‘Hustling Out of Unemployment’: Livelihood Responses of Unemployed Young Graduates in the City of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Youth unemployment has emerged as a major policy issue in the recent past. Within policy circles two solutions have been proposed: first, investing in youth education, and second, incorporating youth into agriculture. Our thesis, backed by a long history of proletarianisation, is that perceptions of work and agriculture, which have become deeply entrenched in society, tend to undermine any prospects of educated youth engaging in agriculture-based livelihoods. We develop our argument by focusing on the experiences, responses and livelihood pathways of young university graduates in the city of Bulawayo. We show that young graduate youth prefer livelihood activities which maintain their status as educated citizens, and that agriculture does not confer such status. We argue that young graduates’ aspirations and livelihood pathways are often dictated by societal attitudes and views of what is an acceptable occupation. In this regard, our thesis contradicts the widespread faith in agriculture placed by policymakers in Africa.