents of change.

IO 3.1.1: Household mechanisms/strategies to manage climate shocks, market failures, andmacro-economic context enhanced
Enhance household capacity to accumulate assets through life-skills training, which will enable the
HH to accumulate financial, social, and human capital. Deliberately target young men and young
women for Takunda Cash for Assets interventions and register them as plot holders in the Takunda
Community gardens. Target the apostolic sect households and groups (Apostolic Women
Empowerment Trust) for transformative dialogues to enhance economic empowerment and equitable
decision-making on household income.

IO 3.1.2: Community-based planning and management systems for shared resources
strengthened
Work with model young people who can also be mentors working closely with adult champions where
possible to change the community’s negative attitudes towards them. Identify and work closely with
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middle-aged men and women who believe in the need to involve young people in decision-making
processes despite their economic status. Target young women and young men for resilient
committees.

IO 3.2.2: Household access to appropriate risk information and services improved
Facilitate dissemination of early warning information using the mobile phone devices members of
the community have.

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7. Data collection tools
In-Depth Interview Guide
Name of Interviewer: ______________________________________________Name of Note Taker _______________________________________________Name of Respondent: ______________________________________________
Position/designation: _______________________________________________
District: ______________________________________________________________
Place of Interview:____________________________________________________
Date of Interview: ___________________________________________________
Time of Interview: ___________________________________________________
Gender Roles, Responsibilities, Mobility Restrictions and Time Use
1. How has role distribution in the home been affected by:a) COVID 19b) Migration
2. Looking at the time spent by women on their roles, do you think this varies with HH
characteristics (e.g. HH size, number of young children, polygamous, level of poverty, etc.?
3. What can be done to reduce women’s time poverty? (probe areas of time poverty that canbe minimized and any challenges)
4. What are the social norms and religious barriers limiting the participation of men and boys
in maternal and child health and nutrition?
5. What opportunities are available to promote the participation of older and young men inmaternal health and child nutrition and what is the motivation for them to want toparticipate?
Patterns of Power and Decision Making in the Home
1. What is the level of participation of the following groups of people in household decision
making?
• women,• youth,• boys and• girls(Probe for differences between the Apostolic sect and people of other faiths)
2. What influences participation in household decision-making? (probe for differences indecision making patterns in different household types)•
3. List major decisions that are made by your household aroundo hygiene,o maternal health, ando nutrition?
•

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4. Explain the extent which men, women, male youth, female youth and adolescent mothers
make decisions around each of the decisions you have listed? (probe for social norms andexplaining the participation of these groups of people in the identified decisions)
Access and Control over Assets and Resources

1.

How does access and control of the following productive assets and resources vary by sex,
age and life stage and HH type (male-headed, female-headed, and polygamous HH?
•
•
•
•

land,
tools,
finance,inputs

2. What influences that?
3. What have been the benefits of having control over those resources?
4. What are the unintended negative effects if any, brought about by ownership of high value
assets by women and youth?
5. To what extent has COVID-19 impacted access to community assets for women and youth?
6. What coping mechanisms did women and youth use to address these impacts? (probe for therole played by VSLs as a coping mechanism. Would you say women were able to count on
VSLs at this critical time?
Access to Services, Participation in Leadership and Decision Making in Public Spaces

1.

What are the employment opportunities and challenges that exist for women and themarginalized groups in this community?
2. What are the challenges associated with access to the following services for women, men,female and male youth?
• ICT• Extension services• Markets• Nutrition• Maternal health services
Thank you for your participation

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Focus Group Discussion Guide
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Welcome participants and Introduce yourself and the note-taker and invite participants tointroduce themselves, after which you explain the purpose of the exercise.
Ensure the group consists of the right people (composition and maximum number of 12)
Ask for consent to participate in FGD, taking of pictures for use in the report and recording of
the discussion and assure confidentiality
Describe focus group process and encourage openness and honest responses
Allow participants to set ground rules. These can include: no right or wrong answers,
participation by everyone, participation through the facilitator and respect the opinions ofothers,Discussions will last approximately 1 and half to 2 hours.
Be observant-always check who is talking and who is not and encourage all to participate.
Do not use suggestive questions.
Always probe and fully capture the discussion and observations

Name of Facilitator: ______________________________________________Name of Note Taker _______________________________________________
FGD Participants (e.g. women only/ men only): ______________________________________________
District: ______________________________________________________________
Place of Interview:____________________________________________________
Date of Interview:___________________________________________________
Time of Interview: ___________________________________________________
Materials/Preparation: Flip Charts, Makers and Cards.

