The Covid-19 Pandemic: Limited Water Access and the Precarity of Women Fishers at Lake Kariba,Zimbabwe

Abstract

Man-made reservoirs are constructed to meet certain purposes and Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, was designed for hydroelectric power generation. However, it has developed other multiple uses, and the growth of fisheries on the lake has had a significant impact on the livelihoods of local communities. The declaration of Covid-19 as a pandemic in Zimbabwe in March 2020 was quickly followed by the imposition of national lockdowns with varying levels of severity up to the present day. This was done to curtail the spread of the disease, meanwhile enhancing the nation’s capacity in terms of acquiring testing kits, constructing more admission and quarantine centres as well as educating the people about ways to keep safe. In response to the calls by the government to monitor the movement of people and compliance of the lockdown rules, the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZNPWMA), the governing body of the Lake Kariba fisheries, imposed rules that have significantly impacted the fishing communities at Lake Kariba. Both gillnet fishers and rod and line fishers have been impacted, but our focus here is on women rod and line fishers. Using the precarious livelihoods conceptual frameworks, we show how the changes in water management during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns has generated high levels of precariousness on the livelihoods of women at Kariba. We define precariousness as the condition of uncertainties brought to the women fishers by changes in water restrictions. The precarity of women was induced by several factors. For instance, the women fishers reported that restrictions to accessing fish in areas with high catches impacted them. They are also now obliged to pay exorbitant fishing fees in a way to discourage them to fish; they were frequently chased away from the Lake by ZNPWMA officers; they had limited amount of time to fish due to curfews; and failure to comply results in heavy fines imposed on them among other challenges. We show how these challenges interact with the current Zimbabwe socio-economic crisis to worsen the precariousness and vulnerability of women fishers at Lake Kariba. Data presented in this manuscript are based on participant observation and interviews with women fishers at Lake Kariba.

Keywords

Lake Kariba livelihoods fishing gender Corona virus pandemic curfew water management

Introduction

Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019. It is highly contagious and has swiftly spread out globally. It was declared a global pandemic in March 2020 by the World Health Organization (WHO). Covid-19 symptoms, which usually appear 2–14 days after exposure to the virus, include fever or chills, dry cough, tiredness, shortness of breath and sometimes dyspnea (WHO, 2020). Much has been written about Covid-19’s emergence as a catalyst for change, as a pivot to new ways of doing things or as the beginning of a new normal (Fuller et al., 2021). The pandemic has radically reshaped daily lives, including (and being not limited to) where and how people work; how people travel; people’s interactions with friends, family and the wider community; the role and performance of the health care system; access to and experience of housing, public space and social services; people’s impacts on the environment and climate change; and the structure and performance of the wider economy (Rose-Redwood et al., 2020). In short, the impact of Covid-19 has been widespread, with few locations and individuals not adversely impacted.

Zimbabwe has not been spared by Covid-19. The first Covid-19 case in Zimbabwe was reported on 21 March 2020 in the resort town of Victoria Falls (Dzinamarira et al., 2021). Over time, there were surges in the number of infected people, which caused the government to impose the first lockdown on 27 March 2020, which was followed by two other strict lockdown measures. The lockdowns spanned for several weeks with their measures reviewed from time to time. However, these numbers were believed to be manipulated and fabricated by the ZANU-PF (Zimbabwe African Union – PATRIOTIC Front) government for politico-economic agendas. These allegations shed light on the intersections between Zimbabwean politics and this pandemic.

These lockdowns limited women fishers’ access to the Lake Kariba. Therefore, this article examines the impact of Covid-19-related lockdowns to the fisherwomen’s access to the Lake Kariba which impacted their fishing activity as a livelihood. It shows how accessing certain parts of the Lake after curfew hours became a crime and punishable offence for women fishers. During fieldwork for this research, the fisherwomen reported that state security forces, that is, the Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZNPWMA) and Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) conducted varying operations and patrols enforcing the lockdown measures. The ZNPWMA restricted rod and line fishers from accessing some fishing sites with high catches. They were also obliged to pay exorbitant amounts for fishing permits in a way to discourage them to fish; they were frequently harassed by ZNPWMA officers; they had limited amount of time to fish due to curfews; and failure to comply resulted in heavy fines imposed on them among other challenges. The ZRP and the army ensured that curfews were followed through patrolling around curfew time, beating up people and suing offenders. We show how these challenges interact with the current Zimbabwe socio-economic crisis to worsen the precariousness and vulnerability of women fishers at Lake Kariba. Women fishers live under the poverty datum line in Zimbabwe and are vulnerable to social change, which makes it difficult for them to recuperate in crises-laden contexts. As Mhlanga and Ndhlovu (2020) forecasted, the consequences of the Covid-19 and the concomitant responses by national governments (and other actors) to the pandemic were likely to harmfully affect the poor and marginalized categories of societies who lack adequate resources and means to leap back after such catastrophic and unpredictable disruptions.

This study is a contribution to the emerging and evolving literature on Covid-19 and livelihoods in Zimbabwe. It specifically fills the lacuna that exists in our understanding of the intersections between Covid-19 pandemic and fisheries livelihoods. Previous literature has shown the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on various livelihood sectors such as agriculture (Mhlanga and Ndhlovu, 2020; Muvhuringi et al., 2021; Rukasha et al., 2021; Tom, 2021) and informal cattle marketing (Munyede, 2020), with some documenting the specific peasantry (or agriculturalists) responses to the novel virus and lockdowns such as farm owners using their own labour in situations where hiring of casual labour became difficult due to social distance and travelling restrictions (Tom, 2021). Other scholars have documented the impact of the pandemic on vulnerable groups such as the aged, orphans and the physically challenged people, and women (see, for example, Chazovachii, 2020); although women are included in these studies, none has focused on the vulnerability of women ‘fishers’ and their agency during the lockdowns. Furthermore, other scholars have reported the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns on small-to-medium enterprises (SME; see Nyanga and Zirima, 2020). Results from these studies show that most of them stopped operations and had to lay off some of their employees. Production in most cases was halted and this entailed that the future after the lockdown was bleak for them. The SMEs appealed for government support to enable them to resuscitate after the lockdown (Nyanga and Zirima, 2020). However, against these earlier studies, this article focuses on the impact of the Covid-19 on fishing as a livelihood. Documenting the impact of Covid-19 on artisanal fishing as well as the agency of the artisanal fishers is crucial as it contributes to the evolving literature on Covid-19 and livelihoods not just in Zimbabwe, but across the globe.

Literature on the intersections between gender and Covid-19, and the impact of Covid-19 on women in Zimbabwe is expanding (see Gwatidzo and Chazovachii, 2020; Nyabeze et al., 2021; Nyahunda et al., 2021; Nyashanu et al., 2021). However, none of these earlier studies examine the impact of Covid-19 lockdowns to women fishers, specifically. These studies show the impacts of Covid-19 on both urban (Gwatidzo and Chazovachii, 2020; Nyashanu et al., 2021) and rural (Nyahunda et al., 2021) women. This is largely because the effects of Covid-19 have been felt differently both spatially and temporally by women. In rural areas, women’s food security systems are shattered, livelihood strategies maimed, caregiving roles burgeoning and access to health care systems compromised, and this is worsened by existing social injustices and the dominance of men (Nyahunda et al., 2021). In urban areas, studies have documented the challenges faced by sex workers and their agency (Nyabeze et al., 2021), and the impact of Covid-19 regulations on women’s access to anti-retroviral has been documented (Nyashanu et al., 2021). This study contributes to the previous literature by documenting the precarities and experiences of women fishers during the Covid-19 lockdowns in Zimbabwe. It shows how Covid-19 lockdowns engender precarious livelihoods.

Focusing mainly on the Kariba case, this article argues that the Covid-19 lockdowns negatively impacted fishing as a livelihood for most women. Fishing became a precarious livelihood. The paper shows how limited water access due to lockdowns and curfews impacted the fishing activities of women fishers, and how it engendered the precarity of women fishers. The paper starts by discussing the precarity concept which underpins this study as well as the methods used for data collection. It then describes the nature and benefits of fishing to women. A fuller understanding of their fishing cycle and the associated benefits is crucial. It was their fishing cycle and fishing benefits that were directly impacted by lockdowns. We will also show how the existing precarity caused by the economic crises in Zimbabwe was worsened by Covid-19 pandemic regulations. The impact of the lockdowns is described and discussed at the end of the article.

