STRATEGIES FOR DAILY SURVIVAL: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL AMONG STREET VENDORS OF HARARE METROPOLITAN
Dublin Core
Title
STRATEGIES FOR DAILY SURVIVAL: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL AMONG STREET VENDORS OF HARARE METROPOLITAN
Creator
TAVONGA NYAYA
Description
The study investigated the role of social capital among street vendors of Harare Metropolitan. The
investigation relied extensively on qualitative research because we wanted to get an in-depth understanding of
the uses of social networks as daily survival tools for street vendors in the face of increased marginalisation.
Observations, interviews and reviews of documents were used to collect data on the daily life, the problems
faced by street vendors and problem-solving strategies. More specifically, in-depth interviews were conducted
with twelve individual street vendors; one focus group session with six street vendors and three detailed
interviews with key informants. The high influx of street vendors was due in part to low barriers of entry which
enabled cash-poor segments of the population to make a living without a heavy financial capital outlay. But
street vending also thrived because transactions required social capital, an asset which most vendors were
endowed with. In this regard, the study found that social capital was an important variable in the livelihood
provision of street vendors. Social capital was one of the many resources and was used in combination with
them in survival strategies. Street vendors benefitted from their social capital on three levels: personal,
suppliers and buyer relations and being members of social organisations including political parties. The main
goal of the street vendors was to expand their business and revenue in order to improve their livelihoods.
Surprisingly, the goals of the vendors were not situated in the realm of entering the formal sector. Instead, they
longed to enter the formal economy as workers and not as entrepreneurs. Macroeconomic stability and an
effective regulatory framework of the informal sector are required in Zimbabwe to assist in poverty reduction
investigation relied extensively on qualitative research because we wanted to get an in-depth understanding of
the uses of social networks as daily survival tools for street vendors in the face of increased marginalisation.
Observations, interviews and reviews of documents were used to collect data on the daily life, the problems
faced by street vendors and problem-solving strategies. More specifically, in-depth interviews were conducted
with twelve individual street vendors; one focus group session with six street vendors and three detailed
interviews with key informants. The high influx of street vendors was due in part to low barriers of entry which
enabled cash-poor segments of the population to make a living without a heavy financial capital outlay. But
street vending also thrived because transactions required social capital, an asset which most vendors were
endowed with. In this regard, the study found that social capital was an important variable in the livelihood
provision of street vendors. Social capital was one of the many resources and was used in combination with
them in survival strategies. Street vendors benefitted from their social capital on three levels: personal,
suppliers and buyer relations and being members of social organisations including political parties. The main
goal of the street vendors was to expand their business and revenue in order to improve their livelihoods.
Surprisingly, the goals of the vendors were not situated in the realm of entering the formal sector. Instead, they
longed to enter the formal economy as workers and not as entrepreneurs. Macroeconomic stability and an
effective regulatory framework of the informal sector are required in Zimbabwe to assist in poverty reduction
Publisher
IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS)
Date
2015
Files
Collection
Citation
TAVONGA NYAYA , “STRATEGIES FOR DAILY SURVIVAL: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL AMONG STREET VENDORS OF HARARE METROPOLITAN,” ZOU Institutional Repository, accessed July 6, 2025, https://ir.zou.ac.zw/items/show/131.
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