Access to and Control of Productive Assets and Resources (Land, Technology, Income, Capital,
Farming Equipment, Large Livestock, small livestock, inputs, etc)
1.

List the assets and resources at household and community levels. Who among women,men, young men and young women has access and control over it?

Household Assets

AccessMen

Community Assets (Community gardens, Dip
tanks, Weir dams, Boreholes, Irrigation schemes,
forests, etc)

Women

Young
men

Young
Women

AccessMen

2.

Control
Men

Who
Benefits
Women

Young
Men

Young
Women

Control

Women

Young
men

Young
Women

Men

Who
Benefits

Women

Young
Men

Young
Women

Discuss why the above pattern of access and control is like that?

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3.
4.
5.

How does access and control of assets and resources vary by sex, age, life stage and household type,polygamous households, female headed and male headed households)
What are the benefits brought about by ownership of high value assets by women and youth?
What are the unintended negative effects brought about by ownership of high value assets by
women and youth in this community?

6. What gaps in knowledge, skills and attitudes do youth, women, and men have about thesustainable management of productive resources and assets?
Intra-household decision making: Use Pile Sort
1.

Prepare 10-15 different cards with household decisions listed on them. Prepare four title
cards on men, women, young men, young women for each pile that the participants will
make.

Types of decisions

Decision made by
Men
Women

Young Men

Young women

When to go to thehealth centre
When to have thenext child
Number of desired
childrenChildren’s schooling
Purchase of large
assetsSellingoflarge
assets
•2. Reflect on the information from the pile sort and explain why the decision-making patterns
is like that
3. What influences such decision-making patterns at household level (probe for social andreligious norms and economic factors).
4. What can be done to achieve equitable intra household decision making?
Access to Services, Participation in Leadership and Decision Making in Public Spaces
1. Using a venn-disgram, list the services and institutions related to agriculture, maternal
health and nutrition, markets, access to credit and finance, Early Warning Systems (EWS),
Information Communication and Technology (ICT), and WASH that are found in yourcommunity
2. Using a colored paper cut out circles and size them in order of importance.
3. What services and institutions are most crucial to you?
4. Why are they important?
5. What key functions do they play?

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Accessibility of services and institutions
Instruction:
The facilitator draws a female/male/ young female and young male depending on the FGD type. Next
to that person, place the circles in proximity to the person based on how easy it is to access theservice and institution. The ones they access most easily or frequently would go closest to the person.
The ones they access less frequently and with difficulty will go further away on the page.
1.

What are the challenges associated with accessing services and institutions you haveidentified (Probe for mobility constraints and other challenges by age, religion, life
stage, Household type-Polygamous and female headed, Male headed).
2. What social norms and religious barriers limit the participation old men and boys inmaternal health and child nutrition?
3. What are the channels of communications currently used for Early Warning Systemmessaging and how effective are these on different groups?
4. What can be done to foster access to extension services, maternal health and nutrition,
Early Warning Systems, WASH, ICT.
•
Participation Leadership1.

Can you list the decision making structures in your community BY LEVEL IMPORTANCE to you
and complete the table below.

Decision Making
Structures

Number in a Committee
Adult Men

Adult Women

Young Men

Comments
Young Women

2. What leadership positions are usually occupied men, women, young men and young women.
3. Why is the level of participation of men, women, young men and young women like that?
4. Between men, women and young people, who participates most in making decisions during
meetings? Why? Who participates least and why?
5. What are the social and religious norms that influence participation and leadership ofwomen and youth?
6. Between men, women and youth, whose opinions are most valued and whose are least
valued? Please explain why.
7. In your view do decisions taken in meetings promote the interests of women and young
people? Explain
8. What opportunities are there to meaningfully engage men, and traditional and religious
leaders, and in promoting decision-making by women, youth and adolescent mothers at HH
and community levels?
9.

What could be done to support women and young people to better participate in leadership
structures?

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Gendered Impacts of Disasters, Shocks and Stressors.
1. In the last 5 years can you list the shocks that were impactful to you at individual,
household and community eg (climatic, economic, and social shocks)
Timeline

Shock/Stress

2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021

2. How have these shocks affected you as a man/ as a woman/ as a young man/as a young
woman?
3. How has the shock affected your nutrition, income and resilience?
4. How successful were you as individuals, households and communities in coping with theshocks and stresses and what contributed to that (probe for social networks, VSL,
household assets etc).
5. What are the available social networks and social capital for women, men, and youth in thecommunity?

