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Examples Of Livelihood Problems In Poverty And Poverty

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Most people with disabilities in Zimbabwe engage in some kind of self-help projects that generate very little income which is estimated at around $10 per month in average and is too little to sustain even the most basic requirements. This means that the majority of people with disabilities live in absolute poverty in econometric terms and is in line with Yeo’s (2005) claim that disability and poverty are inextricably linked. However, what is encouraging to note is the fact that, most people with disabilities exercise their agency by choosing the type of income generating activities and this is usually what they consider manageable in light of their disability. The way people with disabilities choose their income generating activities is in line with notions expressed by Mersland (2005) who posits that people with disabilities engage in self –help projects due to the need for flexibility according to their impairments and the need to deal with exclusion in the economic sector.

Small scale farming and market gardening emerged as the most used livelihood strategies amongst people with disabilities despite the lack of support and inhibiting environment discussed in the following chapter. The livelihood strategies cannot be said to be sustainable as they are done at a subsistence level due to poor rainfall patterns, over-used soils, lack of agricultural inputs and restricted market among other factors. This is in line with the ideas of (Ellis, 2000; Bryceson, 2002; Rigg, 2005)

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