Introduction

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2016) defines sustainable

development goals (SDGs) as a collection of 17 interlinked objectives tailor-made to serve as
a “shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet in the present as well as
the future”. These global goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 following the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a universal call to action to eradicate poverty,
protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by the year 2030.
Various scholars have reached a consensus that sustainable development goals are broader in
scope than millennium development goals and are meant to build on the successes of MDGs,
and address the root causes of poverty and the universal need for development that is
inclusive. The global goals cover a wider spectrum of areas with ambitions to address
inequalities, economic growth, decent jobs, cities and human settlements, industrialization,
energy, climate change, sustainable consumption and production, and peace and justice,
among other areas (Chakauya, 2017).

Sustainable development goals (SDGs)

There are barely 7 years left to the expiration of the attainment of Sustainable development
goals and Zimbabwe seems to be far away from reaching the target despite making some
progress. The country still lags far behind in the attainment of global goals despite being one
of the 193 member states who are the signatories to the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable
Development (UNDP, 2019). The following is the discussion of the goals, the progress made
and the challenges faced by Zimbabwe to attain such goals.

The first of the sustainable development goals is the eradication of poverty. Chakanya (2017)
contends that this goal aims to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030, that is, people living on
less than the international currency of $1.90 per day, when purchasing power parity is taken
into account. The goal also calls for the reduction of poverty levels by at least 50% of all ages
living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions (UNDP, 2020). There
is a need for the implementation of social protection systems that covers unemployed
persons, older persons, persons living with disabilities, pregnant women, and work injury
victims (FAO, 2021). Moreover, the goal aims to ensure that all men and women, in
particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as
access to basic services, ownership, and control over land and other forms of property,
inheritance, and natural resources. In the same vein, the goal targets building the resilience of
the poor and those in vulnerable situations, ensuring significant mobilization of resources
from multiple sources, and the creation of sound policy frameworks at the national, regional,
and international levels based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies
(UNDP, 2019).

The levels of extreme poverty have increased from 22.5% in 2011 to current levels which
hover above 30% on account of the economic slowdown (MoFED, 2020). The majority of
Zimbabweans survive on incomes below the poverty datum line. Moreover, the country has
weak social protection systems as evidenced by low social protection coverage which is
limited and inadequate. According to the Labour Force and Child Labour Survey (2019), 2%
of the population were receiving a monthly pension or any social security fund or both, and
only 7% of the population were members of a medical aid scheme.

The second goal targets hunger eradication and aims to ender hunger and ensure access by
all people, in particular the poor and vulnerable including infants. It also targets end to all
forms of malnutrition and addresses the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant
women, lactating women and older persons (FAO, 2021). The no hunger goal also targets
doubling the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale producers, ensuring
sustainable production systems and implementing resilient agricultural practices that increase
production and productivity (UNDP, 2020). In the same regard, the goal sets to increase
investment in rural infrastructure, genetic seed diversification, agricultural research and
extension services, and technology development (UNDP, 2020). It also calls for the adoption
of measures to ensure the proper functioning of food and commodity markets and their
derivatives.

In Zimbabwe, the agricultural output has remained subdued and sub-optimal due to a lack of
resources and poor farming methods which have remained traditional over the years
(Chakanya, 2017). The Zimbabwean government has invested in agricultural extension
services but a host of factors such as climate-induced droughts, lack of appreciation of
farming as a business, and poor funding due to lack of security of tenure have contributed to
low crop production. The country has experienced an increase in the global hunger index
(GHI) due to erratic rainfall and droughts.

The third sustainable development goal pertains to good health and well-being which targets
to reduce the maternal mortality rates to less than 70 per 100 000 births by 2030, the end to
preventable deaths of infants (UNDP, 2019). It also aims to eradicate epidemics of AIDS,
tuberculosis, malaria and other tropical diseases as well as combat hepatitis, water-borne
diseases and other communicable diseases (FAO, 2021). The goal aims to reduce by one
third, premature mortality and non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment.
Additionally, the sustainable goal calls for the strengthening of the prevention and treatment
of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and alcohol (UNDP 2020). In the same
vein, the goal also calls for halving global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents. It
also targets to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services
including family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive
health into national strategies and programmes (UNDP, 2020) Moreover, the goal aims to
achieve universal health coverage, reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous
chemicals, support research and development of vaccines and medicines for communicable
and non-communicable diseases, increase health financing as well as the recruitment,
development, training, and retention of the health workforce in developing countries (GoZ,
2020). It also calls for the strengthening of the capacity of all countries for early warning, risk
reduction and management of national and global health risks (UNDP, 2020).

