Zimbabwe

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Zimbabwe}}{{Update|part=section|date=July 2022}}[[File:GDP per capita development in Southern Africa.svg|thumb|Historical GDP per capita development in southern African countries, since 1950]]
The main foreign exports of Zimbabwe are minerals, gold,<ref name="Baughan, M. 2005" /> and agriculture. Zimbabwe is crossed by two trans-African automobile routes: the [[Cairo-Cape Town Highway]] and the [[Beira-Lobito Highway]]. Zimbabwe is the largest trading partner of South Africa on the continent.<ref name="AN_economy">{{cite news|url=http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/12598|title=Zimbabwe-South Africa economic relations since 2000|access-date=3 December 2007|date=31 October 2007|publisher=Africa News|quote=Zimbabwe remains South Africa's most important trading partner in Africa.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080101093932/http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/12598|archive-date=1 January 2008}}</ref> Taxes and tariffs are high for private enterprises, while state enterprises are strongly subsidised. State regulation is costly to companies; starting or closing a business is slow and expensive.<ref name="Heritage: Zimbabwe">{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/index/Country/Zimbabwe|title=Zimbabwe Economy: Facts, Data, & Analysis on Economic Freedom|publisher=Heritage.org|date=12 January 2012|access-date=6 June 2012|archive-date=25 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525024023/http://www.heritage.org/index/Country/Zimbabwe|url-status=dead}}</ref> Tourism also plays a key role in the economy<ref name="FA_Canada">{{cite web |title=Country Profile – Zimbabwe |url=http://infoexport.gc.ca/ie-en/DisplayDocument.jsp?did=1589 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226160722/http://infoexport.gc.ca/ie-en/DisplayDocument.jsp?did=1589 |archive-date=26 February 2008 |access-date=2 December 2007 |publisher=Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada |quote=Since the country is well endowed with natural resources such as minerals, [[arable land]] and [[wildlife]], many opportunities lie in resource-based activities such as mining, agriculture and tourism and their downstream industrial activities.}}</ref> but has been failing in recent years. The Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force released a report in June 2007, estimating that 60% of Zimbabwe's wildlife had died since 2000 as a result of poaching and deforestation. The report warns that the loss of life combined with widespread deforestation is potentially disastrous for the tourism industry.<ref>{{cite news|title=Zimbabwe's Wildlife Decimated by Economic Crisis|author=Wadhams, Nick|location=Nairobi|publisher=[[National Geographic News]]|date=1 August 2007|access-date=5 August 2007|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070801-zimbabwe-animals.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070921042809/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070801-zimbabwe-animals.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 September 2007}}</ref> The [[information and communications technology]] sector has been growing at a fast pace. A report by the mobile internet browser company Opera in 2011 ranked Zimbabwe as Africa's fastest growing market.<ref>[http://www.biztechafrica.com/article/zimbabwe-ranked-fastest-growing-internet-market/1007/ Zimbabwe Ranked Fastest growing Internet Market] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225071548/https://www.biztechafrica.com/article/zimbabwe-ranked-fastest-growing-internet-market/1007/ |date=25 December 2019 }}. Biztechafrica.com (10 August 2011); retrieved 4 July 2013.</ref><ref>[http://www.biztechafrica.com/article/why-ict-critical-illiterate-africa/4841/ Why ICT is critical in 'illiterate' Africa|BiztechAfrica Business, Telecom, Technology & IT News Africa]. Biztechafrica.com (3 December 2012); retrieved 4 July 2013.</ref>[[File:2010 market Harare Zimbabwe 5866074969.jpg|thumb|A market in [[Mbare, Harare]]]]
Since January 2002, the government has had its lines of credit at international financial institutions frozen, through U.S. legislation called the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 (ZDERA). Section 4C instructs the secretary of the treasury to direct international financial institutions to veto the extension of loans and credit to the Zimbabwean government.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s107-494&version=enr&nid=t0%3Aenr%3A30|title=Zimbabwe Democracy And Economic Recovery Act of 2001 at Govtrack.us News|date=18 October 2011|access-date=18 October 2011|archive-date=6 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106021634/http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s107-494&version=enr&nid=t0%3Aenr%3A30|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to the United States, these sanctions target only seven specific businesses owned or controlled by government officials and not ordinary citizens.<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2004/30091.htm|title=Zimbabwe: Sanctions Enhancement|publisher=[[United States Department of State]]|date=2 March 2004|author=Boucher, Richard}}</ref>

