Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-3, Issue-3, 2017 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

Conceptualising spatial development inequalities in ,

Evans Chazireni1 & Tanyaradzwa Chigonda2 1,2 Department of Physics Geography and Environmental Science/ School of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe

Abstract: Midlands Province experiences variations (Conyers, 2001; Ministry of Health and Child in development across its spatial units Welfare, 2007 and Chazireni and Harmse, 2006) (Administrative Districts). The disparities in have established that the country faces the problem development are largely determined by the spatial of spatial development inequalities. Development in inequalities in the distribution of major determinants Zimbabwe varies spatially between provinces, of development. To determine variability of districts and even in small areas such as urban development among districts in Midlands province, centres. This study seeks to analyse the spatial eleven indicator variables of development where variation of development in the Midlands province of used. The composite index method was used to Zimbabwe. The study, therefore, examines the integrate the development indicator values of the spatial patterns of development in the country at the variables into a single measure so that development provincial scale. could be measured and compared numerically. This enabled the districts to be ranked according to their 2. Study Area levels of development from top to bottom to create a visual and statistical display of the spatial patterns of The study area comprises the entire Midlands development in the province. Major sources of data Province, one of the ten administrative regions of for the study were the Ministry of Health and Child Zimbabwe, situated in the central part of Zimbabwe welfare (2014) and ZIMSTAT (2014). It emerged (Figure 1). The province is demarcated by from the study that there is severe spatial East to the east, to the south development inequalities across administrative east, Matabeleland South to the south west, districts in Midlands province. Generally, urban Matebeleland north to the west, and Mashonaland administrative districts are experiencing better west to the north and north east. The province has a development than their rural counterparts. spatial area of 56 666km and a total population of 1614 941people (ZIMSTAT, 2014). There are nine 1. Introduction administrative districts in Midlands Province, namely Development in this study is embraced as a process Mberengwa, , , , of economic, social and political change which , Kadoma, Gokwe North. Gokwe South and enhances the wellbeing of the inhabitants of a region. Chirumanzu. The major urban centres in the province Despite efforts by political leaders and other are Gweru, Kwekwe, Kadoma and Shurugwi. stakeholders involved in development to reduce Midlands province experiences different climatic spatial development inequalities globally, conditions and as such the districts experience inequalities remain a major challenge (Maid, 2013). variations in agricultural potential. The major crops A growing body of work has documented on the grown are maize and other drought resistant cereals existence of spatial development inequalities in like sorghum and millet. Groundnuts, pumpkins, various countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin sweet potatoes are some of the common crops that America (Kanbur and Venables, 2005; and Kanbur et are intercropped with maize to supplement nutrition. al., 2006). In Zimbabwe, Numerous researchers

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-3, Issue-3, 2017 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

Figure 1: Location of Midlands Province and districts in Zimbabwe (Adapted from ZIMSTAT, 2014)

3. Data Collection processing using Microsoft Excel spread sheet. The first step in the analysis of the data is the calculation Secondary data was used in this study. Eleven of the simple indices. Where the indicators had identified indicator variables were used to measure negative relationship with development, the development in Midlands Province. These were reciprocals of the variables were calculated first crude death rates, unemployment rate, percentage of before calculating the simple indices. By dividing the people living in shacks, life expectancy, measles indicator value into 1, the reciprocal is obtained. The incidence rate, dysentery incidence rate, number of calculation of reciprocals was done so that the households without toilet facilities, literacy rate, indicator variables would move in the same direction percentage of population who have tertiary with development. Simple indices were calculated education, percentage of population above the using the following formula, In=100 (O1)/Base poverty datum line and percentage of households number. Where 1n = the index for the indicator, OI = who use electricity. Data on the variables was the observed indicator value and Base number = is obtained from ZIMSTAT (2014) census data and the base number used as a standard. In this case it is Ministry of health and Child Welfare (2014) national the average of the organised indicator values. The health profile. simple indices for each particular spatial unit (administrative district) were then combined into one value called the composite index. The composite Data analysis index value gives the overall level of development of the district. The composite index is essentially the The development indicator variables used in the geometric mean of the simple indices. Geometric current study were assigned codes to enable easy mean is a measure of central tendency of a set of

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-3, Issue-3, 2017 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in observations which uses the product of their values, do not experience equal levels of development. There unlike the arithmetic mean which uses their sum. The are differences in the conditions of development function for the calculation of geomean available in among rural districts with some districts Microsoft Excel is, =GEOMEAN ( 1: 2 …. ), experiencing poorer development than others. where is the cell number containing the index Gokwe South has higher development status than value of the respective observed 푋 indicator.푋 푋푛 The other rural districts. This is possibly due to the calculated푋푛 composite indices for the districts in the influence of the well developed growth point in the province are given in Table 1. district.