Chakanya (2017) maintains country has made some strides in terms of reducing mortality. In
the same regard, the proportion of births assisted by skilled health personnel increased from
80% in 2014 to 87% in 2021. Progress has also been made with regard to HIV infection,
malaria incidences, and outbreaks of water-borne diseases.

However, insufficient funding for healthcare systems has caused the Zimbabwe health
delivery system to buckle under the pressure of an increase in the population (Median and
Schneider, 2018). The healthcare system falls short of the minimum required standards. The
situation is worse in public health institutions where basic facilities to provide medical care
such as hospital beds leave a lot to be desired. There is underfunding of the sector with
industrial action by health personnel the order of the day, as well as the mass exodus by
skilled health personnel to greener pastures, which has continued to dog the health sector in
the country.

The fourth goal under SDGs is that of quality education, which aims to ensure equal access
to primary and secondary education, equal access to quality early childhood development,
care, and pre-primary education as well as equal access to affordable, quality technical and
vocational and tertiary education, including university (FAO, 2021). In the same vein, the
goal requires an increase in the number of youth and adults that possess relevant technical
and vocational skills for employment, decent jobs, and entrepreneurship (UNDP, 2021). It
also calls to ensure that all learners acquire knowledge and skills to promote sustainable
development and also increase the number of scholarships as well as the supply of qualified
education (UNDP, 2019)

Despite the increase in literacy ratios, there are wider disparities in the quality of education
with some rural schools lacking basic facilities such as classroom blocks, running water,
electricity, and textbooks among other facilities (MOPSE, 2020). With regard to higher
educational institutions, no Zimbabwean university featured in the recent QS World Rankings
in which 16 African universities were featured among the 700 universities (Chakanya, 2017).
The ranking focuses on aspects relating to SDGs which include the impact of universities on
the environment and society. Funding appears to be the major problem that is negatively the
successful embedding of SDGs into higher education in Zimbabwe.

The fifth sustainable development goal is gender equality, which aims to end all forms of
discrimination against women and girls everywhere and eliminate all forms of violence
against women and girls in public and private spheres including trafficking, and sexual and
other types of exploitation (United Nations, 2021). It also calls for the elimination of all
harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriages, and female genital mutilation
(UNDP, 2020). There is a need to ensure women’s full and effective participation in
leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life. The goal
also targets ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights as well as
enhancing the use of enabling technology to promote the empowerment of women (FAO,
2021). Finally, the goal aims to adopt and strengthen sound policies and enforceable
legislation for the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls
at all levels (UNDP, 2019).

Zimbabwe has seen improvements in laws and policies concerning gender equality (World
Bank, 2018). In 2018 Zimbabwe’s score of gender equity stood at 4.0 above her Sub-Saharan
Africa average of 3.2. The proportion of women in managerial positions has improved.
Moreover, the Zimbabwean constitution provides for a special quota system for women for
60 additional seats in the lower house of assembly to the senate through proportional
representation. Despite these strides, the incidences of physical violence against women in
the age range of 15-49 have surged in recent years.
The sixth Sustainable development goal pertains to access to clean water and sanitation.
This goal seeks to attain universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water
for all, as well as to improve the quality of water by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping
and minimizing the release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of
untreated wastewater and increasing recycling and safe reuse. It also targets to increase water
use efficiency to address water scarcity and reduce the number of people suffering from water
scarcity. The goal also seeks to protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including
mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers, and lakes.

According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS, 2018), 77.1% of households have
access to improved sources of drinking water up from 76.1% in 2014. The figures however
hide a wide disparity in access to safe drinking water between urban and rural areas and also
even within urban areas. Chronic water shortages are more pronounced in urban areas of
Zimbabwe and are being experienced in the context of rising water consumption needs.

The seventh goal pertains to affordable and clean energy, which seeks to ensure universal
access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services. It also aims to increase the share
of renewable energy in the global energy mix as well as to double the global rate of
improvement in energy efficiency. The goal also targets expanding infrastructure and
upgrading technology for supplying modern sustainable energy services in all developing
countries.

With vast amounts of sunshine, the country needs to invest in renewable and cleaner solar
energy and reduce the energy derived from fossil fuels such as coal. The country’s electricity-
generating capacity still falls short of domestic requirements and there is a need for the
government to capacitate its power-generating plants to meet the domestic energy
requirements.

