Kinship Relations and Urban Poverty. A Case Study of Budiriro in Harare, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa’s urbanisation is accelerating, and the majority of it is informal and concentrated in high-density, low-income urban areas. This rapid urbanisation is accompanied by changes in the spatial location of households within countries and the urbanisation of poverty, which is combined with the deterioration of basic infrastructure and services in urban spaces (particularly around housing). In Zimbabwe, the urbanisation of poverty has been exacerbated by the failure of both central and local governments to develop and implement social, economic, and political policies that contribute to poverty alleviation. This paper examines the role of kinship relations in alleviating poverty in developing-country urban areas using a case study of Budiriro, a low-income neighborhood in Harare’s southwest. The paper draws and relies on qualitative data from six focus group discussions and 30 life-history interviews conducted in Budiriro, Harare, as part of a mixed-method doctoral study. Through an examination of this empirical data, the paper demonstrates that kinship relations are Janus-faced in terms of poverty alleviation from both diachronic and synchronic perspectives. Kinship relationships can help individuals and households improve and maintain their well-being in some cases, but they can also hinder others. Furthermore, the positive and negative roles of these relationships change and vary over time, so what was productive at one point may become detrimental later.