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Green shoots of hope: Changing economic conditions in Zimbabwe
Afrobarometer
August 30, 2010

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For nearly a decade, Zimbabweans were in the throes of a multi-layered and multifaceted crisis resulting in great material deprivations and mass despondency. By 2005 Zimbabwe had the fastest shrinking economy in the world and the purchasing power of the average Zimbabweans had fallen to levels last seen more than a half century before1. But now there are signals of green shoots of recovery and Zimbabweans are beginning to exude hope. The mass citizenry appears to be clambering from the bottom of the abyss. This is part of the evidence from the latest Afrobarometer survey conducted in May 2009, three months after the formation of a coalition government in February 2009. A key finding is the positive impact of economic reforms introduced by the inclusive government which appear to have dramatically altered the economic conditions of the country and the personal living circumstances of its citizens. This Bulletin presents a selection of survey results on popular evaluations of economic conditions.

The Afrobarometer

The Afrobarometer is a comparative series of public attitude surveys on democracy, governance, markets and living conditions. The survey is based on a randomly selected national probability sample of 1200 respondents representing a cross-section of adult Zimbabweans aged 18 years or older. A sample of this size yields a margin of error of ±3 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. All interviews are conducted face-to-face by trained fieldworkers in the language of the respondent's choice. Fieldwork for the Afrobarometer Round 4 survey in Zimbabwe was undertaken between May 9 and 23, 2009.

Economic Evaluations: the Present

The survey asked respondents to make both macro and micro-economic evaluations of the economy starting with an assessment of the country's present economic condition.

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