The eighth sustainable development goal seeks to address decent work and economic
growth and aims to sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national
circumstances at 7% gross domestic product growth per annum. The goal also targets
achieving higher levels of economic activity through diversification, technological upgrading,
and innovation, and encourages formalization and growth of small-scale and medium-sized
enterprises through access to financial services. The goal seeks to achieve full and productive
employment and decent work for all women and men including young people and persons
with disabilities, reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, and protection of labour
rights. It also calls for the devising and implementation of policies that promote sustainable
tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products. Moreover, the goal aims at
strengthening the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access
to banking, insurance, and financial services for all.

Economic growth in Zimbabwe has not been inclusive and fast enough to absorb the growing
labour force. Owing to erratic economic growth, employment creation is not expanding fast
enough to keep up with the growing labour force. Under-employment and informal economic
activities are widespread, with large numbers of people involved in precarious and vulnerable
employment. Most employment opportunities are created in the informal economy with 84%
of the persons being informally employed. The informal economy tends to be low
productivity work, with high levels of decent work deficits.

The ninth SDG addresses issues of Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure with the
ambition of developing quality, reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure to support
economic development and human well-being, promote inclusive and sustainable
industrialization, and raise the industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product
(UNDP, 2020). Moreover, the goal targets the upgrade of infrastructure, increased access of
small-scale industries to financial services, enhancement of scientific research, support of
domestic technology development, research, and innovation in developing countries as well
as the increase in access to information and communication technology (UNDP, 2019).

The economy of Zimbabwe has undergone wrenching structural changes characterized by de-
industrialization and rising informality (MoFED, 2020). Moreover, the country is
experiencing deterioration across all major infrastructure sectors reflecting limited new
investments in new infrastructure projects as well as poor maintenance of existing
infrastructure stock (Chakanya, 2017)

The tenth Sustainable Development Goal targets the reduction of Inequalities through the
sustenance of income growth of the bottom 40% of the population at a rate higher than the
national average (FAO, 2021). The goal seeks to empower and promote the social, economic,
and political inclusion of all as well as ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of
outcomes including the elimination of discriminatory laws, policies, and practices and the
promotion of appropriate legislation (UNDP, 2020). There is also a need to adopt policies
such as fiscal, wage, and social protection policies, and achieve greater equality.
According to the Poverty, Income, Consumption and Expenditure Survey (PICES, 2020), the
Gini Coefficient was 0.435. This suggests growing welfare inequalities in Zimbabwe over the
recent years and an increase in the gap between the rich and the poor. Income inequality in
Zimbabwe fares much better relative to the world average with the bottom 50% of the
population accounting for 22% of the income against the world average of 10%.

The eleventh goal addresses sustainable communities and cities. This goal seeks to ensure
access for all, to adequate, safe, and affordable housing and basic social amenities, the
provision of safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable transport systems for all, and
improve road safety, notably by expanding public transport (UNDP, 2020). It also targets to
enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory and sustainable
human settlement. It also aims to reduce the number of deaths and losses emanating from
natural disasters as well as reduce the environmental impact of cities, with special attention to
air quality and other waste management (UNDP, 2019).

However, Zimbabwe continues to experience a huge housing deficit in the cities as well as
poor urban infrastructure and social services. Chakanya (2017) argues that limited transport
infrastructure has also made cities in the country heavily congested lowering the quality of
life of most urban dwellers as well as the ease of doing business. Deficiencies in public
transport systems have given rise to an informal transport sector.

The next goal is responsible consumption and production which calls for the
implementation of programs on sustainable consumption and production, the achievement of
sustainable management, and efficient use of natural resources as well as halving per capita
food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reducing food losses along production and
supply chains by 2030 (FAO, 2021). The goal also seeks to reduce waste generation through
prevention, reduction, and recycling as well as reuse. In the same vein, this goal aims to
encourage big entities or corporates to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate
sustainability information into their reporting cycle (UNDP, 2019).

The thirteenth goal pertains to climate action which seeks to reinforce resilience and
adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries (UNDP,
2020). It also seeks to integrate climate change measures into national policy strategies and
planning. The goal also targets improving education awareness-raising and human and
institutional capacity on climate change mitigation and adaptation, impact reduction, and
early warning systems (UNDP, 2019). It also includes the promotion of raising the capacity
for effective climate change-related planning and management in the least developed
countries (UNDP, 2020).

