Zamhezia (1975-6), 4 (ii).RURAL AND URBAN LIFE*G. L. CHAVUNDUKADepartment of Sociology, University of RhodesiaCITIES AND TOWNS In Rhodesia are largely populated by rural Africans whohave been drawn into the urban economy. Many rural people, particularlymen, are compelled to seek employment in the towns and other employmentcentres mainly because of the failure of the rural areas to provide an adequateliving for their population. But in the towns and cities other social andeconomic forces continually drag many of these workers back to the ruralareas. One such force is the lack of security with regard to residence in mosturban areas. Other forces pushing workers back to the rural areas are: anacute housing shortage; the lack of social security in the form of unemploy-ment benefits, health insurance, and old-age pensions; and the low level ofwages. Furthermore, the regulations and legislation affecting Africans livingin town create in many a feeling of being alien in the urban communities.This urban insecurity has largely led to circulatory labour migration, in whichmen seek paid employment away from their rural homes, possibly for someyears, return home for a period then set out again, often repeating this pro-cess many times during their working lives.Partly because of the constant movement of people between town andcountry there is a disproportion of men and women in most Rhodesian ruraland urban areas.1 In many rural villages there are more women than men,as can be seen in Table I which relates to the Mrewa Tribal Trust Land:2* This article is based on a lecture delivered to the Vacation School held at theUniversity of Rhodesia in August 1973.' In Rhodesia as a whole the figures are: in Tribal Trust Lands, over the age of 14years: 511 500 males to 781 500 females: in urban areas, total Afrian population: 407 000males to 235 150 females, Rhodesia, Census of Population in 1969 (Salisbury, CentralS atfstfcal Offkefl976] ), Tables 3. 10. See also R. W. M. Johnson, The LabourEconomy of tht Reserve (Salisbury, Univ. Coll. of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Dep. ofEcon rnics Occasional Paper No. 4, 1964), 4; Sr Mary Aquina, 'The social background ofagriculture in Chilimanzi Reserve', [Human Problems in British Central Africa:] TheRhodes-Livingstone Journal (1964), 36, 7; J. C. Mitchell, 'Factors in rural male ab-senteeism in Rhodesia', in D. Parkin (ed.), Town and Country in Central and EasternAfrica (London, Oxford Univ. Press for International African Inst., 1975), 93.2 G. L. Chavunduka, Social Change in a Shona Ward (Salisbury, Univ. of Rhodesia,Dept. of Sociology Occasional Paper No. 4, 1970), 13.6970RURAL AND URBAN LIFETable IADULT POPULATION OF SIX VILLAGES DISTRIBUTED BY AGE AND SEXAge15-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960 and overTOTALSMales612312912794730174Females68462719312415121143296No. of People129693928433124161873470On the other hand there are more men than women among Africans inmost urban areas. TabJe 11 shows the age and sex structure of an old, well-established African urban community:3Table IISAMPLE ADULT POPULATION OF HIGHFIELD DISTRIBUTED BY AGE AND SEXAge15-1920-2425-2930-3435-3940-4445-4950-5455-5960 and overTOTALSMales43394749382016768273Females325639291885834202No. of People75958678562821159124753 P, Stopforth, Survey of Highfield African Township (Salisbury, Univ. of Rho-Jesia, Dep. of Sociology Occasional Paper No. 6, 1971), 5.G. L. CHAVU.NDUKA7!Both Tables show a disproportion of men, to women in the age range20-49 years: more women than men in the rural areas and more men thanwomen in the urban areas. At the lower end of the range, many migrantworkers are young, single men who have gone.on their own to the cities.But there are also many older men who have gone to work in the citiesleaving their wives at their rural homes: Table III shows that in the sixMrewa villages over half of the married women were living without theirspouses:Table IIIMARITAL STATUS OF PEOPLE OVER 14 YEARS OF AGEA11 VillagesSingleDivorcedWidowedMarried but spouse av/ayMarried and living with spouseTOTALSMales11351154174Females9518398361296Totals208234084115470The high number of divorced or widowed women in the Mrewa villagescompared to that of men of a similar status is due to a number of reasons.One reason is that women who are divorced or widowed find it harder toremarry than men, because some men are reluctant to take on responsibilityfor a woman's children by a previous marriage and, furthermore, many of thewidows are past the child-bearing age. Another reason is that many w idowedor divorced women are reluctant to contract another marriage. A thirdreason is that widowed or divorced men find it