“ Basics are now a luxury ” : perceptions of structural adjustment ’ s impact on rural and urban areas in Zimbabwe ( 1 )

This paper describes differences in the impact of the Economic Structural Adjustment Policy (ESAP) on Zimbabwe’s rural and urban areas through the views of recent migrants to Harare. Although the outcomes of ESAP have been more acutely felt in the city than in the countryside, rural populations have also suffered from increases in the prices of basic commodities and in public services fees. Retrenchment and increasing poverty in the city affect rural households, as remittances decline and migrants return to their rural homes, increasing the burden there. Due to the strength of rural-urban interactions and the economic interdependence between city and countryside, the impact of structural adjustment is not clearly geographically defined.