Zimbabwe ratified the Paris Agreement and officially communicated its Nationally
Determined Contribution pledging to reduce per capita energy-related emissions by 33%
below the projected business as usual by 2030 (GoZ, 2020). The target is conditional upon
the means of implementation such as financial support, technology development and transfer,
and related training.

The fifteenth goal addresses life on land and seeks to ensure the conservation, restoration,
and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems. It also targets combating
desertification, restoration of degraded land and soil, and ensuring the conservation of
mountain ecosystems including their diversity (FAO, 2021). It calls for the government to
take action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats and the eradication of poaching and
trafficking of protected species (UNDP, 2020). The goal also targets integrating ecosystem
and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty
reduction strategies, and accounts (UNDP, 2019).

The country has been experiencing rapid depletion of forests. The deterioration in the
country’s wetlands’ ecological biodiversity and integrity also remains a major challenge in
the country. Unsustainable agricultural activities, resource extraction, and veld fires are major
threats to wetlands (GoZ, 2020). According to the Forestry Commission, the country is losing
an average of 33000ha of forest land per year. Zimbabwe is also experiencing an
unprecedented rise in poaching and illegal wildlife trade which threatens to destroy the
country’s rich wildlife resource base.

The next goal pertains to peace, justice, and strong institutions and targets to reduce all
forms of violence and related deaths, promote the rule of law at the national level and ensure
equal access to justice for all (UNDP, 2019). It also seeks to reduce illicit financial and arms
flows, reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms, and develop effective, accountable,
and transparent institutions of democracy and accountability at all levels (UNDP, 2020). The
goal also seeks to ensure public access to information and the protection of fundamental
freedoms and as well as to promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for
sustainable development (FAO, 2021).
Chakanya (2017) states that Zimbabwe is poorly ranked on the basis of observing the rule of
law, with the country ranked 127 out of 139. The country has been dogged by corruption
scandals that the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission has failed to prosecute in recent
years. There have been allegations of a captured judiciary system that fails to provide justice
in a fair and impartial manner.

The last goal addresses the partnership for the goals and seeks to attain the strengthening of
domestic resource mobilization to improve the capacity to tax and other revenue collection
(UNDP, 2019). It also addresses the mobilization of additional resources from multiple
sources as well as the adoption and implementation of investment promotion strategies for
developing countries (FAO, 2021). In the same vein, the goal aims to encourage and promote
public, private, and civil partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing of strategies
and partnerships (UNDP, 2020).

MoFED (2021) argues that the fiscal space remains constrained because of the poor
performance of the domestic revenue inflows against the background of rising recurrent
expenditures. The country is in an unsustainable fiscal position with the bulk of fiscal
revenues financing recurrent expenditures.

Conclusion

The country has made some progress in the attainment of sustainable development goals but
the existence of a myriad of challenges has since constrained such. The main challenge is the
lack of fiscal space, lack of external financing as well as the isolation of the country from the
international community. Despite this, some opportunities still exist in the country including
vast untapped resources, special economic zones, and a growing informal economy coupled
with rising diaspora remittances. To this end, Zimbabwe has not realized the attainment of
sustainable development goals.
References

1. Chakanya N (2017). The Sustainable Development Goals. A pathway towards

inclusive economic development and promotion of decent work. Challenges,
Opportunities, and Future Prospects.
2. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (2021). Sustainable
Development Goals: 17 Goals to Transform Our World. FAO Regional Office for
Asia and the Pacific
3. Medina, L. and F. Schneider (2018). Shadow Economies Around the World: What
Did We Learn Over the Last 20 Years? IMF Working Papers.
4. Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, 2020 National Budget Statement.
Harare, Zimbabwe.
5. Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, 2018 Primary and Secondary
Education Statistics Report. Harare, Zimbabwe.
6. Municipality of Harare (2020) Harare Voluntary Local Review of Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
7. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report 2019
Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century Briefing note for countries on
the 2019 Human Development Report.
8. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2020) Zimbabwe Progress Review
Report of Sustainable Development Goals.
9. Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) and UNICEF. 2019. Zimbabwe
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019, Survey Findings Report. Harare, Zimbabwe:
ZIMSTAT and UNICEF.
10. Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT), 2017 Poverty, Income,
Consumption and Expenditure Survey (PICES). Harare, Zimbabwe.
11. Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT), 2019 Labour Force and Child
Labour Survey Report. Harare, Zimbabwe.