My deepest and sincere thanks to the Financial Aid Office of North West University for their financial assistance throughout my studies. This study examined Zimbabwe's socio-developmental challenges following the implementation of the Economic Structural Adjustment Program (ESAP). This study adopted a qualitative methodology to ensure an in-depth understanding of the topic.
A relevant case study has been used to provide or adequately answer the study's research questions. Although the implementation of ESAP was for economic change or to rejuvenate the country's economy, the results were against the goals of the policy and the dreams of the country. Regardless of Zimbabwe's vulnerable economy, the government implemented some programs that further destabilized the country's fragile economy.
The government of Zimbabwe opted for an economic structural adjustment program which was intended to improve the country as most of the developments undertaken by the country were subsidized by the government. The background of this study shows what are some of the challenges that the country faced after the implementation of the economic structural adjustment program. Although there is a summarized literature highlighting the background of Zimbabwe and the economic structural adjustment programme, most of the facts and essential content of this study will be in the literature review.
The subject of this study is the Economic Structural Adjustment Programs and Zimbabwe's social development challenges 1990-2000 and the focus of the study will be on three factors, namely education, health and agriculture.
Problem statement
The reason for such subsidies was because the country wanted to close the gap between whites and blacks that had developed during colonial rule, and the country wanted equality. Nevertheless, the adoption of economic structural adjustment programs in Zimbabwe has worsened the situation and brought more challenges to the people of Zimbabwe. For example, the prices of maize rose and this meant that food supplies became more expensive than before the adoption of such a program (Bird and Shepherd, 2003; .VN, 2005).
Following the adoption of this program, there was deregulation of the domestic economy, including macroeconomic measures, reductions in public spending, and trade policy. Corn seed prices again; fertilizers; agricultural and diving equipment increased significantly, the urban poor suffered, resulting in lost wages associated with increased costs of urban services and subsidies being eliminated (Bird and Shepherd, 2003; UN, 2005). The program also contributed to the reduction of consumer subsidies, a sharp reduction in government spending, especially in social sector services (education, health and sanitation).
The discontinued subsidies also had a negative impact on infrastructure, provision of health services, rural and urban livelihoods. Although the adoption of the Economic Structural Adjustment Program was intended to address the challenges the country already had, this program exacerbated the challenges.
Rationale
Zimbabwe adopted this program for economic change because the country lacked economic support, which was caused by the large role of the government in subsidizing all the development programs that were put in place. The study will also look at the challenges that Zimbabwe has faced since the adoption of ESAP and also identify the aspects that have contributed to these challenges.
Aim of the study
Research Objective
Marxism
What the theory captures is that the international market divides states into two classes which are the proletariat and the bourgeois (rich and the poor). What the theory captures is that economic institutions are used to exploit the unindustrialized states, and they are led to believe that all states are equal in the international market, even though this is not the case. The assumptions of the theory did indeed apply in Zimbabwe, because after the adoption of the Economic Structural Adjustment Program the gap between the rich and the poor widened.
This was due to the policies associated with the program that made life more expensive for the poor. The assumption of the theory thus becomes visible when an analysis is made with the Zimbabwean case. In the mid-1840s, Marx and Engels wrote that capitalist globalization was transforming the international system of states.
The contours of a new social experiment were already present in the most advanced political movements of the industrial working class (Marx and Engels, 1977).
Methodology
The researcher will use secondary data which are articles, books, journals, newspapers, magazines and internet to collect data that is more relevant. The analysis of the data will certainly be the accurate reflection of the content that highlights the accurate analysis of the values of different people; ideas; data and beliefs will be collected and analyzed and evaluated qualitatively. The data collected and received will be analyzed based on content analysis.
Scope of the Study
Ethical Consideration
Organisation of the Study
Liberalism
Liberal theory is from the point of view that states should liberalize their economies in order to have successful economic reforms; Although the country of Zimbabwe liberalized their economy, the country was crippled by the adoption of the Economic Structural Adjustment Program. The implementation of Economic Structural Adjustment Programs in Zimbabwe occurred as the country saw a need for economic development. These are some of the objectives that accompanied the implementation of the Program in the country.
This decision was also in favor of structural adjustment programs and in support of program objectives. The government has also liberalized its economy, which is one of the rules that come with structural adjustment programs. One of the goals of economic structural adjustment programs is that the government does not interfere in the operation of the program.
The actions taken by the Zimbabwean government were not acceptable and as a result such actions contributed to the failure of ESAP in Zimbabwe. The program of economic structural adjustment failed due to the need for discussions throughout the design of the programs; need for state ownership;. The implementation of the economic structural adjustment program in Zimbabwe did not live up to the country's expectations, which were economic development and stability, although the country at most times respected and complied with the program's rules and regulations.
After the adoption of the program, life became expensive, the people of Zimbabwe could not even afford basic needs. After the implementation of the Program for Structural Adjustment of the Economy, the country's challenges intensified, for example, the unemployment rate increased. The cause of the collapse of agriculture was not only the program of economic structural adjustment, but natural disasters such as drought.
The development challenges faced by Zimbabwe were not only due to the economic structural adjustment programme, but the poor governance of the country also played a role. Economic structural adjustment programs played a role in the downfall of Zimbabwe's economy and the social challenges it faced. The adoption of economic structural adjustment programs in Zimbabwe made life expensive for the country's inhabitants.
The adoption of the Economic Structural Adjustment Program in Zimbabwe was after the country decided to reform their economy and this was one of the programs they chose to make their idea achievable. Migration Effects of the Economic Structural Adjustment Program in a Rural Community in Zimbabwe. Center for Population Studies.
The challenges brought about by the ESAP in Zimbabwe
Findings
Prior to the implementation of the economic structural adjustment program in Zimbabwe, the country already faced social challenges, which made the implementation of ESAP in the country even more problematic. The gap between the rich and the poor increased after the implementation of the structural adjustment program of the economy. The government of Zimbabwe has implemented all the rules that came with the economic structural adjustment program, but they have not achieved their dream of economic reform.
The only achievement that the Economic Structural Adjustment Program was able to accomplish was the liberalization of the Zimbabwean economy. After the adoption of Economic Structural Adjustment Programs, residents were unable to meet their basic needs such as food, education and health. Zimbabwe is one of the African countries that fought against slavery and won against their colonial masters who called the country Rhodesia.
The decade of independence in the country of Zimbabwe was also a decade of terror; for example the country was hit by a high unemployment rate and the gap between the poor and the rich became wider. Things got worse for the country's citizens as most of them could not afford even their basic daily needs. The government of Zimbabwe should have allowed the structural adjustment program to operate according to its own policies and rules.
The country of Zimbabwe should have addressed the policies that were inherited from the colonial masters before opting for Structural Adjustment policies. There the policies of structural adjustment programs should have been adapted because they also played a major role in Zimbabwe's downfall. The country should have implemented all the policies that came with the economic reform and also ensure that there is sustainability in their country and secondly they should not have interfered too much in the economic reform program they chose, for example export processing zones (EPZs) that were implemented by ESAP since the beginning of the program should have been left alone to function accordingly.
The only way Zimbabwe can get out of its misery is to fully adopt another structural adjustment program and stick to it until it is sustainable; after they are economically sustainable, they can start implementing their own policies. Zimbabwe's Structural Adjustment Programme: The First Year's Experience', in Mwanza, A (ed.), Structural Adjustment Programs in SADC, SAPES Books, Harare. Structural adjustment and labor market policies: towards social adjustment?', in Standing, G., and Tokman, V., (eds.), Towards social adjustment: labor market problems in structural adjustment.