[[File:GDP per capita (current), % of world average, 1960-2012; Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique.png|thumb|upright=1.6|The GDP per capita (current), compared to neighbouring countries (world average = 100)]]
Zimbabwe maintained positive economic growth throughout the 1980s (5% GDP growth per year) and 1990s (4.3% GDP growth per year). The economy declined from 2000: 5% decline in 2000, 8% in 2001, 12% in 2002 and 18% in 2003.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj25n3/cj25n3-12.pdf|title=The loss of property rights and the collapse of Zimbabwe|journal=Cato Journal|author=Richardson, Craig J.|volume=25|pages=541–565|access-date=10 November 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102064633/http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj25n3/cj25n3-12.pdf|archive-date=2 January 2011}}</ref> Zimbabwe's involvement from 1998 to 2002 in the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo drained hundreds of millions of dollars from the economy.<ref name="drained">{{cite web|url=http://www.hrforumzim.com/reports/tort990003/torture990003b.htm |title=Organised Violence and Torture in Zimbabwe in 1999 |access-date=16 March 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602193428/http://www.hrforumzim.com/reports/tort990003/torture990003b.htm |archive-date=2 June 2010 |website=Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum}}</ref> From 1999 to 2009, Zimbabwe saw the lowest ever economic growth with an annual GDP decrease of 6.1%.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Guinness Book of Records 2014|last=Glenday|first=Craig|year=2013|isbn=9781908843159|page=[https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/123 123]|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited |url=https://archive.org/details/guinnessworldrec0000unse_r3e7/page/123}}</ref> The downward spiral of the economy has been attributed mainly to mismanagement and corruption by the government and the eviction of more than 4,000 white farmers in the controversial land confiscations of 2000.<ref name="CNN-2000-04-18">{{cite web|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/04/18/zimbabwe.land.03 |title=Zimbabwe President Mugabe labels white farmers 'enemies' |access-date=20 September 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629014621/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/africa/04/18/zimbabwe.land.03 |archive-date=29 June 2006 |website=CNN.com |date=18 April 2000 |location=Harare, Zimbabwe}}</ref><ref name="Time-2002-02-18">Robinson, Simon (18 February 2002). [https://archive.today/20120629063531/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,203620,00.html "A Tale of Two Countries"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]''; accessed 4 May 2016.</ref><ref name="BBC-2002-08-15">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2192947.stm|title=White farmers under siege in Zimbabwe|work=BBC News|date=15 August 2002|access-date=6 June 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106120323/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2192947.stm |archive-date=6 January 2012}}</ref> The Zimbabwean government and its supporters attest that it was Western policies to avenge the expulsion of their kin that sabotaged the economy.<ref>[http://news.sky.com/story/265649/mugabe-interview-the-full-transcript Mugabe Interview: The Full Transcript], News.sky.com (24 May 2004); retrieved 4 July 2013.</ref>

