The Dyke

Impact of substance abuse on savings and investment behaviour of youths in Zimbabwe: Case of Gweru high density suburbs

Linnet Zimusi — 2024-05-09

The main aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of substance abuse on the savings and investment behavior of youths in Zimbabwe using Gweru's high-density suburbs as a casestudy. The research sought to identify factors in influencing drug abuse among youths in Zimbabwe. The study also aimed at assessing the impact of social factors on savings and investment habits of youths as well as evaluating the impact of demographic and economic factors on savings and investment habits of youths. A survey research design was adopted in which a total of two hundred and fifty (250) questionnaires were distributed to the youth aged between 18 and 35 years in three high-density suburbs of Gweru in Zimbabwe. The study used a convenience sampling technique to select research participants in three high-density suburbs namely Mtapa, Mambo and Ascot. The study found that the youth drink alcohol very often, have low income levels and they use higher proportions of their income in alcohol consumption. The study revealed that substance use among the youth in high-density suburbs of Gweru is mainly driven by unemployment, stress, and depression. Through regression analysis, the study revealed that income levels and number of boyfriends or girlfriends were found to be statistically insignificant in explaining savings and investment decisions by the youths. Among the statistically significant variables at 5% level of significance, substance abuse was found to hurt savings and investment decisions of the youth. Economic conditions, age, peer pressure, and training on savings and investment were found to have a positive impact on savings and investment decisions of the youth in the high-density suburbs of Gweru. The study recommended that youths should be encouraged to join savings groups so that they have a savings culture.

Perceptions of university students on the relationship between social media use and substance abuse among the youth in Zimbabwe

Langtone Maunganidze — 2024-05-09

Globally, the surge of new media technologies, through social networking sites and mobile instant messaging platforms, have largely transformed the behavioural patterns of individuals and communities. Although this is a widely revered development to have occurred to humankind, particularly to countries in the global south, it has also brought with it a near ‘human-crisis’ in the form of increased drug and substance abuse potentially threatening the well-being of individuals and society at large. The study, on which the article is based contributes to scholarship and practice by exploring the perceptions of university students on the relationship between social media use and the nature, and extent of drug/substance use among the youth in Zimbabwe. It focused on a selected university located in Harare. The study drew inspiration from a combination of Anthony Giddens’s structuration thesis and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice. It followed a qualitative research approach that triangulated a documentary survey of related literature, snippets of unstructured interviews, and focus group discussions. Research participants were selected through purposive and self-selection sampling techniques. One major finding of the study was that social media use created an opportunity for stimulating substance abuse, especially among the youth, who are highly vulnerable to peer pressure and images of their peers, and role models having fun while taking drugs or related substances. Social media has also been instrumental in both amplification and reduction, of drug and substance abuse. The article holds that university students perceived both social media use and substance use to be determinist and agentive. The paper, concludes that their relationship is largely bidirectional with each capable of changing the direction of influence

Health marketing for substance and drug abuse prevention among the youth in Zimbabwe: Evidence and Strategies

Shupikai Kembo — 2024-05-09

Drug and substance abuse is a growing concern in Zimbabwe, particularly among the youth population. Factors such as peer pressure, lack of awareness about the consequences of drug abuse, and economic struggles have contributed to the rise in drug abuse. The consequences of drug abuse include various health concerns, such as cancer, heart disease, and mental health issues. The government and its partners have implemented measures such as awareness and education programs and criminalisation of drugs, but these have not been entirely effective in curbing drug abuse. To address this issue, there is a need for more extensive intervention initiatives, such as health marketing, which uses commercial marketing tools to promote healthy behaviour and positive lifestyle choices. This qualitative study investigates the feasibility of using health marketing to address drug and substance abuse in Zimbabwe by examining evidence and strategies from successful health marketing campaigns. The study provides insights and recommendations for improving preventive efforts and contributes to the broader discourse on the potential of health marketing as a tool for promoting public health.

Christian spirituality as protective factors against drug and substance abuse by Zimbabwean youths: A case of the Catholic Church in Gweru urban.

Precious Dube — 2024-05-09

Drug and alcohol abuse, among adolescents is a global phenomenon not limited to a specific culture or religion. Zimbabwe faces an acute alcohol and drug addiction pandemic. The abuse of drugs by the youths has become a cause for concern and a growing body of research suggests that religion is an important protective factor against drug and substance abuse; and that religion may help in the rehabilitation of drug addicts by enabling them to find meaning, direction and purpose in life. The Catholic Church (in Zimbabwe) has taken a firm stance against substance abuse. This paper assesses how Christian spirituality can be used as a protective factor against drug and substance abuse. Qualitatively, and using a case study approach, a total of 22 purposively sampled congregants participated in the study. Results show that there are so many drugs being abused by most youths. These include marijuana, bronclee, mangemba, cane spirit, PP tablets, codeine, Tegu Tegu, and ZED. It was discovered that youths also make drugs out of green geisha, chalk dust, sanitizers, and a combination of Orange Crush and Cerevita. Through its various programs, the church provides guidance and support to young people, helping them develop a sense of purpose, direction, and meaning in their lives. This, in turn, helps reduce the likelihood of drug and substance use. It was concluded that the church provides counseling and support services to young people struggling with addiction through awareness campaigns, workshops, congresses, and meetings among other activities, to promote drug and substance abuse awareness. It was recommended that to increase capacity, the Catholic Church is working towards building partnerships and collaborations with other organisations and stakeholders.