These results concur with research from other Table 1: Administrative districts in Midland scholars such as Chazireni (2003), Montary (2009) Province ranked according development Level and Weiner (2012) who maintain that urban areas generally have better development compared to their District Composite Index Rank rural counterparts. The general consensus among Gweru 162.1 1 these scholars is that the development conditions of Kwekwe 160.3 2 people living in rural areas are generally poorer as Kadoma 132.6 3 compared to those of people living in urban areas. Shurugwi 127.8 4 Urban districts or those having urban centres are Zvishavane 122,6 5 socially and economically relatively well resourced, Gokwe South 75.7 6 on the other hand, administrative districts that are Gokwe North 60.8 7 predominantly rural have comparatively limited Chirumhanzu 56.3 8 socio-economic resources. People living in urban districts and in districts having or located close to the Mberengwa 52.7 9 urban centres, therefore, generally experience higher living standards and have more access to better The composite index values of districts in Midlands infrastructure. Urban areas have positive impact on province provided in Table 1 clearly indicates that development of the administrative districts. development, as measured by the selected development indicator variables used in the study; reveal clear development disparities among the 5. Recommendations districts. Generally, urban districts experience better development as revealed by the composite indices in Table 1 where Gweru, Kwekwe, Kadoma and The following recommendations were made based on Shurugwi districts have higher indices and therefore, the findings of this study: higher development status. Administrative districts which are essentially rural like, Gokwe south,  Infrastructure Chirimanzu, Gokwe South and Mberengwa on the other hand have lower development indices and thus From the foregoing discussion, it is recommended have lower level of development. The explanation that more improvement is needed in infrastructure for such spatial pattern of development can be also particularly in districts that are predominantly rural. be attributed to conditions in the physical The government should prioritise expenditure on environment particularly climate. These districts education, water supplies, transport and health in the (Gokwe south, Chirimanzu, Gokwe South and national budget. Such infrastructure is essential for Mberengwa) experience dry climates. According to the social wellbeing of the people in the Midlands Musanga (2009) the districts fall under agro- Province. Infrastructure improvement also creates an ecological region 4 of Zimbabwe, which is generally enabling environment for investment and economic hot and dry. activities, right from primary to the quaternary sector to take place effectively. These variations are a result of complex differences in the spatial distribution of the determinants of  Agriculture and irrigation development, which are not fairly distributed among districts. There is also distinct spatial development Since the majority of the people living in the pattern that exist between urban oriented districts province largely depending on agriculture, water for with which has the provincial capital farming is needed on a large scale. To minimise the experiencing better development than the other problem of drought and water shortage, it is districts. The other distinctive pattern of suggested that government and other development development in Midlands according to the research stakeholders should attempt to supply more irrigation results is spatial variation of development between services in the province. More dams should be rural districts. Rural districts in Midlands province constructed and more irrigation services supplied.

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-3, Issue-3, 2017 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

Many districts in the province, including recommendations were made for the development of Mberengwa, Chirumanzu, Gokwe North and Gokwe administrative districts in the province. It is hoped South, are drought prone; therefore, irrigation will go that if these recommendations are taken into account, a long way in the facilitation of crop production and there is going to be reduction in development animal rearing. Water conserved in the dams for inequalities that are currently predominant in the agriculture can also be used for domestic purposes. province. The recommendations are also intended to  Industries and employment stimulate overall socio-economic development of administrative districts in the province. To improve the conditions of life of people in the province, employment opportunities must be created 7. References so that people’s incomes improve. Labour-intensive industries should be encouraged by both government Chazireni, E. and Harmse, A.C. Socio-economic and other stakeholders in the province. Such development in : A spatial industries require more labour per unit of output and perspective. Zimbabwe Journal of Geographical therefore, create more job opportunities than capital Research. (1). 2006. pp 1-10. intensive ones. Expansion of industries should be done in both urban and rural areas since the Chazireni, E. The spatial dimension of socio- economic wellbeing of people in the province is economic development in Zimbabwe, Unpublished generally poor. Incentives should be awarded to MA Thesis. Department of Geography. Pretoria: people who establish such types of industries in the University of South Africa. 2003. province. Conyers, D. Regional development. : Zimbabwe Open University. 2001.  Development of secondary towns

Development of secondary towns as a strategy Montary, K. Regional development disparities: involves the selection of a smaller town in the Emerging Trends. International Journal of Regional periphery or rural area and targeting it as a growth Science. 2 (4). 2006. pp 201-215. centre so that development can be attracted to the town. The city can develop into a larger and Weiner, M. Temporal and Spatial dynamics of therefore a secondary core in the rural area. This can development in Zimbabwe. Journal of Social Science enable development to diffuse into the surrounding Research.1 (2) 2012. pp 88-104. rural area. The development of subcentres of subcores in the rural area or periphery could Maid, R. Socio-economic development in the less eventually result in an interdependent system of developed countries: A spatial perspective. Journal cities and the possible elimination of the entire of Geographical Research. 3 (4) 2013. pp180-200. periphery or rural region. In the Midlands province, it is necessary to establish small towns in districts Moyo. N. Z. The Zimbabwe crisis and the Provision such as Mberengwa and Gokwe North which are of Social services. Development and Education remote. This may lead to a more balanced structure Journal of Research and Development, 2013. pp 26- in the provincial space economy by stimulating 39. development in the more peripheral regions. Musanga, L. Zimbabwe: Geography Today. Harare: 6. Conclusion Zimbabwe Books Publishers. 2009.

This research demonstrates that there are severe development inequalities in Midlands province. The Kanbur, R. and Venables, A. J. Spatial Inequality spatial distribution of development is influenced by and Development. In Spatial Inequality and both physical and human-centred forces. Districts Development, ed. Ravi Kanbur and Anthony J. with an urban inclination generally have much better Venables. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2005. development compared to those which are rural biased. Administrative districts with a cooler and wet Kanbur, R.; Venables, A. J. and Wan G. Spatial climate in Midland province generally have better Disparities in Human Development: Perspectives development than those that are hot and dry. The from Asia. New York: United Nations. 2006. researcher makes reference to conditions in the physical environment as well as the influence of Ministry of Health and Child Welfare. National urban centres to account for the disparities in spatial Health Profile. Harare: Government Printer. 2014. development in the province. Numerous

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Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR) Vol-3, Issue-3, 2017 ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in

Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency. Published national reports of the 2012 population census.Availablefromhttp://www.zimst at.co.zw/index.php?option=com content and view. Accessed 20/12/2016. 2014.

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