By 2005, the purchasing power of the average Zimbabwean had dropped to the same levels in real terms as 1953.<ref>{{cite report|author=Clemens, Michael|author2=Moss, Todd|date=20 July 2005|access-date=4 April 2011|title=Costs and Causes of Zimbabwe's Crisis|url=http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/2918|publisher=[[Center for Global Development]]|archive-date=4 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504082241/http://www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/2918/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2005, the government, led by central bank governor [[Gideon Gono]], started making overtures that white farmers could come back. There were 400 to 500 still left in the country, but much of the land that had been confiscated was no longer productive.<ref name="Meldrum-2005-05-21">{{cite news|last=Meldrum|first=Andrew|url=https://www.theguardian.com/zimbabwe/article/0,2763,1489173,00.html|title=As country heads for disaster, Zimbabwe calls for return of white farmers|work=The Guardian|location=London, UK|date=21 May 2005|access-date=4 April 2011}}</ref> By 2016, there remained about 300 of the original 4,500 farms owned by white farmers. The farms that left were either too remote or their owners had paid for protection or collaborated with the regime.<ref name="Out of House" /> In January 2007, the government issued long-term leases to some white farmers.<ref name="Timberg-WP-2007-01-06">{{cite news|last=Timberg|first=Craig|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/05/AR2007010501746_pf.html|title=White Farmers Given Leases in Zimbabwe|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=6 January 2007|access-date=4 April 2011}}</ref> At the same time, however, the government also continued to demand that all remaining white farmers, who were given eviction notices earlier, vacate the land or risk being arrested.<ref name="AP/WP-2007-02-05">{{cite news|agency=[[Associated Press]] |newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/05/AR2007020501262_pf.html|title=Zimbabwe threatens white farmers|date=5 February 2007|access-date=4 April 2011}}</ref><ref name="Chinaka-2007-08-08">{{cite news|last=Chinaka|first=Cris|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL0839141020070808|title=Zimbabwe threatens white farmers on evictions|work=[[Reuters]]|date=8 August 2007|access-date=4 April 2011}}</ref> Mugabe pointed to foreign governments and alleged "sabotage" as the cause of the fall of the Zimbabwean economy, as well as the country's 80% formal unemployment rate.<ref name="unemployment">{{cite news|url=http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9475943|title=How to stay alive when it all runs out|newspaper=The Economist|date=12 July 2007|access-date=6 June 2012}}</ref>

Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998, to an estimated high of 11,200,000% in August 2008 according to the Central Statistical Office.<ref name="Zimbabwe inflation at 11,200,000">{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/BUSINESS/08/19/zimbabwe.inflation/index.html|title=Zimbabwe inflation hits 11,200,000 percent|date=19 August 2008|publisher=CNN|access-date=4 May 2016}}</ref> This represented a state of [[Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe|hyperinflation]], and the central bank introduced a new 100 trillion dollar note.<ref>{{cite news|agency=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/01/16/zimbawe.currency/|title=Zimbabwe to print first $100 trillion note|date=16 January 2009|access-date=1 June 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927163223/http://www.undp.org.zw/component/docman/doc_download/230-zimbabwe-poverty-report-2011-april-17-2013 |archive-date=27 September 2013}}</ref> In January 2009, in an effort to counteract runaway inflation, acting Finance Minister [[Patrick Chinamasa]] announced that Zimbabweans would be permitted to use other, more stable currencies to do business, alongside the [[Zimbabwean dollar]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7859033.stm|title=Zimbabwe abandons its currency|work=BBC News|date=29 January 2009|access-date=4 April 2011}}</ref> In an effort to combat inflation and foster economic growth, the Zimbabwean dollar was suspended indefinitely in April 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.voanews.com/content/a-13-2009-04-12-voa9-69816747/367559.html|title=Zimbabwe Suspends Use of Own Currency|publisher=VOA News|date=12 April 2009}}</ref> In 2016, Zimbabwe allowed trade in the [[United States dollar]] and various other currencies such as the [[South African rand|rand]] (South Africa), the [[Botswana pula|pula]] (Botswana), the [[euro]], and the [[pound sterling]] (UK).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://money.cnn.com/2016/02/29/news/zimbabwe-currency/index.html|title=This country has nine currencies|last=Giokos|first=Eleni|date=29 February 2016|website=CNNMoney|access-date=8 January 2017}}</ref> In February 2019, [[Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe]] Governor [[John Mangudya]] introduced a new local currency, the [[Real Time Gross Settlement dollar]], in a move to address some of the Zimbabwean economic and financial challenges.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thezimbabwemail.com/banking/rbz-introduces-rtgs-dollars/|title=RBZ introduces 'RTGS Dollars'|author=Staff Reporter|date=20 February 2019|website=The Zimbabwe Mail|language=en-US|access-date=20 May 2019}}</ref>