Gendered Impacts of COVID-19
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

How has COVID-19 eroded assets of men, women and youth and have the numbers of those
who have lost assets gone up, and if so, by how much? What are the differences between
men, women and youth?
How has COVID-19 impacted access to natural resources and productive assets, especiallywomen and youth? How has access for men, women and youth shifted compared to men?
How has COVID-19 impacted migration patterns for men, women and youth?
What shifts if any were experienced in women’s, girls’ and youth access to nutrition, health,hygiene services due to COVID-19 including their willingness to use services?
Who is mostly affected between women and girls and men and boys when it comes toaccess to services due to COVID 19?
What shifts in social norms have been observed amongst women and youth due to COVID19?

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Gender Roles, Responsibilities, Mobility Restrictions and Time Use
1.

Using the calendar below, agree on a typical daily schedule for males, females, and youth
during the rainy and dry seasons. This exercise is based on what you think most people do.

Daily Activity Calendar for Men, Women and Young Men and Young Women during the Rainy SeasonTime
4am-5am
5-6
6-7
7-8
8-9
9-10
10-11
11-12pm
12-1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
5-6
6-7
7-8
8-9
9-10
10-11
11-12am
12-1
1-2
2-3
3-4

Typical Day's Activity

Daily Activity Calendar for Men, Women, Young Men and Young Women during the dry SeasonTime
4am-5am
5-6
6-7
7-8
8-9
9-10
10-11
11-12pm
12-1
1-2
2-3
3-4
4-5
5-6

Typical Day's Activity

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6-7
7-8
8-9
9-10
10-11
11-12am
12-1
1-2
2-3
3-4

2. Based on the above calendar, what do you think of this overall pattern? Does it vary with(e.g. HH size, number of young children, polygamous, level of poverty, etc.)?
3. What are your own perceptions of your time burdens and how do you prioritize your time?
(For women’s FGDs)
4. On what aspects of work do you need support as women? (Women FGDs)
5. What activities can your husband never do? What can you as a woman never do and why?
(Women FGDs)
6. In this community do we have men who support their women and how are they viewed?
7. If you had more time during the day, what would you use it for? (Women FGDs)
8. What aspects of work do you think women can minimize and how? (For FGDs with men)
9. On what aspects of women’s work do you think you can provide support to reduce women’s
workload? How? (For men FGDs)
10. What activities can your wife never do? What activities can you as a man never do? Why?
(Men FGDs).
11. How has role distribution in the home changed as a result of:• Covid 19• migration?
12. What can be done to reduce women’s time poverty? Could there be any challenges
associated with these strategies to reduce women’s time poverty?
13. What strategies can the project leverage to reduce women's time poverty?
GBV Prevention and Mitigation Including Early and Child Marriage
1.

What places make women and girls feel unsafe in the private and public spheres in thiscommunity and why?
2. What are the common forms of GBV mainly affecting women, men, girls and boys in thiscommunity?
3. What are the drivers of GBV and early/child marriages in this community (probe for the roleof social norms, religion, culture and traditions)4. What can the community, family, and adolescent girls mitigate child marriages?

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Question Guide for Key Informants at Community Level
Name of Interviewer: ______________________________________________Name of Note Taker _______________________________________________Name of Respondent: ______________________________________________
Organisation/Institution represented: ______________________________
Position/designation: _______________________________________________
District: ______________________________________________________________
Place of Interview:____________________________________________________
Date of Interview:___________________________________________________
Time of Interview: ___________________________________________________
Questions
1.
2.

3.
4.
5.
6.

What are the key gender inequality issues in relation to food security and livelihoods,
nutrition, employment, maternal health, natural resource management in this community?
What are the social and gender norms affecting men, women, young men, young women in
relation to:• Access to finance• Nutrition• Maternal health• Income generation,• Asset ownership, control and use• Decision making at household level• Decision making at community level• Access to economic opportunities
What are the main drivers of gender inequality and exclusion in this community?
• Social, Cultural, Traditional, religious, economic, political
What opportunities exist for youth and women to engage in economic activities in thiscommunity?
What challenges limit women and girls from participating in more profitable trades? (probe
for skills and availability of training services)
What opportunities are there to meaningfully engage men, traditional and religious leaders,and in promoting decision-making by women, youth and adolescent mothers at household
and community levels in this area

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Question Guide for Government Stakeholders
Name of Interviewer: ______________________________________________Name of Note Taker _______________________________________________Name of Respondent: ______________________________________________
Organisation/Institution represented: ______________________________
Position/designation: _______________________________________________
District: ______________________________________________________________
Place of Interview:____________________________________________________
Date of Interview:___________________________________________________
Time of Interview: ___________________________________________________
Questions
1.

