The Paradox of Poverty in a Paradise of Plenty: A Gender Perspective on Chronic Poverty in Binga, Zimbabwe

The connection between poverty, gender and development continues to attract universal interest in development theory, policy and practice. Part of this interest focuses on the perpetuation of poverty, which is manifest in the socio-economic and political inequalities between the two sexes, mainly as a consequence of viewing men and women as a homogenous social entity. This paper presents results from a study which investigated the gendered perspective on the persistence of chronic poverty in Binga District, northwestern Zimbabwe. The findings reinforce the position that poverty in Binga is mainly as a result of the Kariba Dam resettlement of 1957-8. Coupled by the patriarchal system of the Tonga society, the research findings show that there is a gender imbalance (which favours men) in terms of access and control of reources such as land in Binga. This is contrary to the situation before the relocation process which also allowed women to control and access land. The results also show that although women and men have options for poverty reduction, these options are also gendered. I conclude that unless (a) men and women are given equal opportunities in all spheres of life (b) power relations between men and women in terms of resource access and control are addressed (c) roles and activities become ungendered and (d) development agencies engage the Tonga in the project cycles of poverty reduction programmes, poverty reduction in Binga District will remain a dream.