After the formation of the Unity Government and the adoption of several currencies instead of the Zimbabwe dollar in 2009, the Zimbabwean economy rebounded. GDP grew by 8–9% per year between 2009 and 2012.<ref name="Worldbank">{{cite web|url=http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/zimbabwe/overview|title=Zimbabwe Overview|date=4 October 2016|website=The World Bank|publisher=World Bank Group|access-date=8 January 2017}}</ref> In November 2010, the [[International Monetary Fund]] described the Zimbabwean economy as "completing its second year of buoyant economic growth".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE6A70C320101108|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101111042949/http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE6A70C320101108|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 November 2010|title=Zimbabwe economy buoyant, more reform needed: IMF|date=8 November 2010|work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.talkzimbabwe.com/zimbabwe-economy-growing-imf-cms-884|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112194941/http://www.talkzimbabwe.com/zimbabwe-economy-growing-imf-cms-884|archive-date=12 November 2010|publisher=talkzimbabwe.co|title=Zimbabwe economy growing: IMF|date=9 November 2010}}</ref> The pan-African investment bank IMARA released a favourable report in February 2011 on investment prospects in Zimbabwe, citing an improved revenue base and higher tax receipts.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://ir.imarainvestor.com/profiles/investor/ResLibraryView.asp?ResLibraryID=43595&GoTopage=1&Category=1211&BzID=1648 |title=IMARA: Global investors get upbeat briefing on Zim prospects |date=17 February 2011 |access-date=4 April 2011 |publisher=[[IMARA]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511103601/http://ir.imarainvestor.com/profiles/investor/ResLibraryView.asp?ResLibraryID=43595&GoTopage=1&Category=1211&BzID=1648 |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref> In January 2013, the finance ministry reported that they had only $217 in their treasury and would apply for donations to finance the coming elections.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nyathi |first=Kitsepile |date=30 January 2013 |title=Zimbabwe has only $217 in the bank, says finance minister |url=http://www.africareview.com/News/Zimbabwe-finance-coffers-are-empty/-/979180/1679520/-/kghs8a/-/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222091904/http://www.africareview.com/News/Zimbabwe-finance-coffers-are-empty/-/979180/1679520/-/kghs8a/-/index.html |archive-date=22 December 2019 |website=AfricaReview.com |publisher=[[Nation Media Group]]}}</ref> By 2014, Zimbabwe had recovered to levels seen in the 1990s<ref name="Worldbank" /> but growth faltered between 2012 and 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/publication/domestic-and-external-implications-zimbabwes-economic-reform-and-re-engagement-agenda|title=The Domestic and External Implications of Zimbabwe's Economic Reform and Re-engagement Agenda|last1=Chitiyo|first1=Knox|last2=Vines|first2=Alex|date=September 2016|website=Chatham House|publisher=Royal Institute for International Affairs|access-date=8 January 2017|last3=Vandome|first3=Christopher}}</ref> Inflation was 42% in 2018; in June 2019, the inflation rate reached 175%, leading to mass unrest across the country.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Marima |first1=Tendai |date=19 August 2019 |title=In Zimbabwe, An Economic Crisis With 175% Inflation Drives Discontent |language=en |website=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/08/19/752329758/in-zimbabwe-an-economic-crisis-with-175-inflation-drives-discontent |access-date=20 August 2019}}</ref>

=== Minerals ===
The mining sector is lucrative, with some of the world's largest [[platinum]] reserves being mined by [[Anglo American plc]], Zimplats, and Impala Platinum.<ref name="nofix" /> Zimplats, the nation's largest platinum company, has proceeded with US$500&nbsp;million in expansions, and is also continuing a separate US$2 billion project, despite threats by Mugabe to nationalise the company.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dube |first=Jennifer |date=3 April 2011 |title=Zimplats ignores seizure threat |newspaper=The Standard |location=Harare, Zimbabwe |url=http://www.thestandard.co.zw/business/29142-zimplats-ignores-seizure-threat.html |access-date=4 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511145956/http://www.thestandard.co.zw/business/29142-zimplats-ignores-seizure-threat.html |archive-date=11 May 2011}}</ref>