The precarity concept, livelihoods and the Covid-19 pandemic

It is important to elaborate further on how the ‘precarity’ concept is used to understand the vulnerability of fishers in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, this section defines and discusses the concept of ‘precarity’. It offers details on how the concept developed and its applicability in this study.

Precarity is most widely used to describe the condition of employment insecurity arising from the dual processes of neoliberalism and globalization. A neoliberal consensus among scholars is that economic policy sees an increase in the uncertainty of secure work and livelihood opportunities. Many jobs once available on a more secure basis have become much more temporary and casual (Hardgrove et al., 2015). Wilmsen and Adjartey writes that the precarity concept emerged from the works of Pierre Bourdieu’s work in Algeria, where he observed two types of workers: casual and permanent (Wilmsen and Adjartey, 2020). The concept has thus evolved into a socio-economic category or class in which the casual workers (or precarious workers) are referred to as the Precariat (Standing, 2011). Consistently, McKee et al. (2017) emphasize that contemporary class analysis highlights the growth of a ‘precariat’ class marked by insecurity of work and income that in turn impacts negatively on individuals’ well-being and their ability to get by.

However, precariousness is not restricted to the spheres of work, but it has been previously applied in different fields such as migration (Banki, 2013; Hlatshwayo, 2019), mobilities (Martin et al., 2019), place and dwelling (Banki, 2013; McKee et al., 2017), and involuntary resettlement (Matanzima, 2021b; Wilmsen and Adjartey, 2020). The main aim of applying the concept in these fields of study has been to elaborate the vulnerabilities and uncertainties that the people concerned find themselves in both spatially and temporally.

By extension, more recent scholarship uses the precarity concept to understand the occurrence of people’s livelihoods in complex socio-economically and politically crisis-laden contexts (Berchoux et al., 2019; Gukurume, 2018; Scoones et al., 2018). A livelihood system combines the capabilities, assets and activities of one household to achieve its means of living (Scoones, 2015). Assets are resources that people have access to, which can be private goods (household capitals) or public goods (community capitals). Based on their access to community and household assets, households put in place a range of livelihood activities to achieve their basic needs. Livelihood opportunities depend on the household and community capitals that households have access to. The combination of capitals and activities leads to livelihood outcomes if the household does not face any shocks, which are reinvested in the system (Berchoux et al., 2019). The security of livelihood options such as fishing are impacted by different socio-economic, political and environmental factors. Therefore, this article considers the insecurities and uncertainties engendered by the prevalence and the fear of Covid-19 among the fisherwomen living nearer to Lake Kariba. Covid-19 generated the unsustainability and inconsistence of fishing as a livelihood activity which resulted in many people suffering from hunger leading to malnutrition, and children were the most impacted. Precarity as a concept has not been widely applied in the context of fisheries across the globe (Marschke et al., 2020). This study broadens the use of precarity in fisheries through discussing the precariousness of women artisanal fishers during the Covid-19 lockdowns at Lake Kariba. Fishing livelihoods are generally precarious because of limited options for fish workers in this sector (Marschke et al., 2020).

The levels of precarity in the fishing work is not monolithic; it differs from fisher to fisher. Fishers respond to the vulnerabilities and uncertainties (such as climate change, economic crises and weather) in very different ways. Even during Covid-19 lockdowns, women at Lake Kariba were impacted differently. Each subsequent lockdown had different impacts on the fishing activities both spatially and temporally. As Marschke et al. (2020) observed in Jamaica that certain fishing activities are far riskier than others – particularly for compressor dive fishers – and that levels of precarity are differentiated by age and fishing gear ownership. Similarly, as shown below, the levels of precarity between women and men fishers at Kariba differed as in some lockdowns women had resources such as boats and fuel (that women fishers lacked) to fish in islands.

Precarity is more than the existence of economic, social or other forms of inequality; it is a condition of uncertainty and insecurity (Jorgensen cited in Wilmsen and Adjartey, 2020). This article understands precarity as the condition in which the daily outcomes of livelihoods are unpredictable; when people do not know if they will incur losses or gain profits from their everyday socio-economic activities; when the precariat often have no means to help themselves out of the precarious situations. Precarious livelihoods should be understood in relation to instability, lack of protection, insecurity and socio-economic vulnerabilities (McKay et al., 2012). Although there are well-known existing historical determinants of precarity, Covid-19 lockdowns were a novel phenomenon which had very different unpredictable impacts on rod and line fishers. The lockdowns determined the use of fishing waterscapes, the time of fishing and fear of imprisonment on the part of the rod and line fishers. These aforementioned factors induced the precarity of artisanal fishing at Lake Kariba.

Another lens we should also understand the precariousness of fisherwomen through is the notion of ‘precarious resistance’ (Hlatshwayo, 2019; Lewchuk and Dassinger, 2016; Scully, 2016). ‘Precarious resistance’ as a concept seeks to deepen an understanding of resistance or workers’ responses in the context of precarious work (Hlatshwayo, 2019). Consistently, Wilmsen and Adjartey (2020) indicate that one of the valences of precarity is that it is a site of potential mobilization whereby the precarious demand an end to their precarity. However, research shows that the precariat people are unorganized, unionized and rarely make collective demands around work (Martin et al., 2019; Scully, 2016). For workers in precarious employment, the fragmentation of employment, and the lack of an ongoing relationship with a single group of workers from one job to the next makes it difficult for them to resist through unions or even informal groups of workers (Lewchuk and Dassinger, 2016: 147). This setback impacts the success of their resistance. Likewise, this situation also prevails in the context of precarious fishing. The rod and line fishers at Kariba, as the precariat, are also unionized, and much of their resistance is barely collective. Their resistance should be understood in spatial and temporal contexts. It is either a small fishing band (of either three or four people) or an individual that tends to conflict with the Lake’s authorities in specific locations and for specific reasons. Such individualistic actions yield no results. Even the Nyanyana Anglers Association (NAA/association, hereafter) has only 75 paying members, and its membership is just a small fraction of the total number of fishers at the Lake Kariba. The association attracts very few people. Payment of subscriptions and general reluctance were given as the main reasons why fishers do not join this association.

People with livelihoods that require increased contact with their clients were seriously affected as a result of the Covid-19 containment regulations such as the social distancing principle as well as hard national lockdowns. Livelihoods such as street vending, street begging, fishing, hair cutting and so on that require increased contact of people outside of their homesteads were affected. Although some of these people trespassed the laws, many were forced to stay at home in fear of either contracting the disease, fine payment or imprisonment by the state security authorities. However, the extent at which Covid-19 impacted the people’s livelihoods in not monolithic globally. In other words, rather than assuming that the precarity of women fishers at the Lake Kariba followed a predetermined global template, we should attend instead to the entangled local historical, cultural, economic and regulatory conditions that rendered the women fishers precarious during the successive lockdowns.

Study site and research methods

The qualitative data for this research were conducted in Nyamhunga suburbs in Kariba town between February and May 2021. Kariba town is located along the Lake Kariba (see Figure 1), which was constructed between 1955 and 1959 at a gorge on the Zambezi River, where it flows between Zimbabwe and Zambia. Lake Kariba extends over a length of about 300 kilometres and covers a surface area of 5500 kilometres at full supply level (Reynolds, 2019). The water storage volume of the Kariba reservoir translates to a mass of 180 billion metric tonnes. It is located at a tectonically active area at the southern end of the African Rift Valley (Kariba Case study report cited in Reynolds, 2019).

Figure 1.

Map showing the location of Lake Kariba and Kariba Town in Zimbabwe and the location of Zimbabwe in Africa.

Lake Kariba sustains a diverse of industries and economic sectors both locally and nationally, and these include tourism industry, commercial and artisanal fisheries, crocodile farming, electricity generation as well as irrigation. Due to the importance of this lake, it has become entangled with the politics of landscape among the autochthonous communities of the Tonga, Kore-Kore people and the authorities (such as the ZNPWMA and the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA)). The autochthons were displaced from the Zambezi Valley when the Lake was constructed in 1958. These autochthons claim entitlement of the Lake through excluding the immigrants from other parts of Zimbabwe (Matanzima, 2021b; Matanzima and Saidi, 2020a). These other immigrants were attracted by the fishing and tourism industry sustained by the Lake; consequently, Kariba town became a multi-ethnic community. Covid-19 regulations further provide another strand through which the politics of water access at Lake Kariba can be understood.

