Research summary

  • Between 2022 and 2024, a team of GDI academics and PGRs carried out a consultancy project for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), focused on the status and trajectory of poverty and human development in Zimbabwe.
  • The team examined the extent to which certain indicators could determine economic and environmental development, comparing indicators across points in Zimbabwe’s recent history. 
A group of African woman walking on their way home carrying bags of farm produce on their heads.

Project overview

The project was commissioned to inform ongoing discussions around partnership principles between FCDO, other development partners, and the government of Zimbabwe.

The resulting reports follow previous reports on development in the country and contribute towards broader discussions surrounding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the conditions enabling their progress.

Zimbabwe’s performance is compared both over time with itself since 2000 and with a wide range of comparators.

This includes countries at different income levels, other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and a smaller panel of African countries with particularly relevant features.

Progress is measured in three areas:

  • governance
  • economy and environment
  • human development

In so doing, the reports provide detailed analysis of core economic institutions (such as property rights and the rule of law), human development issues (such as health, education, and demography), and economic and environmental factors (such as growth, debt, agricultural productivity, and water resources). 

The findings

The team produced three substantive reports focused on governance, human development, and the economy and environment, respectively.

The reports are freely available here:

The reports identify and analyse patterns in Zimbabwe’s performance within the context of its income level, region, and peers.

Using these findings, they identify areas for future research efforts and identify puzzles yet to be answered surrounding Zimbabwe’s constraints and strengths.

Girls at school in Harare Zimbabwe.

Meet the team

  • Antonio Savoia, The University of Manchester, UK
  • Admos Chimhowu, The University of Manchester, UK
  • Nabila Hasan, The University of Manchester, UK
  • Sam Hickey, The University of Manchester, UK