The Effectiveness of Second-Hand Clothing Trade as a Coping Strategy Adopted by Urban Dwellers to Economic Shocks: Evidence from Sakubva Flea Market, Zimbabwe

Urban dwellers in Zimbabwe have lived through more than a decade of recurring economic shocks, and many households have turned to informal livelihood strategies to get by. Chief among these is the trade in second-hand clothing (SHC). The study set out to establish whether the SHC trade is a coping strategy for urban dwellers in Mutare, using Sakubva (Bako) Flea Market as a case study. Drawing on the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach and on Lazarus and Folkman's Cognitive Theory of Stress and Coping, the study used a mixed-methods design, combining questionnaires, key informant interviews and focus group discussions, with 50 SHC traders selected through a combination of purposive and simple random sampling. The findings show that SHC trade works in two ways at once: it lowers household expenditure through the direct use of cheap second-hand garments, and it diversifies household income in ways that support food, shelter, education, health and, for some traders, modest asset accumulation. Every respondent (100%) reported relying on used clothing to cut clothing costs, and food security improved sharply, with the share of traders able to afford at least three meals a day rising from 24% before they entered the trade to 97% afterward. The sector nonetheless operates under a restrictive legal and policy environment, most notably Statutory Instrument 64, which criminalises the importation of SHC and leaves traders exposed to confiscation, harassment and income insecurity. We conclude that SHC trade is an effective but fragile coping mechanism, one whose long-term sustainability depends on supportive policy reform, formal recognition of trader associations, and their inclusion in local development planning. Because the study is based on a single flea market and a modest sample of 50 traders, its findings are best read as an in-depth account of one urban trading site rather than a generalisable picture of the sector as a whole; we return to what a fuller account would require in the discussion of limitations below.

second-hand clothing trade; coping strategies; urban livelihoods; economic shocks; informal sector

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