Rod and line fishing in Kariba town occurs in such areas as Lomagundi, Lake Harvest harbour, Greenwater, Lake Crocodile area and Dara (which are in the immediate vicinity of the town). It also occurs in far areas located out of the town such as Wafawafa and Nyenje. These areas were difficult to access during the Covid-19 lockdowns as police had blocked the highway road that connects Kariba with these fishing areas. The names of these fishing sites recur throughout the manuscript as some points were visited for personal observation and are fishing sites for some women.

Qualitative data for this study were collected between February and May 2021. It involved semi-structured interviews and participant observations. Semi-structured interview sessions were conducted with 50 women fishers. The interviewed women were aged 40 and above. These women visit the lake almost every day for fishing. On average, each interview session lasted 50–70 minutes. The research participants were interviewed either in their homes or on the Lake shore while they were fishing. The second author was born and bred in Kariba and personally knew some of the rod and line fishers. Therefore, it became easy to find informants and visit them in their homes. The researchers explained the topic, the objectives and duration of the study to the participants before the start of any interview session, so that they give informed consent to participate in the research. The interview sessions were tape recorded. Social distance of up to 2 metres was maintained between the researcher and each research participant, and the wearing of masks was observed during the interview sessions.

Since these women regard fishing as their full-time job, Covid-19-related lockdowns impacted them. The 2020–2021 successive lockdowns brought about uncertainties and vulnerabilities to their everyday livelihood activity. Leaning on the precarity lens, the research questions focused on the lived experiences of women fishers during the lockdowns. These women were asked questions regarding the precariousness of fishing during the Covid-19 successive lockdowns and how they negotiated the water access regulations imposed by the government and enforced by the state security forces, that is, ZNPWMA, police and the army during this time. Data collected were more reliable as the researchers asked questions related to the previous year’s (2020) and current year’s (2021) experiences. The participants remembered very well their lived experiences of this period. The positionality of the second author also helped in obtaining accurate and reliable data as the research participants trusted him because he was born and bred in Kariba, and the fisherwomen knew him personally.

These women fishers come from different socio-cultural backgrounds because Kariba town is a multi-ethnic community. Since it is a resort town, many people were attracted by the tourism and fisheries industries. When people lost their jobs due to an economic downturn, they easily joined rod and line fishing and/or gillnet fisheries. Most women joined fishing because their husbands passed away or because they were now unemployed. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with 10 fishermen including the Chairperson of the NAA. These men were interviewed in order to obtain details regarding the overall impact of the Covid-19 on water access and fishing. The lived experiences of women during the lockdowns were also discussed with men. These interviewed men were knowledgeable as they share the same fishing waterscapes with women fishers.

Participant observation was also carried out. It is important to note that Covid-19 prevention measures guided the research during participant observation. Researchers maintained social distance, masked up and carried sanitizers with them. Wherever and whenever participant observation was carried out, the researchers introduced themselves and explained the research topic and objectives to avoid intimidating fisherwomen. Observations included observing women fishing in various areas around the lake. It was observed that fishing activity naturally promotes social distancing as many women fished a few metres from each other. We also noted the everyday fishing practicalities (and realities) such as their arrival times at the lake, their throwing of rods in the Lake, their having lunch at the lake shore and their departing times. In all these aspects, there were differences among all women and men. For example, the departing times differed for many fishers, and each person had their own reasons for leaving the lake at a particular time. For women, their reasons for leaving early from the Lake were mainly related to their other social roles such as cooking and gardening.

A thematic content analysis was used to analyse data from the field. It is a type of qualitative analysis that is descriptive in nature and is used to analyse classifications and present themes (patterns) that relate to the data. It illustrates the data in great detail and deals with diverse subjects via interpretations (Ibrahim, 2012). Thematic analysis is considered the most appropriate for any study that seeks to discover knowledge using interpretations. It allows the researcher to associate an analysis of the frequency of a theme with one of the entire content. Transcribed data from audio-tapes as well as those from informal discussions and participant observations were analysed to identify themes which were further used to categorize the data obtained.

Pre-Covid-19 era, economic crises and precarious fishing

Zimbabwe’s economic crises were characterized by high inflation rates and high unemployment rates; cash and food shortages can be traced back to the early 2000s (Gukurume, 2018), when the government of Zimbabwe initiated a disastrous Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) that saw White-owned farms grabbed by the Zimbabwe war veterans and ZANU-PF youths (Daimon, 2021; Gukurume, 2018; Helliker et al., 2021). Consequently, the UK and US governments, sympathetic with the White farmers who lost ‘their’ farms, imposed ‘illegal’ economic sanctions on Zimbabwe, including trade and travel bans against the Zimbabwean elites (and or politicians) (Ndakaripa, 2021). Since then, the country experienced serious economic crises that saw the ZANU-PF government losing the presidential election in 2008, leading to serious political intimidation and turmoil in which ZANU-PF persecuted all opposition (Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)) supporters.

The economic situation was somewhat stable between 2009 and 2013 during the Government of National Unity (GNU) which adopted the use of US dollars (USD). The use of USD stabilized the economy, and eased the buying and selling of goods (Matanzima and Saidi, 2020b). This made the marketing and selling of fish easy for the rod and line fishers. Fish buyers were also travelling freely, and some of the buyers were tourists who were visiting Kariba. The availability of cash at the time also enabled women fishers to buy fishing gear easily. However, in the post-GNU era, the socio-economic stability realized between 2009 and 2013 seized to exist. Since then, Zimbabwe began to face serious economic challenges that affected the women fishers. Liquidity crunch, the unavailability of cash and high inflation impacted the rod and line fishers. In particular, high inflation impacted their purchasing of fishing gear and payment of fishing licences. This saw the introduction of the bond note. ‘Bond notes’ were introduced by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in late 2016 as a local surrogate currency equivalent in value to the USD to address the acute currency shortage afflicting the economy (Southall, 2017).

From 2013 to the time of Covid-19, rod and line fishers have faced different precarities induced by the economic crises, which were later worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic. High unemployment rates have seen many women joining fishing. They now have to rely on their small revenue from fishing for survival. The average catch per day is 4 kg, which when sold at $2 per kg is not much amount of money to survive on – even though we write about fishing during Covid-19 pandemic, we also give reference to these prevailing economic challenges.

Results

The nature of rod and line fishing

This section gives an in-depth description of the nature and occurrence of rod and line fishing at Lake Kariba. It provides a sequential and generalized account of rod and line fishing from the time women depart from their homes (in the morning) to the time they knock off and depart from the Lake (in the early evenings). The section sheds light on the complexities of rod and line fishing, and its entanglement with the current politico-economic crises bedevilling Zimbabwe.

The verity that these women fish in a politically sensitive environment as well as in the economic crises-laden situations makes evident the entanglement that exists between fishing and politico-economic crises. This section describes the gear used by women and the problems they face in quiring the fishing gear. However, as we will see below, the experiences of women and the challenges they face are not monolithic. Women fishers have different fishing experiences and these are shaped by numerous socio-economic circumstances. There are also differences in experiences between men and women fishers. The challenges that women fishers encounter including the Covid-19 regulations and politico-economic crises serve to worsen the precariousness of fishing activity as a livelihood strategy for them. These women fish in vulnerable and uncertain circumstances which have a bearing on the viability and profitability of fishing as a livelihood. Due to cash shortages and unemployment, for instance, the profitability of fishing has been impacted as women fishers hardly find fish buyers.

