The impact of the COVID-19 aftermath on the sustainability of Women’s Informal Business Enterprises in Zimbabwe: The Need for Faith Based Interventions

Abstract

Using a qualitative phenomenological research design and a sample of 15 women informal workers, this study sought to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sustainability of women’s informal business enterprises in Zimbabwe. Underpinned by the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF), the research is based on the premise that the devastating COVID-19 pandemic resulted in loss of livelihoods, particularly for women in the informal sector. This was borne from the failure to recover from economic shocks triggered by the pandemic’s containment measures as well as its spill-over effects. Women, who bear a larger percentage of informal workers, as well as bearing a disproportionate burden of poverty, were directly affected by the domestic economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a bid to redress the economic impact of COVID-19 on women in the informal sector, this research posits that informal workers constitute the religious or class minorities supported by Faith based organisations (FBOs). FBOs are embedded in local communities and are renowned for being among the first respondents to disaster. In response to the Sustainable development Goals’ ‘No poverty (SDG1)’, ‘Zero hunger’ (SDG 2), , ‘Gender equality (SDG5)’ and ‘Reduced inequalities (SDG10)’ as well as the pledge that “no one will be left behind”, this research sought to appraise the response of FBOs to the COVID-19 induced plight of informal women traders in Zimbabwe.