June 2002

Microfinance and Households Coping with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe: An Exploratory Study

Country Context

The macroeconomic and social environment influences circumstances, options, and choices of households and owners of microenterprises. The larger environment also influences the operations of MFIs.

Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) soared during the study period. In the 12 months after launching the survey in September 1997, the CPI rose 32 percent. Between September 1998 and September 1999, inflation was 70 percent, and the following year it was 62 percent.

The negative influence of the macroeconomic environment has been exacerbated by the high prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe. In 1999 an estimated one-quarter of Zimbabweans age 15–49 were infected with HIV (UNAIDS and WHO 2000).

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03 Jan 2009