Women carry out rod and line fishing during the day. They depart from their homes early to mid-morning. Women fishers reiterated that their departing times range from 0400 to 1000 hrs. The researchers also observed some women arriving at the Lake shore at different times in the morning. There was no fixed time for all women. There are many factors that determine the departing time for fishing for these women. First, gender is a key factor. Women were ascribed the social role of carrying out domestic chores such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes and child rearing. Most young and old fisherwomen have a social obligation to carry out these roles before they leave for fishing. However, older women with more children have no such an obligation as they can simply delegate them with some of these domestic chores. Women who carried out domestic chores arrived later at the lake than those who did not. Thus, some spend more time at the lake fishing than others, but this did not imply that the more time one spent at the lake, the greater the catch. Fishing is an unpredictable economic activity. Catches depend mainly on many factors such as differences in fishing sites, climate related issues and ‘good luck’ as many women reiterated.

Second, differences in time for their arriving at the lake is determined by the availability of fishing gear. It emerged from participant observation and semi-structured interviews with these women fishers that their key fishing gear includes the rod (locally known as Mutepe), the line (which is the twine), weights, fish hooks, worms and feed. Women use unsophisticated fishing gear and ‘methods’ as compared to men. For example, in place of traditional fishing logs (mutepe) used as rod by women, most men use sophisticated machine rods. Due to fear of crocodiles, most women fish sitting on their buckets on the shores, but most men get into the water to the ‘waist’ or mazamu ‘breasts’ level. While the majority of women use worms, most men make use of ‘zerere’ (algae). Locally, worms are mainly sold at USD 1 per small yoghurt container (as they are difficult to find), and zerere is not paid for. Thus, most women bear the cost of purchasing the worms as compared to most men. People told us that ‘zerere’ attracts more fish compared to worms. Zerere is difficult to acquire. It is gathered in local streams in Kariba town early morning. Women have inadequate time to look for zerere in the morning as they will be carrying out domestic chores. Some men buy zerere in surrounding rural areas (such as Nyamakate), and women often lack resources to go to these rural areas.

When one has inadequate fishing gear, they may spend time sourcing for the gear from their friends or if they have cash, they can wait for local stores to open (at the Nyamhunga shopping centre) and purchase the required gear. Local stores open at around 7–8 am, and this is a factor that determines the start of their fishing day. When one has no funds to purchase the required gear, they do not go for fishing until they obtain such funds. Obtaining such funds is difficult in an economically crippled country. Zimbabwe has no formal currency. The liquidity crisis in Zimbabwe has worsened by the day. The nation has predominantly used USD, until the local bond notes and Ecocash/Onewallet (mobile money) were introduced. However, the introduction of bond notes and Ecocash/Onewallet has not yet solved the problems created by the country’s cash crisis (Matanzima and Saidi, 2020b; Southall, 2017). The country continues to use USD, and the exchange rates between USD and bond notes and Ecocash (RTGS$) are unstable. Many shop owners prefer USD to bond notes and Ecocash/Onewallet. Due to the ‘economic instability and currency devaluation in Zimbabwe, prices of commodities constantly change’ (Matanzima, 2021a: 149). This affects the purchasing power of most women fishers and causes delays in their acquisition of fishing gear.

However, women fishers are not mere passive recipients of these problems. They have agency. They initiate different ways of redressing these challenges. For instance, where they cannot afford to buy fish feed, they make use of the mixture of sadza (thick porridge made of maize meal and water) and chicken dung. This is a very cheap alternative. Sadza is from their previous day’s meal leftovers, while chicken dung is obtained freely from people who keep chickens. These people are their kins, neighbours and churchmates. Thus, wider social capital and social connections are very important when it comes to fishing. The importance of social capital reverberates through the entire fishing process and expeditions. For example, at the lake shore, we observed women sharing fishing gear such as hooks when one’s hook gets entangled under the water. Some shared their food. They also notify each other of the presence of crocodiles in particular fishing sites.

Some women go for fishing in groups and some go as individuals. Currently, more fishing bands are found among women. According to our head counts of fishers during the days we visited the Lake, we observed that women are the majority rod and line fishers. Giving estimates of fishers at the Lake Kariba, one old woman who has nearly 20 years fishing experience mentioned that

Pavanhu vanoraura nemutepe vakadzi ndivo vakawanda, (women are the majority rod and line fishers). Vakadzi ndivo vanenge vakawanda kana patinoraura nemota (even when we go fishing with cars in faraway areas, women are the majority fishers).

Fishing in bands has its own merits. For example, when women fish close to each other, they can be discussing social issues and creating more networks. However, as the day progresses, fishers can change fishing sites due to low catches at a particular place, and sightings of crocodiles or hippos, and the presence of logs and weeds under the water which can entangle their hooks. It is a few metres change in sites of approximately 20–50 metres range. The reasons behind the change in fishing sites or positions indicate the centrality of the profitability of fishing, as well as safety precautions and risk minimization of the fisherwomen. They avoid any losses and costs that can be generated from low catches, crocodile attacks and the entanglement of their twines and hooks on the weeds.

On their way to the lake, these women are at risk from wildlife attacks. They share the same roads and paths with wild animals. This area is a hotspot for human–wildlife conflicts (Mhlanga, 2001). The remotest fishing areas are wildlife infested, and women who fish in these areas are at higher risk of encountering wild animals. Women conflict with such animals as elephants, buffaloes, baboons and lions. There are many named people, both men and women, that are said to have been injured or killed by wild animals in and around Lake Kariba. The fear of wildlife encounters is also one of the reasons why women form fishing bands (and why some fish in nearby areas). They believe that if they walk in groups, they can easily locate the dangerous animals, as one woman mentioned ‘maziso anenge akawanda’ (‘more people, more eyes’). At the Lake, women fishers (just like fishermen) are prone to attacks from crocodiles. Lake Kariba is a hotspot for human–crocodile conflict, and fishers are the most attacked (Marowa et al., 2021).

Women fishers go fishing wearing rugged clothes because they need to protect their nice clothes from being torn. The bush paths they walk in and areas they sit in along the Lake have logs and grass that can tear their clothes. Even the heat from excessive atmospheric temperatures in the Lake Kariba region is believed to affect the quality of their clothes. This shows that women are economically wise. They minimize their living costs through devising innovative options such as the use of rugged and already torn clothes for fishing. Others depart their homes in better clothes and change to rugged ones when they arrive at the Lake. One day when two women arrived on the Lake shore, they left their fishing gear to the researchers’ attention and went into the bush to change their clothes. They avoid being seen by men when changing. This is done to safeguard their integrity and to show respect to men who may be passing along the fishing sites.

When fishing starts, the fisherwomen untie their rods. Rods are simple sticks or poles attached to a line ending in a hook. Women prepare their rods at home so they are ready to fish when they arrive at the lake shore. The length of the rods vary in size, but they are usually 2 feet and above. Most women throw fish feed at their fishing sites, so that they attract more fish in that area. Since commercial fish feed blocks are expensive, fisherwomen utilize sadza as fish feed. They entangle worms on the hooks and throw them into the water to catch fish. Sometimes they lose hooks and lines especially if they get entangled on a crocodile or a weed, but sometimes they often put effort to untangle their hooks. Caught fish is stored in huge twine bags put in the water or buckets filled with water. This storage is done to protect the fish from getting spoiled. Storing fish in buckets is safer than in huge net bags stored in the Lake. Fish stored in huge net bags can be eaten by crocodiles. During our research, one woman who had the experience of having her stored fish eaten by a crocodile bemoaned:

It is painful that you spend the whole day sitting at the Lake only to have your fish eaten by crocodiles. My huge bag of fish was dragged by a crocodile yesterday and I did not see what happened. I had caught a lot of fish and all of them were taken. I will never put fish in a net bag again because it’s a loss.

As mentioned above, worms are bought locally (or gathered in local streams). During fishing, women also have lunch which is basically the food they bring from homes. They eat sadza and different relish. During this study, several women were seen eating sadza with either fish or vegetables. Sadza is easier to prepare/cook and the cheapest type of food they can carry. Women fishers knock off at different times and again this depends on several factors. For example, those with children who can carry out domestic duties for them delay leaving the lake; they depart at around 1700 hrs, whereas those with no children, leave earlier at around 1500 hrs. One woman, explaining why she leaves earlier from the Lake, narrated that

. . . I cannot leave at 1800hrs because I have many other duties to do at home. I have a husband and small children, and I have to cook for them. I have to look after my children.