What is your assessment of gender equality situation in this community/district? (probe
for gender distribution of key positions in the district (MP, councillors, Heads ofGovernment Ministries, Agritex officers?
2. What are the main drivers of gender inequality and exclusion in thiscommunity/district?
• Social, Cultural, Traditional, religious, economic, political
3. What are the key gender inequality issues in relation to food security and livelihoods,
nutrition, employment, maternal health, natural resource management in thiscommunity
4. What are the main challenges that men and women of diverse backgrounds face inrelation to?
a. Gender roles and division of labourb. Livelihoods and agricultural productionc. Access to financed. Food and nutritione. Income generation, asset ownership, control and use
f. Decision making at both household and community levels
5. To what extent is the national policy environment and legal framework conducive to thepromotion of gender equality and youth empowerment? What needs to be done tostrengthen the policy and legal environment?
6. How prevalent is GBV in this district?
7. What GBV forms mainly affect women, men, girls and boys in this district?
8. What are the drivers of GBV and early/child marriages (Probe for social norms, religion,
culture and traditions)9. What GBV survivor support services are available in this area?
10. How accessible are the services to women and girls; men and boys?
11. What factors can contribute to uptake of GBV services in this area (probe for increasing
knowledge of the GBV referral system, training of community members and leaders)
12. What opportunities exist for youth and women to engage in economic activities in thiscommunity?
13. What are the social and gender norms as well as other challenges that limit women andgirls from participating in more profitable trades? (probe for skills and availability of
training services)
14. Which governance structures exist in this community/district?
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15. How inclusive are these structures to men, women and youth of diverse backgrounds?
Explain
16. How do you think the governance structures and systems impact on participation ofdiverse groups of people in the Takunda project and their access to programme
benefits?
17. What needs to be improved and how?
18. How do the challenges you have identified impact on participation of diverse groups ofpeople in the Takunda project as well as their access to programme benefits?
19. What has been done and by who to address gender related inequalities in thiscommunity/district?
20. What are the successes, gaps and entry points for promoting gender equality in the
Takunda project?
Thank you for your participation

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Question Guide for Takunda Implementing Partners
Name of Interviewer: ______________________________________________Name of Note Taker _______________________________________________Name of Respondent: ______________________________________________
Organisation/Institution represented: ______________________________
Position/designation: _______________________________________________
District: ______________________________________________________________
Place of Interview:____________________________________________________
Date of Interview:___________________________________________________
Time of Interview: ___________________________________________________
Questions
1. ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL
a. Gender Policy
This section focuses on the nature and quality of your organization’s gender policy.
1. Does your organization have a written gender policy that affirms a commitment to gender equality?
2. Does your organization‘s gender policy have an operational plan that includes clear allocation of
responsibilities and time for monitoring and evaluation?
3. Is gender taken into account during strategic planning for organizational activities?
4. Does everyone in your organization feel ownership over the gender policy.
5. Does management take responsibility for the development and implementation of the genderpolicy.
b. Staffing
This section focuses on the gender composition of staff in your headquarters and field
offices.
1. Is there a good balance of women and men represented in senior management of your organisation.
2. Are there proactive strategies implemented to recruit or promote women and men into senior
management positions?
3. Does management show respect for diversity in work and management styles in your organization?
4.Are gender issues included in discussions and decisions in the office ?
c. Human Resources
This section focuses on human resources policies and the level and extent of genderequality in hiring considerations and personnel related matters (performance assessment).
1. Does your organization have a written equal opportunity policy?
2. What is the representation of both women and men at senior management level? Give thenumbers and positions?
FemaleMale

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3. Are there proactive strategies implemented to recruit or promote women/men into senior
management?
a. Yesb. No
If YesState the strategy
Is it working?
Yes
No

•
4. Are there flexible work arrangements in your organization?
5. Is staff encouraged to take advantage of flexible work arrangements (alternate work hours, working
from home, etc.)?
6. What is the practice in relation to supporting parenting and care-giving roles of staff (both female
and male) e.g. maternity leave, paternity leave etc
6. Have there been any cases of discrimination and sexual harassment? How have they been dealt
with?
7. Do job descriptions for professional positions include a skills requirement related to gender indevelopment?
8. Do job descriptions for professional positions include a skills requirement related to gender indevelopment?
9. Is gender a measure included in professional staff‘s job performance criteria?
10. Is there wage equity for similar positions and are measures put in place to deal with wage
disparities?
11. Is there training of staff in gender awareness and sensitization?
12. Is there training of senior management to institutionalize gender equality in management?
13. Are all levels of the organization responsive and accountable to gender mainstreaming?
14. Is good performance in the field of gender rewarded in the organization?

d. Advocacy, Public Relations, and Communications
This section focuses on the quality and gender sensitivity in your organization’s communication andadvocacy campaigns.
1. Are advocacy campaigns and initiatives planned and informed by a gender equality perspective?
2. Is gender equality incorporated in your organization‘s communications, fund-raising and media
strategies?
3. Is a gender perspective reflected in your publications, for example, brochures, articles, newsletters,
books?