The [[Marange diamond fields]], discovered in 2006, are considered the biggest diamond find in over a century.<ref name="EarthTimes">[http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/diamond-company-in-trouble-with-harare-mps-1.472176#.U_aWGSimH-E "Diamond company in trouble with Harare MPs"], ''Independent Online'', South Africa, 2 February 2010.</ref> They have the potential to improve the fiscal situation of the country considerably, but almost all revenues from the field have disappeared into the pockets of army officers and ZANU–PF politicians.<ref>{{cite web |date=26 June 2009 |title=Diamonds in the rough, report by Human Rights Watch |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/06/26/diamonds-rough |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908020850/http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/06/26/diamonds-rough |archive-date=8 September 2012 |access-date=6 June 2012 |publisher=Human Rights Watch}}</ref> In terms of carats produced, the Marange field is one of the largest diamond-producing projects in the world,<ref name="Kitco">[http://www.kitco.com/ind/Zimnisky/2013-08-20-Ranking-Of-The-World-s-Diamond-Mines-By-Estimated-2013-Production.html "Ranking Of The World's Diamond Mines By Estimated 2013 Production"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053511/http://www.kitco.com/ind/Zimnisky/2013-08-20-Ranking-Of-The-World-s-Diamond-Mines-By-Estimated-2013-Production.html|date=21 September 2013}}, ''[[Kitco]]'', 20 August 2013.</ref> estimated to have produced 12&nbsp;million carats in 2014 worth over $350&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite news |date=14 May 2015 |title=Zimbabwe diamond exports fell 34 pct in 2014: official |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN0NZ0I420150514 |url-status=dead |access-date=11 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517050109/http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN0NZ0I420150514 |archive-date=17 May 2015}}</ref>

{{As of|2014|10}}, [[Metallon Corporation]] was Zimbabwe's largest gold miner.<ref name="Metallon">Marawanyika, Godfrey, [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-17/biggest-zimbabwe-gold-miner-to-decide-on-london-listing-by-march Biggest Zimbabwe Gold Miner to Rule on London Trade by March], Bloomberg News, 17 October 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2016.</ref>
{{Further|topic=tin from the|Kamativi mine}}

===Agriculture===
[[File:Shona farms Zimbabwe.jpg|thumb|[[Shona people|Shona]] farms in Zimbabwe]]
Zimbabwe's commercial farming sector was traditionally a source of exports and foreign exchange and provided 400,000 jobs. However, the government's land reform program badly damaged the sector, turning Zimbabwe into a net importer of food products.<ref name="CIA-WF"/> For example, between 2000 and 2016, annual wheat production fell from 250,000 tons to 60,000 tons, maize was reduced from two million tons to 500,000 tons and cattle slaughtered for beef fell from 605,000 head to 244,000 head.<ref name="Out of House" /> Coffee production, once a prized export commodity, came to a virtual halt after seizure or expropriation of white-owned coffee farms in 2000 and has never recovered.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newsofthesouth.com/zimbabwes-coffee-production-declines/ |title=Zimbabwe's Coffee Production Declines |last=Mumera |first=Wisdom |date=9 January 2016 |website=newsofhesouth.com}}</ref>