On the same note, another woman mentioned that

. . . I have to go home early because I have a garden. I have to water my garden in time before I start cooking. Of course, I have grandchildren, but they do not sufficiently water my garden because they want to play with other kids too much. I usually go back home at around 1500hrs, otherwise my vegetables can dry up in the garden.

Another important aspect of fishing at Lake Kariba that is recurrent in the narratives of our informants is their strained relationship with national parks authorities/rangers, which was even more pronounced during the lockdown. Women complain that the rangers disturb their fishing as they patrol along the lake shore demanding fishing fee from women (and men) fishers with no free fishing permits of 3 days per week which are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Even those with free fishing permits are often obliged to pay if they fish outside the free 3 days period. The national parks rangers do not allow these women to fish in fish breeding areas such as river estuaries; anyone caught breaking the law is fined or have their gear confiscated. The national parks authorities and rangers are considered a major problem, bigger than the problem of crocodiles, by the rod and line fishers at the Lake Kariba.

Rod and line fishing: reasons and benefits

The previous section is an in-depth outline of the nature and occurrence of rod and line fishing among women at Kariba. This section summarizes the importance of rod and line fishing. It is important to discuss the benefits of rod and line fishing to women because it helps us understand the impact of limited water access and the reasons why women find it difficult to follow the lockdown regulations. The importance of fishing and fish to these women drove them to disobey the law. There are numerous benefits of rod and line fishing that are enjoyed by women. These benefits are both social and economic, and these benefits motivate them to fish every day. Women benefit more from rod and line fishing as they are the majority in this type of fishing activity. We observed that women are the majority of those who fish, with simple head counts we did at the Lake shore. However, the benefits enjoyed differ from women to women both spatially and temporally; this is because women fish for different reasons and in different areas with different catches, and their marketing of fish is also different.

These benefits include income generation. Women obtain money to pay for bills and buy food and clothes through selling their fish. The livelihoods of most individuals at Lake Kariba largely depend on fishing, with the consequence that fishing is therefore a main source of income (Ndhlovu et al., 2017). Commenting on this importance of rod and line fishing as a source of money, one old woman mentioned that

In my life I survive on fishing. I have no other sources of money. If I catch fish, I look for buyers. I then sell my fish and buy food for my children and grand-children; I also pay rent, water and electricity bills. My money comes from fishing. My survival comes from fishing. I have no one who help me survive. My husband died long ago, in 2004. Fishing helps me a lot.

Rod and line fishing also provides women with food, especially during Covid-19 lockdowns when women had limited food options. While women sell surplus fish, they also keep some to relish in their homesteads. Ndhlovu et al. (2017) observed that communities surrounding the Lake Kariba have limited food options and are therefore highly dependent on fish as a principal component of their diet. This is because most households have no access to meat (Ndhlovu et al., 2017). Many of the women interviewed stated that fish is a cheap source of food to them, and when mentioning the reasons why they fished, they made comments such as ‘we fish for food’, ‘we are looking for usavi (relish)’ and ‘we want to eat health’. Fish provides proteins with many health benefits and is taken with ‘sadza’, which is a source of carbohydrates.

Furthermore, women perceive fishing as a form of employment. In an economically bedevilled nation with high unemployment rate, in which women have limited employment opportunities as compared to men, rod and line fishing is a form of employment for many local women. Furthermore, the age of most fisherwomen impacts their competitiveness on the job market. As Tuler et al. (2008) write, age limits the opportunities and options for fishers, thereby worsening their vulnerability. Zimbabwe has approximately over 90% unemployment rate, and many women have joined informal economic activities due to the lack of jobs (Manjokoto and Ranga, 2017). Employment opportunities in industries surrounding the Lake Kariba are male biased. Local tourism and fishing industries as houseboats and Kapenta fishing exclusively employ men. Local crocodile and fisheries companies employ more men than women as the jobs require more ‘masculine’ power and extended working hours. Women are rarely attracted to such jobs that are time demanding due to the other social obligations they have. Fishermen often obtain casual work and from these, they obtain money to buy more fishing gear for their use; sadly, women have no such privileges. The artisanal fishing in the lake attracts the majority of the unemployed women. Other women in Kariba engage in vending. Fishing is favoured because it requires not very much capital as that which is required in vending. Rod and line fishing has also become a survival strategy for cross-border traders who are predominantly women (see Matanzima, 2021a) and commercial sex workers. These aforementioned livelihoods have also been directly impacted by Covid-19; cross-border trade was affected by international travel bans, and commercial sex workers rarely get clients as most men are struggling financially to fend for themselves, let alone pay for sex services.

Covid-19 lockdowns, water access and the state

The above-described everyday fishing activities and their benefits were impacted by successive Covid-19 lockdowns imposed in Zimbabwe. Everyday fishing methods became uncertain. The major impact of the lockdowns was limited (or no) water access for fisherwomen. There was also reduced fishing hours due to curfews. Controlled movements of people meant that women could sometimes not go for fishing or go to sell their fish. Failure to observe the lockdown regulations was a punishable offence, and people were obliged to pay exorbitant fines. These factors impacted the certainty of this economic activity and its profitability. Fishing as an economic activity and livelihood strategy became highly precarious. Therefore, the next sections describe the precarity of women fishers during the successive lockdowns since March 2020. Where relevant, the experiences of women are compared to those of men rod and line fishers.

We have categorized the hard lockdowns into three phases not because there were periods the lockdowns were removed completely, but because these are the periods in which they were announced after months of relaxation of measures; for example, the extension of curfew hours, the legalization of gatherings such as funerals (with only 30 people allowed to attend) and churches (with only 50 people allowed to attend each service), and the resumption of intercity travelling. The country has always been cautious about the spreading of the disease since March 2020 with masks, sanitization and washing of hands as mandatory for one to access buildings, buses and other public spaces. However, as time progressed, other public spaces were accessed with the wearing of masks, use of sanitizers and washing of hands not compulsory. The first strict lockdown was in March 2020. As cases were arising over time two other strict/hard lockdowns were announced, that is, in July 2020 and January 2021. Below, we have categorized the hard lockdowns in Zimbabwe into three and will discuss how the regulations for each lockdown and the behaviour of the state security forces impacted fishing activities at the Lake Kariba. The behaviour of the state security forces changed and differed both spatially and temporally over time.

We demonstrate that the security forces were stricter in the first two lockdowns imposed in 2020 as compared to the 2021 one. This was largely because in March 2020, it was the first time a hard lockdown was introduced to the current Zimbabwe generations and was difficult to implement; and in the July lockdown, the security forces were also clamping down an MDC (opposition party) planned mass demonstration. As for fishing, the fisherwomen narrated that the first lockdown was a very difficult time for them as compared to the 2021 lockdown.

March 2020 hard lockdown announcement

On 27 March 2020, President Emmerson Mnangagwa issued a directive for a 21-day lockdown starting from Monday 30 March 2020 as part of government’s measures to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus (Africa Research Bulletin, 2020). At this time, the country had recorded its first imported cases with no local transmissions (Murewanhema, 2021). The trajectory was very slow in the first 3–4 months of the pandemic, with less than 600 cases by the end of June 2020. Cases increased dramatically in July when a strict lockdown was reintroduced, with some of the rules that had been lifted being reserved by the government. The majority of cases during this period were imported, as indicated by the daily situation reports from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MOHCC), and the highest number of returning residents were from South Africa (Murewanhema, 2021). Although the borders were closed, Zimbabwe continued receiving returnees through either the ‘formal’ channels that required a 21-day quarantine or ‘informal’ channels with many illegally crossing the border through illegal points. Most of the returnees were infected with Covid-19 and were not quarantined nor did they self-isolate.

During the declaration, the President advised of the deployment of the security forces to enforce the national lockdown. Police mounted checkpoints on routes leading to Harare’s Central Business District (CBD), stopping cars and turning away pedestrians who had no authorization to be in the area. Elsewhere, truckloads of metropolitan and national police armed with batons were on patrol, ordering people back to their homes (Africa Research Bulletin, 2020). The decision was seen hurting an economy already struggling with a drought, shortages of foreign exchange and a staggering unemployment rate of over 90%, forcing people to survive on informal trade. For many of the country’s 16 million people, who are already suffering a grim economic recession, the lockdown meant even tougher hardship (Africa Research Bulletin, 2020).