The effectiveness of strategic health communication in Zimbabwe: A case of Masvingo Provincial School Vaccinations

Isaac Mhute — 2024-05-09

Zimbabwe has been hit hard by a variety of diseases, with AIDS, Covid-19, Cancer, Typhoid, and Cholera being some of the most recent ones. Lots of lives have been lost in the process resulting in some of the diseases, like AIDS and Covid-19, being declared pandemics in the country. To minimize fatalities, the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ), through the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), has resorted to some proactive and reactive measures which include prescribing safety precautions, vaccination, and treatment of infected citizens. A close look at responses to the initiatives, for instance, in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, demonstrates mixed feelings in the majority of the populace resulting in fatal moves like refusing to observe precautionary measures and vaccination hesitancy. The same kind of response seems to be transpiring with efforts towards vaccination against diseases like Covid-19 and cervical cancer in schools, which has allegedly seen some parents forbidding their children from taking the doses by going as far as making them bunk-off school each time such exercises are scheduled to take place. This is quite worrisome for an environment that is being frequented by pandemics of quite alarming magnitudes. In this regard, the current qualitative study sought to analyse the impact of strategic health communication in Zimbabwe taking Masvingo province as a case. It employed interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with purposively sampled schools’ teachers, students, and parents to generate data that was analysed using the Conceptual Model for Evaluating Emergency Risk Communication (CMEERC) in Public Health.

Adaptive intervention to drug abuse: Guidance and counselling teachers opine syllabus efficacy

Paul Chanda — 2024-05-09

This paper examines the efficacy of the Guidance and Counselling (G&C) syllabus in addressing drugs and substance abuse in secondary schools in Zimbabwe. This follows incidents of drugs and substance abuse increasingly becoming common among secondary school learners, now reaching unprecedented levels. Before the foregoing, the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) infused topics involving drugs and substance abuse in the school curriculum. Thus, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE), the responsible ministry, designated G&C to be the main vehicle for spearheading programmes to conscientize the youths on the dangers that befall them if they indulge in taking drugs. Despite the efforts, the prevalence of drug abuse in schools continued to escalate. This scenario begs the question, ‘Is the G&C failing, or has it not yet taken root?’ The approach to empirical research adopted for the current research study was one of a qualitative research design with the data being collected via ‘WhatsApp’ and other social media platforms, an emerging form of doing research. Of the G&C teachers, 15 were purposively selected from secondary schools around the Kwekwe district to seek their opinions on the efficacy of the G&C syllabus. The study established that the syllabus has all that can help to fight drugs and substance abuse. Still, schools have not yet fully institutionalized the practice, demonstrating the disjuncture between policy and practice. The study recommends that G&C teachers and school administrators complement the school’s drug abuse syllabus by incorporating adaptive intervention strategies to annul drugs and substance abuse. In addition, Teachers have to be sufficiently trained to deliver the G&C syllabus so that they can effectively help drug abusers.

Coping with drug and substance abuse among the university youth in Zimbabwe: Towards a ‘quad-helix’ model

Langtone Maunganidze — 2024-05-09

The emergence of drug and substance abuse (DSA) among the youth has long become a global ‘panic’ but has continued to attract fervent interest and attention from both scholarship and development practice. Although extant literature shows how the Zimbabwe government and non-state actors have over the years attempted to disrupt the drug and substance supply and demand chains, the scourge has remained an unmanageable challenge. The failure to comprehensively deal with the issue potentially undermines the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in particular SDG3 and the country’s vision of attaining the status of a ‘middle–income economy’ by the year 2030. It also threatens the ZANU(PF) party-led administration’s mantra of ‘inclusive’ development, given that the youth who are the expected drivers of the country’s future are at the center of the problem. This article acknowledges the multi-faceted and layered nature of the phenomenon. In light of this, it draws inspiration from a multi-sectoral development philosophy and deploys Flora and Flora’s ‘Community Capitals Framework’ to analyse the factors influencing DSA among the youth, particularly university students, and delineate possible ways of addressing the challenge. With a particular focus on the youth in Zimbabwean universities and colleges, the research on which the article is based followed a qualitative approach, predicated on a combination of documentary survey of print and digital evidence, and snippets of ethnographic unstructured interviews and lived experiences of selected key informants. As a coping strategy, the article recommends the adoption of a ‘quadruple helix’ (quad-helix) framework that promotes a multi-sectoral and multi-dimensional approach involving synergistic interactions among universities, the private and public sectors, communities, and civil society.