Conclusion

The findings of coping strategy index (CSI) revealed that families are grappling with food insecurity, particularly during the lean period. Households utilised diverse approaches to manage food shortfall. This study contends that the specific coping strategies employed by a household differ in relation to the drivers of food deficit, household characteristic and the nature of food shortage. The consumption of less favoured foods was adopted as a common practice. The next recurrent coping options were skipping of daytime meals, maternal buffering and borrowing cash and food from relatives and neighbours. Auction of fecund assets and migration were the last options during food deficit periods.

Considering failure of coping strategies in Chipinge District, the urgency remains for planning and executing programs and policies that address food shortfall. Locally-driven interventions to enhance the coping strategies should be supported as likely case examples for other areas facing the same conditions. The success of the proposed interventions is comparatively centred on the integrated and collaborative work of various development players, such as government, NGOs and private investors. Thus, enhancing information exchanges and networks among these stakeholders assist in the design and operationalisation of appropriate development initiatives. Or else, effort may be wasted by repeating comparable interventions while other limitations persist without getting appropriate consideration. Among the strengths of this study are the utilization of a reasonably bigger sample sizes, and participatory methodologies which ensured that participants‟ voices were captured. The results generated in this study are transferable to comparable situations.

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175 APPENDICES