5.7: Demographics of the respondents
5.7.1: Demographic profile of the respondents
Chadereka and Kapembere results show that 72.3% respondents were males, 27.7% were females and 53.4 % were males and 46.6% were females respectively. There were more male than female respondents because most males were at home doing carpentry or other tasks after working in the fields. Women, on the other hand, go to work in the food gardens. The demographic data confirmed by the questionnaire is captured in Figure 5.1 below.
Male □ Female 80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
72.30%
46.60%
27.70%
Chadereka Kapembere
Figure 5.2: Gender Distribution
In addition, 3.6 % o f the respondents were single in Chadereka while 76.6% were married and 13.9% were widowed. In Kapembere 8.0% were single, 64.4% were married, 9.8% were divorced and 17.8% were widows. Some o f them even reported that they were tired o f being asked so they were just responding in a way they saw fit. Muzarabani is a male-dominated society and also puts more value in marriage. If a person remains single beyond a certain age
in Muzarabani, he /she is considered abnormal. That is why on marital status the majority in both Chadereka and Kapembere said that they were married.
On household type, Chadereka has 76.6% male headed households, 20.4 female headed households, 2.2 % child headed (male) households and 0.7% child headed (female) households.
As mentioned earlier on, males are considered as heads of households and sometimes the female headed households receive food hand-outs later because no one will be there to give them support. This affects decision making in the household that has resulted in making women more vulnerable to floods and droughts. Men would want to grow a crop that is not drought resistant and women would want to grow sorghum that is drought resistant, but because men are heads of households who are sole decision makers, they end up growing crops that are not drought resistant and the family will be at risk in the event that rains do not come adequately.
Figure 5.2 below shows the household type in Chadereka and Kapembere.
Child headed female
Child headed male
Female headed
Male headed
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%
■ Kapembere ■ Chadereka
Figure 5.3: Household Type
In addition, 6.6% are in the range 18-30 years. 38.0 are 31-43 years and 36.5% are between 44
56 years and 19.9% are 57 years and above in Chadereka. In Kapembere, 8.6% are between 18 and 30 years, 47.9% are between 31 and 43 years, 35.0% are between 44-56 years and 8.6%
are from 57 years and above. To select the elderly for Focus Group Discussions, I chose those who had IDs which showed that they were more than 65 years. Fig 5.3 below shows the age distribution of the respondents.
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
47.90%
18-30 31-43 44-56 57+
■ Chadereka ■ Kapembere
Figure 5.4: Age Distribution
With regard to education, the majority of the people are able to read and write but they did not attain higher education (they did not attain degrees). In Chadereka, 42.5 % received primary education, 50.4% received secondary education and 0.0% received tertiary education and no one received non-formal education. In Kapembere, 37.7% received primary education, 41.7 % received secondary education, 0.6% have tertiary education and 12.9 % received no formal education. The majority of heads of households said that they received education which is only enough to enable them to read and write. An insignificant percentage in Chadereka said that they had no formal education and no one in Chadereka said that they have no formal education.
Observations and transect walks showed that some of the people were not able to read and write. Some people in the area feel shy to say that they did not even go to school. This is because of the growing view that education is important. Considering that Zimbabwe is currently rated as the second highest in Africa for having a literate population, very few people received no formal education in Muzarabani. This also limits their chances of getting formal employment in public and private organisations to earn income which they can use to reduce the problem of acute food shortages that are caused by floods and droughts.
No formal education
Tertiary
Secondary
Primary
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
■ Kapembere ■ Chadereka
Figure 5.5: Distribution of Educational Attainment
Furthermore, people in the study area belong to different religions and this has a bearing and an impact on how people are coping with floods and droughts. Some who are not Christians are sometimes excluded from benefiting from food aid that is provided by Christian churches such as Roman Catholics and United Family International (UFI). In Chadereka, 30.7% are Christians, 37.9% are Moslems while 37.9 % follow the African Traditional Religion which is indigenous. In Kapembere, 32.6% are Christians, 34.3% are Muslims while 33.1% follow the African Traditional Religion. Because of food shortages, people are joining the Muslims in order to receive food. The spread of Christianity is gradually displacing African Traditional Religion. Fig 5.5 below shows the distribution of the respondents according to their religious affiliation in Chadereka and Kapembere.
12.90%
0.00%
0.60%
0.00%
50.40%
42.50%
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION
MUSLIM
CHRISTIANITY
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
□ Kapembere □ Chadereka
Figure 5.6: Distribution of Religious affiliation
Lower Muzarabani consists of different ethnic groups as explained in the beginning of Chapter 5. In Chadereka, 66.4 % are Korekore, 9.7% are Chikunda, 18.7 % are Zezuru and 5.2% are other (Ndebele, Tonga, Karanga and Buja). In Kapembere, 57.7% are Korekore, 19, 7% are Chikunda and 19.0% are Zezuru and 4.3 % are others (Buja, Ndebele, Tonga, Karanga and Chichewa). Fig 5.6 below shows the distribution of respondents according to their ethnic affiliation.
■ Chadereka ■ Kapembere
Figure 5.7: Distribution of Ethnic affiliation
Respondents were asked about the period they stayed in the area. In Chadereka, 3.6% stayed there for less than 10 years and 96.4% said that they stayed there for more than 10 years. In Kapembere, 13.5 % have been living there for less than 10 years and 86.5% have been staying there for more than 10 years. Thus, the majority of the people have been experiencing floods and droughts and they are more familiar with their consequences. Fig 5.7 below shows the distribution of respondents according to their period of stay in Muzarabani.
120.00%
100.00%
80.00%
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
CHADEREKA KAPEMBERE
■ Less than 10 years
■ More than 10 years
Figure 5.8: Number of years of Stay