For the past ten years, the [[International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics]] has been assisting Zimbabwe's farmers to adopt [[conservation agriculture]] techniques, a sustainable method of farming that can help increase yields. By applying the three principles of minimum soil disturbance, legume-based cropping and the use of organic mulch, farmers can improve infiltration, reduce evaporation and soil erosion, and build up organic soil content.<ref>{{Cite web|title={{!}}{{!}} ICRISAT {{!}}{{!}} Impact|url=http://www.icrisat.org/impacts/impact-stories/Icrisat-impacts-27.htm|access-date=2022-02-23|website=www.icrisat.org|archive-date=23 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223030349/http://www.icrisat.org/impacts/impact-stories/Icrisat-impacts-27.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Between 2005 and 2011, the number of smallholders practicing conservation agriculture in Zimbabwe increased from 5,000 to more than 150,000. Cereal yields rose between 15 and 100 per cent across different regions.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130916133602/http://eiard.org/media/uploads/File/Case%20studies/2013_SDC%20funded/ICRISAT%20-%20Conservation%20agriculture%20and%20micro-dosing%20in%20Zimbabwe.pdf ''Conservation agriculture and microdosing in Zimbabwe''], WRENmedia, January 2013</ref> The government declared potato a national strategic food security crop in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=University|first1=Wageningen|last2=form|first2=Research Contact|date=2015-10-23|title=Agronomic and environmental studies of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and analysis of its value chain in Zimbabwe|url=https://www.wur.nl/en/activity/Agronomic-and-environmental-studies-of-potato-Solanum-tuberosum-L.-and-analysis-of-its-value-chain-in-Zimbabwe-1.htm|access-date=2020-12-17|website=WUR|language=en-us|archive-date=12 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210412204251/https://www.wur.nl/en/activity/Agronomic-and-environmental-studies-of-potato-Solanum-tuberosum-L.-and-analysis-of-its-value-chain-in-Zimbabwe-1.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Tourism===
{{Main|Tourism in Zimbabwe}}
[[File:Victoria Falls aerial view September 2003.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|[[Victoria Falls]], the end of the upper [[Zambezi]] and the beginning of the middle Zambezi]]
Since the [[Land reform in Zimbabwe|land reform programme]] in 2000, tourism in Zimbabwe has steadily declined. In 2018, tourism peaked with 2.6&nbsp;million tourists.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sundaynews.co.zw/zimbabwe-2018-tourist-arrivals-peak-26million/|title=Zimbabwe 2018 tourist arrivals peak 2,6 million|date=17 March 2019|website=The Sunday News}}</ref> In 2016, the total contribution of tourism to Zimbabwe was $1.1 billion (USD), or about 8.1% of Zimbabwe's GDP. Employment in travel and tourism, as well as the industries indirectly supported by travel and tourism, was 5.2% of national employment.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic-impact-research/countries-2017/zimbabwe2017.pdf|title=Travel and tourism: Economic impact 2017 Zimbabwe|date=March 2017|work=[[World Travel and Tourism Council|WTTC]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110114420/https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic-impact-research/countries-2017/zimbabwe2017.pdf|archive-date=10 November 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Several airlines pulled out of Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2007. Australia's [[Qantas]], Germany's [[Lufthansa]], and [[Austrian Airlines]] were among the first to pull out and in 2007 [[British Airways]] suspended all direct flights to Harare.<ref name="tourism">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1220218.stm|title=Sun sets on Zimbabwe tourism|author=Machipisa, Lewis|access-date=16 November 2007|work=BBC News|date=14 March 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/29/wairways129.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071130233121/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F10%2F29%2Fwairways129.xml |archive-date=30 November 2007 |title=British Airways abandons flights to Zimbabwe |author=Berger, Sebastien |access-date=16 November 2007 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London, UK |date=29 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The country's flagship airline, [[Air Zimbabwe]], which operated flights throughout Africa and a few destinations in Europe and Asia, ceased operations in February 2012.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sibanda|first=Tichaona|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201202231437.html|title=Zimbabwe: Air Zimbabwe Vanishes From the Skies Indefinitely|website=allAfrica.com|date=23 February 2012|access-date=6 June 2012}}</ref>{{update inline|date=August 2017}} As of 2017, several major commercial airlines had resumed flights to Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has several major tourist attractions. Victoria Falls on the Zambezi, which are shared with Zambia, are located in the north-west of Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls is considered to be the largest waterfall in the world.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |title=Zimbabwe geography, maps, climate, environment and terrain from Zimbabwe {{!}} - CountryReports |url=https://www.countryreports.org/country/Zimbabwe/geography.htm |access-date=2023-12-12 |website=www.countryreports.org}}</ref> Before the economic changes, much of the tourism for these locations came to the Zimbabwe side, but now Zambia is the main beneficiary. The [[Victoria Falls National Park]] is also in this area and is one of the eight main national parks in Zimbabwe,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zimbabwetourism.net/index.php/where-to-go/destinations/hwange-national-park|title=Zimbabwe Tourism Authority|website=zimbabwetourism.net|access-date=16 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203100122/http://www.zimbabwetourism.net/index.php/where-to-go/destinations/hwange-national-park|archive-date=3 December 2007}}</ref> the largest of which is [[Hwange National Park]]. Lake Kariba, another site for tourism, is the largest reservoir in the world.<ref name=":5" />

