The socio-economic effects of cross-border migration on Zimbabwe’s border lying communities - A case study of Beitbridge and Plumtree

Abstract

Zimbabwe has in the past decade (since the year 2000) undergone what some commentators have called ‘the largest migration event in the region’s recent history…’ driven by deteriorating economic conditions. This paper seeks to assess the nature and magnitude of the emigration patterns and the implications that this migration has on the demographic structure of the communities and on various socio-economic sectors. A specific focus is made on education and agriculture. The study uses a mixed-methods approach to investigate the effect of migration on border lying communities in Beitbridge and Plumtree specifically focussing on the demographic structure of the communities, agriculture and education. The paper concludes that outward migration in the areas studied in this paper has fundamentally altered the age structure of the population with important implications for population growth rates, business, politics, agriculture and education. The paper argues that chronic food insecurity, high failure rates in schools and declining population growth rates may be partly attributed to the migration phenomenon. Contrary to common belief that migrants improve their former households’ welfare through remittances, the paper concludes that most of the non-skilled migrants originating from these rural areas often struggle to meet their own survival needs.