In order to keep the numbers of infected people down, people were forced to stay at home and were only allowed to leave their homes for shopping and visiting medical care facilities for 3 weeks. There was a dusk to dawn curfew. Schools and business were shut down. Local and international travel was banned, with the requirement for exemption letters at road checks. Retail outlets were permitted to operate for restricted hours during the day with screening and sanitizing of hands at entrances. The sale of alcoholic beverages was banned (Murewanhema et al., 2020).

On 4 April 2020, mandatory wearing of facemasks in all public places was pronounced. Returning residents were mandated to go into quarantine at designated facilities throughout the country. Rapid response teams were activated to respond swiftly to rumours and alerts, and surveillance teams were constituted to facilitate contact tracing, follow-ups and case investigation. An expanded testing strategy was released in April 2020 to increase the scope of surveillance, and detect and isolate confirmed cases, and protect health care workers and patients (MoHCC, 2020, cited in Murewanhema et al., 2021). The lockdown was extended by further 2 weeks and ended on 4 May. After that lockdown extension, during the period leading up to July 2021, the lockdown measures were gradually relaxed.

Livelihoods such as fishing were not spared. Lake Kariba was completely closed for any kind of fishing during this lockdown. This decision worsened the vulnerability of the fishers who had been seriously impacted by the Zimbabwe economic crises. As Tuler et al. (2008) note, ‘those engaging in fishing-related activities and the communities in which they live face many and varied pressures’ (p. 171). This is largely because they are the poor and lack resources which makes them more vulnerable. Aside from economic activities, women fishers also faced vulnerabilities induced by low catches in the lake that had been prevailing long before the lockdown as well as exorbitant fishing fees charged by the national parks. As Heinz (cited in Tuler et al., 2008) argues, resource depletion and associated regulation responses imposing constraints on fishing activities can exacerbate economic and social pressures on those involved in commercial fisheries. Commenting on the closure of the Lake for fishing, the NAA chairperson narrated that

The first lockdown was the very bad one. The whole lake was closed. National Parks Authority did not want to see anyone at the lake shore fishing. No one was going to the lake; if anyone dared go, the National Parks authorities would arrest them and take their fishing gear. During the first days, fishers survived on dried fish caught in the days before the lockdown, but later food became a problem for them as its source had been temporally closed.

Hunger became the order of the day for many women fishers and their families. Women with more children and dependents were the most affected. Many resorted to taking one or two meals a day as food became difficult to obtain. Even though the lake was closed for fishing during this lockdown, some rod and line fishers including women continued accessing the lake clandestinely as they sought food (and a source of money). Clandestine ways of accessing the lake resembled what James Scott referred to as ‘weapons of the weak’ (Scott, 1985). The weak, that is, the women fishers, innovatively resorted to everyday tactics of breaking the water access regulations that threatened their very existence and everyday livelihoods. As stated above, the notion of precarity can be understood through the agency of the women fishers. The agency of the precariat has been referred to as ‘precarious resistance’. Though their everyday forms of resistance did not stop the government from imposing the lockdowns, they were successful because women fished clandestinely. But, they were not sure about the output of fishing because sometimes they had inadequate time to fish as most of their time would be spent hiding in thick bushes.

Narrating the everyday challenges they faced in accessing the lake, one old woman said,

During the first lockdown we were going for fishing, but we were chased away from the lake before we even caught fish. We used to run away from the National Parks’ officials. We used to hide in the bushes with thick vegetation cover and thorns . . . , we were doing this because we were looking for our families’ survivals. We were just going even if we were being chased away. Running away and hiding became part of our everyday lives.

Running and hiding of women in thick bushes was a very risky and dangerous undertaking. This shows that not only were women exposed to heavy fines from the national parks and police, but their tactics of pervading the law were dangerous. Women risked incurring both minor and lifetime injuries, (and to some extent, loss of life). Aged women – who are the majority fishers – lacked the physical strength to engage in the clandestine activities, and hence most of them were caught and had their gear confiscated. This shows how age and one’s strength determine one’s level of vulnerability. Another old fisherwoman, interviewed at the lake shore, concurred that

When the first lockdown was introduced, we were coming to the lake for fishing hiding from the National Parks officials and the police . . . , we were being chased away from the lake. It was not that easy coming here. Whenever I was chased away, I would go back home and go to the bushes to fetch firewood. I used to sell the firewood to other local residents so that I obtain money to look after my children.

From the above quotation, we see that though women were denied access to the Lake Kariba waterscape during the hard lockdown, some fisherwomen innovatively looked for other survival strategies (or alternative livelihoods). This was largely because they wanted to minimize the precarities and vulnerabilities engendered by the imposition of the lockdowns. These named survival tactics involved fetching firewood in the bush that they sold locally. Firewood was the available cheapest source of power as electricity tokens became expensive during the lockdowns. Many people were not going to work and had no money to purchase the prepaid electricity. Thus, firewood was in high demand. But, one needs to assess the level of vulnerability that is also associated with firewood fetching. In Kariba, if one is found fetching firewood with no permit, they are fined and second, the bushes that these women went to fetch firewood from were animal-infested. Therefore, the fear of animals and payment of fines also demotivated women from engaging in firewood fetching.

Some women survived through barter trading their clothes with agricultural products at a place called Jumbo. During the first days of the lockdown, they had barter-traded their stocked dried fish until they were finished. Farm produce markets were opened from 8 am to 3 pm at Jumbo. Since women had no fish to barter trade with, they barter-traded with their old clothes. As this was harvesting season in Zimbabwe, farm produce markets had food stuff such as sweet potatoes, pumpkins, groundnuts and so on. However, local Council security officers ended up not allowing people to barter trade clothes at the market as there were reports of stolen clothes being sold. Money was the only medium of transactions that was allowed by local municipality/Council officials. Thus, though women engaged in alternative survival strategies, these strategies were also vulnerable to socio-economic changes and forces that worsened the precarity of women.

Fishers found fishing during the lockdown were punished or fined by the National Parks authorities. For example, they had their rods broken and thrown into the Lake. Due to fear of crocodiles, no one would enter into the lake to retrieve their gear. The fishers narrate that losing fishing gear was a big loss in the fishing activity because purchasing new ones required funds, which they already lacked due to the lockdown. Rod and line fishers do not fish with only one rod, many go with more than two. Hence, losing their fishing gear meant losing money as gear was purchased in local stores. Rods costs USD 2–4 per metre; hooks cost USD 0.15 cents each; and weights cost USD 0.05 each. Their caught fish were also confiscated, and it is alleged that these officials shared the confiscated fish among themselves. However, the authenticity of such allegations needs further investigations. Many men and women interviewed recalled having their fishing gear destroyed and thrown into the lake, and sometimes their fish were confiscated. For women, the confiscation of their fish meant loss of food for their dependents, and they were forced to look for other relish, which was very difficult to find. Narrating the punishment that the National Parks authorities enforced on every trespasser, the NAA chairperson narrated that

If one was seen at the lake shore had their gear forcefully taken from them by armed games (National Parks authorities). Sometimes they destroyed your rods and took your caught fish and threw them back into the lake. Since fishing is hand to mouth, in two weeks-time many had no food and they started to clandestinely going for fishing in nearby areas such as Kuburi and Lake Harvest. Rods were destroyed by National Parks authorities because they were discouraging people to fish.

The benefits of rod and line fishing were disrupted by this lockdown. Women stopped enjoying such benefits as income generation and food. Many were left with no money to pay bills. On 4 May 2021, the lockdown measures were relaxed. Many sectors of the economy started opening up. For instance, many SMEs were allowed to operate from 0900 to 1500 hrs, following strict lockdown regulations such as masking up, use of sanitizers and limiting the number of people accessing their buildings. This time, the Chairman of the NAA of Kariba had a meeting with ZNPWMA (National Parks) where they pleaded with the authorities so they could be allowed to fish in certain areas around the Lake. However, other areas (Wafawafa and Nyenje) on the outskirts of Kariba town with high catches remained closed for fishing because of accessibility problems. Access to these areas required the fishers to hire cars and use intercity highways which were barred from use by the police. Overtime, the authorities relaxed some of the measures and opened some areas in the Lake to fishing. Elaborating on this, one woman indicated that

The National Parks later felt pity for us and allowed us to go fishing in some areas, but the police wanted us to observe curfews by departing from the Lake early. The curfew was 1800hrs so we made sure that we left the lake shore early around 1500hrs so that we beat the curfew. Hence, the fishing time was still inadequate. We were going to the lake with our masks and sanitizers in our bags. National Parks required us to fish maintaining social distance when fishing. Everyone was supposed to buy their sanitizers. In my bag l have a bottle of sanitizer that I go to the Lake with.