The Eastern Highlands are a series of mountainous areas near the border with Mozambique. The highest peak in Zimbabwe, [[Mount Nyangani]] at {{convert|2,593|m|ft|abbr=on}} is located there as well as the [[Bvumba Mountains]] and the [[Nyanga National Park]]. [[World's View, Nyanga|World's View]] is in these mountains, and it is from here that places as far away as {{convert|60|–|70|km|mi|abbr=on}} are visible and, on clear days, the town of [[Rusape]] can be seen.

Zimbabwe is unusual in Africa in that there are a number of ancient and medieval ruined cities built in a unique [[dry stone]] style. Among the most famous of these are the Great Zimbabwe ruins in Masvingo. Other ruins include [[Khami]], [[Dhlo-Dhlo]] and [[Naletale]]. The Matobo Hills are an area of granite [[kopjes]] and wooded valleys commencing some {{convert|22|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} south of Bulawayo in southern Zimbabwe. The hills were formed over two billion years ago with granite being forced to the surface, then being eroded to produce smooth "whaleback dwalas" and broken kopjes, strewn with boulders and interspersed with thickets of vegetation. Mzilikazi, founder of the Ndebele nation, gave the area its name, meaning 'Bald Heads'. They have become a tourist attraction because of their ancient shapes and local wildlife. Cecil Rhodes and other early white colonists like [[Leander Starr Jameson]] are buried in these hills at World's View.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zimbabwe.safari.co.za/spirit-of-zimbabwe.html|title=Zimbabwe: The Spirit of Matobo|work=zimbabwe.safari.co.za|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101100547/http://zimbabwe.safari.co.za/spirit-of-zimbabwe.html |archive-date=1 November 2013}}</ref>

===Water supply and sanitation===
{{Main|Water supply and sanitation in Zimbabwe}}
There are many successful small-scale water supply and sanitation programs, but there is an overall lack of improved water and sanitation systems for the majority of Zimbabwe. According to the [[World Health Organization]] in 2012, 80% of Zimbabweans had access to improved (i.e. clean) drinking water sources, and only 40% of Zimbabweans had access to improved sanitation facilities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.167?lang=en |title=Exposure Data by Country |work=World Health Organization |access-date=19 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304210631/http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.167?lang=en |archive-date=4 March 2015}}</ref> Access to improved water supply and sanitation is noticeably limited in rural areas.<ref name=wsp1>{{cite web|url=http://www.wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/CSO-Zimbabwe.pdf |title=Water Supply and Sanitation in Zimbabwe, Turning Finance into Services for 2015 and beyond |publisher=[[AMCOW]] (collaboratively published report) |year=2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200130142528/https://www.wsp.org/sites/wsp.org/files/publications/CSO-Zimbabwe.pdf |archive-date=30 January 2020 |url-status=dead |website=wsp.org |access-date=4 May 2016}}</ref> There are many factors that continue to determine the nature of water supply and sanitation in Zimbabwe for the foreseeable future; three major factors are the severely depressed state of the Zimbabwean economy, the reluctance of foreign aid organisations to build and finance infrastructure projects, and the political instability of the state.<ref name="wsp1" /><ref name="hrw2">{{cite book|url=http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/zimbabwe1113_forUpload_1.pdf |title=Troubled Water: Burst Pipes, Contaminated Wells, and Open Defecation in Zimbabwe's Capital |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-62313-0800 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140830213700/http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/zimbabwe1113_forUpload_1.pdf |archive-date=30 August 2014}}</ref>

