Zimbabweans tend to favour solid wooden coffins. The more expensive the better, says the manager of a funeral parlour chain. People believe that if they spend more money, the spirit will be more pleased. The demand is leading to shortages and rising timber prices. Foil a type of wood veneer on hardboard is becoming increasingly popular.
Less wood is used and coffins are cheaper.
The industry tried also to promote environmentally-friendly cardboard coffins. Those coffins also weren't solid enough to withstand the long journeys to bury the dead. As in the rest of the world, more and more Zimbabweans are living in cities. Until recently, when people died, they would be taken back to the rural areas, where they or their families came from, to be buried. According to tradition, the dead needed to be buried near the immediate family so that certain traditions could be accomplished.