An actor oriented history of Mbare Musika fresh produce market, Zimbabwe 1930-2019

Abstract

This thesis is an account of Mbare Musika Fresh Produce Market, in Harare, Zimbabwe, since 1930. The study is a response to the dominant notion in literature and media that Mbare Musika is disorganised and chaotic. It assumes that if this was true, Mbare Musika would have collapsed long ago; in contrast, it has grown to be a huge market. Consequently, the thesis’s main aim is to account for the resilience of Mbare Musika and how it feeds people in Harare and beyond. Mbare Musika has remained invisible in mainstream policy, and its activities are largely unrecorded. Mbare Musika is also noticeably absent from Zimbabwean historiography as a result of an overreliance on archival material that is skewed towards white, colonial, elite, and formal sector activity. To fill the gap, the study used historical and ethnographic methodologies to gain insights into the history of Mbare Musika and the actors' contemporary experiences. Oral histories were gathered through interviews, and ethnography was essential to contemporary practises and interactions in Mbare Musika. The thesis initially investigates the history of horticultural production and marketing to contextualise Mbare Musika. The horticultural sector experienced acute production and marketing challenges from the onset and did not get much state support. Mbare Musika was built through the efforts of African farmers and traders, especially women, from the vicinity of Harare (then Salisbury), who produced and sold produce in the city during the early colonial period. The Salisbury Municipality disliked the growing African participation in produce marketing in the city and adopted a plethora of measures to curtail its growth. After a period of confrontation, the Salisbury Municipality recognised African markets in the 1940s by building structures at Mbare Musika. Mbare Musika was expanded after the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980 by relocating it to a bigger space and expanding the market infrastructure. The expansion of the market did not meet the demand for stalls as the number of traders continued to rise. The market remains an important source of food in Harare and income generation for women and young people who cannot find jobs in the formal economy. My research found that both economic and non-economic forces contribute to the market organisation and functioning. Networks built on ukama and trust contribute to the flow of produce, credit, information, and other resources. Mbare Musika resembles a symbiotic food system in which actors both collaborate and compete to achieve individual goals. My argument is that Mbare Musika has a deep-seated order based on ukama and trust that is invisible to casual visitors. The market's cultural and social forces influence Mbare Musika's functioning and contribute significantly to its resilience. Mbare Musika is a central market for produce farmers and contributes significantly to Harare's food needs and income generation. Key Words Zimbabwe, Mbare Musika, horticultural, urban food supplies, food markets, food systems, makoronyera