=== Science and technology ===
{{Main|Science and technology in Zimbabwe}}
[[File:Life sciences and geosciences dominate, Cumulative totals by field, 2008–2014.svg|thumb|Scientific research output in terms of publications in Southern Africa, cumulative totals by field, 2008–2014. Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), figure 20.6.]]
Zimbabwe has relatively well-developed national infrastructure and a long-standing tradition of promoting research and development, as evidenced by the levy imposed on tobacco-growers since the 1930s to promote market research.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002288/228806e.pdf|title=Mapping Research and Innovation in the Republic of Zimbabwe|editor-last=Lemarchand|editor-first=Guillermo A.|editor-last2=Schneegans|editor-first2=Susan|publisher=UNESCO|year=2014|isbn=978-92-3-100034-8|location=Paris|pages=Volume 2. GO–SPIN Profiles in Science, Technology and Innovation}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0023/002354/235406e.pdf|title=UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030|publisher=UNESCO|year=2015|isbn=978-92-3-100129-1|location=Paris|pages=535–555}}</ref> The country has a well-developed education system, with one in 11 adults holding a tertiary degree. Given the country's solid knowledge base and abundant natural resources, Zimbabwe has great growth potential.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Zimbabwe was ranked 117th in the [[Global Innovation Index]] in 2023, down from rank 107 in 2022.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=WIPO |title=Global Innovation Index 2023, 15th Edition |url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2023/index.html |access-date=2023-10-30 |website=www.wipo.int |doi=10.34667/tind.46596 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-10-28|title=Global Innovation Index|url=https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship-innovation/global-innovation-index-2930|access-date=2021-09-02|website=INSEAD Knowledge|language=en|archive-date=2 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210902101622/https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship-innovation/global-innovation-index-2930|url-status=dead}}</ref>

To achieve its growth potential, Zimbabwe will need to correct several structural weaknesses. For instance, it lacks the critical mass of researchers needed to trigger innovation. Although the infrastructure is in place to harness research and development to Zimbabwe's socio-economic development, universities and research institutions lack the financial and human resources to conduct research and the regulatory environment hampers the transfer of new technologies to the business sector. The economic crisis has precipitated an exodus of university students and professionals in key areas of expertise (medicine, engineering, etc.) that is of growing concern. More than 22% of Zimbabwean tertiary students were completing their degrees abroad in 2012, compared to a 4% average for sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. In 2012, there were 200 researchers (head count) employed in the public sector, one-quarter of whom were women. This is double the continental average (91 in 2013) but only one-quarter the researcher density of South Africa (818 per million inhabitants). The government has created the Zimbabwe Human Capital Website to provide information for the diaspora on job and investment opportunities in Zimbabwe.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

[[File:Scientific publication trends in SADC countries, 2005-2014.svg|thumb|Scientific publication trends in the most productive SADC countries, 2005–2014. Source: UNESCO Science Report: towards 2030 (2015), data from Thomson Reuters' Web of Science, Science Citation Index Expanded.]]

The country's ''Second Science and Technology Policy'' was launched in June 2012, after being elaborated with UNESCO assistance. It replaces the earlier policy dating from 2002. The 2012 policy prioritizes biotechnology, information and communication technologies (ICTs), space sciences, nanotechnology, indigenous knowledge systems, technologies yet to emerge and scientific solutions to emergent environmental challenges. The ''Second Science and Technology Policy'' also asserts the government's commitment to allocating at least 1% of GDP to research and development, focusing at least 60% of university education on developing skills in science and technology and ensuring that school pupils devote at least 30% of their time to studying science subjects.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

In 2014, Zimbabwe counted 21 publications per million inhabitants in internationally cataloged journals, according to Thomson Reuters' Web of Science (Science Citation Index Expanded). This placed Zimbabwe sixth out of the 15 SADC countries, behind Namibia (59), Mauritius (71), Botswana (103) and, above all, South Africa (175) and the Seychelles (364). The average for sub-Saharan Africa was 20 scientific publications per million inhabitants, compared to a global average of 176 per million.<ref name=":1" />