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e. Financial Resources
This section focuses on the level of the resources in your organization that are budgeted specificallyfor gender equality.
1.

What is your understanding of gender budgeting? ( Interviewer to explain if respondent isunaware)2. Do your budgeting mechanisms take into account the different needs of females andmales(gender sensitive)
3. Has your organization budgeted adequate financial resources to support its gender
integration work?
4. Are adequate financial resources allocated for implementation of your organization‘s genderpolicy at all levels?
5. Is staff training on gender equality and gender analysis systematically and consistently
budgeted for in your organization?
f. Organizational Culture
This section focuses on the level of gender sensitivity in the culture of your organization.
1. Does your organization encourage gender sensitive behavior, for example in terms of language
used, jokes and comments made?
2. Does your organization reinforce gender sensitive behavior and procedures to prevent and address
sexual harassment?
3. Is staff in your organization committed to the implementation of a gender policy?
4.Rate the staff attitudes on gender equality issues?
Not Sure
Poor
Good

Very Good

Excellent

Explain your answer………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
5. What do you think your organization should do to fully integrate gender equality (mainstream
gender)?
6. Please describe any successes or challenges you have experienced in integrating gender inprogramming or other aspects of work in your organization.
7. In your view has there been a change in your organization’s view and work on gender and social
inclusion issues in the past four years?
2. PROGRAMMING
a. Program Planning & Design
This section focuses on the procedures and methods used by your organization to conceptualize,
design, and monitor programs and field projects.
1. Is gender mandated by your organization to be included in all programs/projects?
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2. Are gender equality goals and objectives included in program/project designs?
3. For each program/project, is a gender analysis conducted?
4. Do you use best practices and lessons learnt for integrating gender into new programming in yourorganization?
5. Are questions or criteria related to gender included in your program/project proposal review andapproval process?
6. Does your organization use participatory methods to incorporate the views and preferences ofboth male and female community members in project design?
b. Program Implementation
This section focuses on how projects actually operate in the field.
1. Do your project implementation plans include activities that specifically strengthen skills andprovide women/girls with equal access to services and training?
2. Do your project implementation plans include activities that specifically strengthen skills andprovide men/boys with equal access to services and training??
3. Do your project implementation plans take into account existing gender roles and interests of both
female and male participants?
4. What are some of the obstacles to incorporating gender in planning, implementation andevaluation in your organisation?
c. Technical ExpertiseThis section focuses on the level of the staff’s expertise in gender analysis and evaluation.
1. Is there a person or department responsible for gender in your organization? Does the person or
department have clear TOR?
2. Are there staff who are assigned responsibility for gender integration in different departments
throughout your organization?
3. Does your organization consistently draw upon a person or division within the organization who is
responsible for gender programming?
4. Does staff in your organization have the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude to carry out theirwork to include gender?
5. Is adequate training in gender planning and analysis provided for project and program staff?

d. Monitoring and Evaluation
This section focuses on the extent to which gender-disaggregated data and information isincorporated in the monitoring and evaluation of your organization’s projects and on program
outcomes.
1.

Is gender disaggregated data collected for projects and programs? Please probe for social
inclusion data too e.g recording people with disability and age ?

1. Does baseline data collected and reports include sex-disaggregated data?
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b. No2. Does every programme include a strategy to address gender gaps and ensure themeasurement of advances using gender sensitive indicators?
a. Yesb. No
If Yes state strategy…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3. Is your Organization contributing to closing gender gaps, addressing gender issues andpromoting gender equality captured in monitoring and reporting?
a. Yesb. No
If yes explain how…..
•
2. Is the gender impact of projects and programs monitored and evaluated?
3. Does your organization have sector specific indicators that include a gender dimension?
5. To what extent does your organization‘s programs/projects contribute to increased genderequality in following areas:a. material well beingb. access to resources including timec. access to training
d. participation in decision-making
e. self-respect/legal status
f. control over benefits/resources
e. Partner Organizations
This section focuses on the level of gender integration in the organization’s relations with partner or
local NGO affiliate organizations.
1. Is commitment to gender equality a criterion in your organization‘s selection of partner or local
NGO affiliates?
2. Is a gender policy included in the written agreements outlining your organizations relationship withpartner or local NGO affiliates?
3. Does your organization provide training and tools on gender planning, analysis, and evaluation topartner or local NGO affiliate staff?

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