Local resources and strategies for orphan care in rural communities: perspectives of the affected people in a southern district of Zimbabwe

Abstract

The burgeoning orphan population in Sub-Saharan Africa as a result of HIV/AIDS has strained traditional coping mechanisms and presented the region with a serious orphan/child care crisis ever. The introduction of government organised programmes such as the national plans of action (NPA) only caters for a small fraction whilst the majority deserving vulnerable children continue to suffer. This descriptive and qualitative study unravels the missing factors for the sustainability and wider coverage by programmes and strategies aimed at orphan care. The research, carried out in Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe used a purposeful sample of 20 households in 5 villages. Results points to the undermining of the strengths of the traditional coping strategies in favour of new ideologies such as cash transfers and food-aid-packages by different stakeholders. The paper proposes the need to identify and invest in the indigenous local resources and strategies considering that communities are not homogenous.

Keywords: orphan-competent communities, livelihoods, vulnerable, sustainability, traditional coping strategies, households