As stated in the above excerpt, though some parts of the waterscape were opened for fishing, women were required to observe the corona virus regulations such as use of masks and sanitizers. Purchasing of these required money; some did not have the money to purchase these items. Some ended up using their old clothes to cover their mouths, and some used cheap washing liquids disguising them as sanitizers. Furthermore, the use of masks was disliked by the fishers because they found it difficult to breathe as they fished in the sun.

July 2020 strict lockdown announcement

After some of the March 2020 regulations were relaxed (between May and mid-July 2020), on 22 July, the President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced new lockdown measures, including a dusk-to-dawn curfew. Since July 2020, the number of reported cases increased significantly, with over 100 cases confirmed per day in many instances. The balance of infection sources shifted heavily towards locally acquired infections as Zimbabwe entered into the dreaded phase of community SARS-CoV-2 transmission. As of 25 August 2020, the cumulative number of cases in Zimbabwe stood at 6196, with 166 fatalities, and a case fatality ratio of 2.7% and 80% recovery rate according to the WHO de-isolation criteria (WHO, cited in Murewanhema et al., 2021). Harare Province contributed an estimated 40% of the disease burden and 56% of the fatalities, and Bulawayo Province was the second most affected with 20% of the cases and 17.5% of the fatalities. The other eight provinces contributed 40% of the infection burden and 62.5% of the deaths (Murewanhema et al., 2021).

However, the political atmosphere during the time at which this lockdown was imposed was tense, with planned demonstrations against the government over the worsening economic crises. Hence, Zimbabweans doubted the rate at which the increase in the number of positive cases was reported. Some of the lockdown measures were lifted after 3 weeks around mid-August 2020. Nearly 6000 positive cases reported before the lockdown dramatically dropped to less than a 1000 positive cases. This dramatic drop in cases increased doubt among Zimbabweans who strongly believed that the measures were only meant to curb the July planned protests.

Under the restrictions, people in the country were expected to remain at their place of residence except when purchasing food and other essential goods or seeking medical assistance, although some essential workers are exempt. Opening hours for essential businesses were also reduced to 08:00–15:00 (local time), with the enforcement of health and hygiene measures in shops being tightened. The new 18:00–06:00 curfew, which was effected, was vigorously enforced by security forces, although those providing essential services were allowed to continue working during curfew hours. Previous Covid-19 restrictions announced by the government, including a ban on intercity public transport; a ban on public social, political and religious gatherings; and the compulsory use of face masks in public, remained in force.

During this period, livelihood practices such as vending and fishing were impacted. Fishers were not allowed to access the lake once again. These on and off access to the lake increased the precariousness of fishing as a livelihood. Women fishers found themselves clandestinely accessing the lake again. During this time, survival or livelihood alternatives were limited for these women due to the economic crises bedevilling Zimbabwe characterized by high unemployment rate among other challenges. Even labour migration was discouraged during this period because intercity and cross-border travel was banned. Cross-border trade, which had been a survival strategy for most women before the pandemic (Matanzima, 2021a), was discouraged as the borders were closed. Explaining how rod and line fishers were impacted, the NAA chairperson stated that

During this lockdown rod and line fishers including women were not allowed to fish. People broke the law by fishing in the shorelines near Lake Harvest. They feared going very far as it was not allowed to do so. People were not even allowed to fish in the islands.

Women reported that they feared the security forces who were roaming around Kariba in search of lockdown regulation offenders. They had had the experience of being harassed by security officials before – during the first lockdown – thus they had increased fear. This fear coupled with curfew and Covid regulations, all served to worsen their precarious condition. One old woman remembered her fishing gear destroyed by the national parks officials in the following words:

One day we came to the lack very early morning so that we could not be seen by the police. When we arrived at the Lake at the Green water fishing site, the national parks officials came and broke our rods and they through them in the Lake. We were also fishing with men. We were asked to go back home. If these were the police men we could have been beaten. We suffered a lot at this time as we did during the first lockdown.

The above quotation shows that fishing was very uncertain as it was during the March 2020 lockdown. The uncertainty is seen from the beginning to the end of the fishing cycle. Planning for fishing expedition, carrying out the fishing and returning home all were supposed to be done with the lockdown regulations in mind and the fear of being arrested by police or turned away from the Lake by the national parks officials. Hunger was also the order of the day during this period. It is clear that this was a politically induced hunger, where the citizens experience hunger and poverty as a result of politics, with those in power less affected. Although during this time, Non-Governmental Organizations (such as World Vision) started providing Covid food relief in rural areas, the privileges had not yet been extended to urban areas. Even when World Vision extended the food relief to Kariba urban later in October, not all women fishers benefitted. They survived not knowing what they would eat each day. Food acquisition for them was very uncertain.

After 3 weeks, the measures for this lockdown were relaxed mid-August 2020. Rod and line fishers had the privilege to go to the lake with little inspection from the security forces. However, this relaxation did not erase the precariousness of the fishing livelihoods. Obviously, any increase in positive Covid-19 numbers in future will mean the imposition of new forms of lockdowns. From August 2020 to January 2021, lockdown measures were relaxed. This was the longest period when lockdown measures were somewhat relaxed before the January 2021 lockdown. Therefore, the next section discusses the January 2021 lockdown and its effects on fishing activities at the Lake Kariba.

January 2021 strict lockdown announcement

President Emmerson Mnangagwa imposed a 30-day level 4 national lockdown on 5 January after a spike in Covid-19 cases in the country. Zimbabwe had seen its Covid-19 cases more than double since the beginning of the year to 32,646 as of January 28, with deaths also increasing threefold to 1160 from 369 as of 1 January (XinhuaNet, 2021). It is believed that these cases increased during the festive season. Parties and New Year celebrations that attracted thousands of revellers with little social distancing or mask wearing triggered the surge in cases and a strict 30-day national lockdown in Zimbabwe (The Guardian, 2021).

Intercity travelling was banned. Public gathering in churches, stadiums and bars were not allowed. Informal and non-essential services were forced to close down. The banning of intercity travelling saw the police establishing a road block at Quarry on the highway again as they had done in the previous lockdowns. This meant that fishers could not access good fishing sites such as Charara, Wafafa and Nyenje. People continued fishing but in areas such as Lake Harvest and Green water with no good catches. Elaborating on how fishing activities were carried out during this lockdown, the NAA chairperson reiterated that

During this lockdown the fishers were not stopped from fishing, but were denied access to certain parts of the Lake. Both those within the NAA and those who are not part of NAA were fishing. The major challenge was that curfew was 0600 hrs to 1800 hrs, so all fishers were forced to depart their homes at 0600 hrs, the time at which they usually arrive at the Lake shore. We had serious time limits . . . , Curfew discouraged many women to go to Islands, limited time meant low catches which made the entire fishing cycle cost-ineffective. Women would have paid for fuel, boats, national parks fishing fee and pellets and low catches meant low profits. Low profits could not cover all the costs incurred.

Therefore, even though this lockdown was less strict, fishers reported several problems that impacted their fishing activities. A few women from the NAA joined men who fished in islands such as Antelope. Islands were reached by boat and they paid USD4 per boat trip. Many women did not go to fish on islands because they did not have the money. Women are disadvantaged as they do not own boats. They lacked the resources to purchase boats, when boats became crucial for fishing. Women rarely find part-time jobs as men do, where they can obtain more money to purchase boats. Fisherwomen who fished on the shores and in the islands were all forced to observe curfew which was from 0600 to 1800 hrs. Commenting on curfew hours, one old woman, who fished on the islands, stated that

This years’ (2021) lockdown was better because we were going fishing. We were not allowed to go to Wafawafa but at least we could go for fishing in the islands. The major challenge was time. We were forced to come back home early before 1800 hrs, so we made sure that by 3 pm we stopped fishing and depart from the islands so that we beat curfew. Failure of which resulted in the payment of fine.

If found walking after curfew hours, one was fined. The fine was RTGS$ 500, but in February, it was later reviewed to RTGS$ 5000. Fear of paying such huge amounts of fines caused many people to religiously follow the curfew rules. Thus, we see differences between the March 2020 lockdown and this lockdown in that during the former, the lake was completely closed for 5 weeks. However, during the latter lockdown, people continued fishing albeit experiencing the challenges stated above.

Towards the end of January, Zimbabwean government extended the duration of the nationwide lockdown measures until 15 February to curtail the further spread of the novel coronavirus. Towards 15 February, this lockdown was extended again for a period of 2 weeks to the end of February 2021. The president declared that though there was a decrease in new cases, this decrease was not satisfactory (AfricaNews 2021). These lockdown extensions meant that the precariousness of the lives and livelihoods of the fishers were prolonged. Fisherwomen could not engage in their normal fishing practices. Limited water access (some areas were closed for fishing) and limited fishing hours continued, and this served to worsen the precarious situation of the women fishers.

On Monday 1 March 2021, the government then eased the coronavirus lockdown and overnight curfew imposed in January 2021 hence allowing businesses to fully re-open after the rate of new infections slowed in the last 2 weeks (Reuters, 2021). Intercity travelling was permitted. Churches and small businesses were reopened. Curfew was moved from 0600 to 2200 hrs. Business operating hours were extended to 1900 hrs. This was the time when the research for this article had just begun. We observed that many people resumed going to the lake for fishing. The fear of breaking curfew rules was not found. Even women and men who fished in such areas as Crocodile farm, Nyanyana, Dara and Wafawafa had begun going to these areas without any lockdown challenges. However, the fisherwomen were sceptical that lockdowns were over, as they heard that the disease continued to infect more people and lives were still being lost. Hence, a level of uncertainty remained about the future. This is because their past experiences with strict lockdowns included spending days with no money and food. It is the thought of such lived experiences that distress many of the women fishers.

This was the longest strict lockdown of all, but the less strict for women fishers at Kariba. According to the women rod and line fishers, the authorities, that is, national parks, army and the police, were not as strict as they were in the previous ones. We argue that during the first two lockdowns, the security forces were strictest because it was the first time the lockdowns were imposed on the current Zimbabwean generation, and it was difficult for the masses to cooperate. Therefore, the police and the army had to use force to make sure that the regulations were followed by everyone so as to curb the contagion of the virus. Second, in July 2020, the security forces were strict because they were discouraging politically motivated mass protests that were being organized by the opposition party. This indicates the intersections that existed between politics and Covid-19. Covid-19 was used as an excuse for political agendas by politicians.

During fieldwork, we learned that during the January 2021 lockdown, the national parks did not confiscate women’s fishing gear, break their rods and throw them in the water and chase them away from the lake-side (in areas they were allowed to fish) as they did before. However, there were areas that were closed for fishing during this period.

Discussion and conclusion

This article has advanced the argument that the Covid-19 pandemic impacted negatively on the fishing livelihood focusing mainly on the experiences of rod and line fisherwomen at the Lake Kariba. Using the precarious livelihoods concept, the paper has shown how fishing became a precarious and risky activity during the Covid-19 lockdowns that were aimed at reducing the spread of the corona virus. Precarity has not been widely applied in the fisheries-based work, even as working conditions in fisheries are emerging to be a real issue (Marschke et al., 2020). Thus, utilizing the precarity concept in the Kariba situation in the context of the Covid-19 broadens our understandings of the precariousness of fisheries globally.

We reiterated that the experiences of women fishers during the three phases of lockdowns were different. During the March and July 2020 lockdowns, security forces were stricter (they were beating up people, jailing and fining the offenders) as compared to the January–February strict lockdown. During 2020, lockdowns were just beginning and the security forces needed to make sure the rules were followed, but in 2021 only, the police enforced the Covid-19 regulations, people were used to the lockdown and implored different clandestine ways of pervading the law.

Forcing women to stay at home resulted in cuts in their diets and meals per day as they had no money to purchase more food or no fish to barter with farmers. Limited or no access to the Lake Kariba waterscape deprived them of their livelihood; when they accessed the Lake, they accessed the Lake with fear of being fined or having their gear confiscated. When they clandestinely accessed the Lake, they did that not knowing how the day would end like for them. Clandestine access of the waterscape exposed women to wildlife attacks as they used thick bushes to reach the Lake shore. Previous studies testify that Kariba town is a hotspot for human–wildlife conflict (Mhlanga, 2001; Svotwa et al., 2007), where people are in everyday conflict with such animals as crocodiles, hippos, elephants, buffaloes and lions. Furthermore, closure of business also meant that women had nowhere to buy fishing gear from as these are sold in local stores or on informal markets. This worsened the uncertainty of fishing because obtaining fishing gear became difficult, and fishing was contingent on the availability of gear.

The Covid-19 pandemic was also entangled with the national politics in Zimbabwe. This was clearly true during the 2020 July lockdown, which was evidently imposed to curb opposition-party protests against the government. The lockdown was imposed in disregard of the impact of the already precarious livelihoods of the poor and people residing in the margins of the state. Thus, politics render certain people vulnerable and exposes others to dangers, while protecting the interests of the political elites. As Butler (2009: 25) argued, ‘precarity is an ontological experience of human existence i.e., certain populations are differentially exposed to injury, violence and death over others and this condition is politically induced’. In many cases, the precariat/the poor experience these negative living conditions and vulnerabilities for a long time. It only takes political will and mass movements for these precarities and negative living conditions to be redressed.

The precarity of women fishers during the pandemic was worsened by the current economic woes bedevilling Zimbabwe. Since the early 2000s, Zimbabwe has experienced a protracted socio-economic and political crisis. This crisis was marked by unprecedented unemployment rates, company closures, retrenchments and rapid informalisation. Previous studies show that these socio-economic crises have impacted all spheres of life of many Zimbabweans (Gukurume, 2018; Helliker et al., 2021; Matanzima and Saidi, 2020b). Most women fishers are the elderly and widows, and they are breadwinners. They do not depend on men’s salaries. They rely on fishing to make ends meet. The majority have children and grand-children they fend for and pay school fees for. During the days they did not fish, they struggled to obtain food, rental, and water and electricity bills.

To minimize the precarity of fisherwomen in future pandemics, the national parks authorities should allow women to access particular water bodies (and not the entire Lake for fishing as they did in March–April 2020), because fishing activity on its own allows for social distancing. Women fish a few metres far from each other as each need enough space when throwing rods into the water, and when they go for fishing in groups, they move approximately 1–2 metres far from each other as they all will be carrying fishing rods and lines. Furthermore, local authorities and the government of Zimbabwe should consider improving the working conditions of fishers. Inland fisheries make an important but often neglected contribution to rural (and urban) livelihoods in developing countries (Smith et al., 2005). Yet, they are often neglected in the development policy.

Provided the availability of resources, national parks authorities can frequently patrol along the Lake shore educating fishers about Covid-19 or any other future epidemics, so that people fish in full knowledge about the risks of each disease. In the case of Covid-19, women need to be taught about the importance of having sanitizers and face masks. These helps minimize the contagion of the corona virus. If one has no face masks and sanitizers, they should be barred from approaching the Lake shore.

Footnotes

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: The author(s) received financial support from the University of Zimbabwe Lake Kariba Research Station.

ORCID iD

Joshua Matanzima

Author biographies

Tamuka Nhiwatiwa is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Ecology and serves as the director of the Lake Kariba Research Station (University of Zimbabwe) from 2004 to the present. He has interests in disciplines of aquatic ecology that include water resources management, pollution control and biological monitoring, river and lake ecology, fish biodiversity, and invertebrate biology. He has a wealth of experience in coordination and implementation of international collaborative projects.

Joshua Matanzima is a Graduate Scholar in Anthropology in the Department of Social Inquiry, at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. He conducts inter/multidisciplinary research activities in and around Lake Kariba. His research interests include the anthropology of landscapes and resettlement, human- wildlife interactions and religion and social change.

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