easier to leave ihc village andsettle in towns than women of a similar status.4The disproportion of men to women in towns contributes to maritalinstability. Equality of numbers is, of course, no proof of marriage stabilitybecause many women may be living singly or in irregular unions. But in Rho-desia many married workers are in town without their wives as mentionedearlier. Some of those who bring their wives to town find it difficult to pro-tect them from men without wives, some of whom struggle hard for thefavours of unattached women and the wives of others.It appears that the percentage of males absent from the villages hasbeen increasing over the years. In the Mrewa villages the percentage of absentmales between the age of 15 and 55 rose from 24,1 per cent in 1948 to 67,4per cent in 1968 (Table IV). This overall increase in the number of malesaway from the villages has resulted mainly from an increase in the numberof married males away. The percentage of single males away from the4 Ghavunduka, Social Change, 1.72RURAL AND URBAN UFEvillages has decreased since 1958. This is due to the fact that boys now stayin school longer than in previous decades. The increase in the number ofmarried males away from the villages is mainly due to the rising standard ofliving.Table IVPERCENTAGE OF MALES ABSENT19481958Married malesSingle malesMales aged 15-5512,370,724,149,683,446,4196862,171,367S4The Mrewa study shows that the mean age at which men make theirfirst journey out of the villages to seek work has increased. The mean ageat which men born before 1924 first left their villages to seek work was 20years; for men born in or after 1924 the mean age was 20,8 years. The meanage at which, men left to seek work between 1958 and 1968 was 22 years.The period that men spend away from the villages on their trips totown has also increased, for a number of reasons: the difficulty nowadays ofobtaining another job after a long stay in the villages; the improvement ofwages in town; the improved transport facilities. This last factor is important,for if is now possible for most men to visit their rural homes nearly everyvrvCf ..->'- .-"\] -in puMij hnfida\b t<^ ;;ipcnT>se farming and to see their familiesw/JiMi't i.i * inrr to tem-'inaie their cinplo; uient; also wives and other kinsmen'lv -IOV,' able to vs-i dio tv>/n nore f ,-juently so that the average urbanJv,'d\r is constantly in touch with h's rur.il kinsmen.T!;c disproportion in the agt, and sex distribution of the populations intown and cemtry "ccards rih-J development in many areas. Since many ofth^ 8' :, I od'ed mm are away from, the villages most of the time, the ruralareas are carrying a disproportionately large number of women, children andold people and the subsistence production there is maintained by these re-latively unproductive elements in the population. As Mitchell points out,it is difficult to imagine how agricultural improvements can be introducedinto these areas when most able-bodied men are absent. sThe argument that able-bodied men absent in wage-earning employmenthave the effect of increasing the net income of the rural community as awhole has been criticised. The argument assumes firstly that wages in town5 J. C. Mitchell, An Outline of the Sociological Background to African Labour(Salisbury, Ensign, 1961), 11. Nevertheless in some areas labour migration does notpose serious agricultural problems because the labour force is divided in such a way thatat any one time enough able-bodied men are available at home to perform the heavytasks. Sonin urban men are also able to return home during the time of intense agricul-tural activities. The impact of labour migration on agricultural output may also bereduced by co-operation at the village level, and the use of hired labour.G. L. CHAVU^DUKA73are sufficiently high to allow a surplus over and above the living costs therefor sending back to the rural areas, secondly that subsistence production isbeing maintained in the rural areas. a"d thirdly that men are staying in townIOT^Z wiseiph to muLe an appreciable eoiitr'butior to tV rurrl economy.6YvYke scvie urhnn wo/!o*> m ^,"1 -pri'd "or*- are able to sei.d money1 -.ire, ether r<*lw w^r'-cr, a ^ n-> Ł i -* HI J*y\5 1\ the r rcrsl ^t'riles.M^revv cr. the m.x>-e *-*:: Ł" 'J< rrhm " orkcv: are noi keen to extend ftiirncial} "!p In IJ^xPiej "is the .Ł'Ł"j! aru.~ Sorre of .rvm r"U" a t~ke in to-vn "n fieIOTTI r\ * !'O1T \ T'1 iit Ł *"xr ices the e ,entbl }v^. f-on which tht-v a.temptt-i \t!c! "ic 1~**' k i<;'X", '. :th relate- ^ci r't"." The strndard of fanningi i *he - 'Ł?! JT:( ' , lov . Trerc is very lirlp sM-plus for tab a>r! m-r y -_,ilti-, |^-s t%erc f,eri ^o rrocucc ^t ,»1!;Q "r^/bl' between *wo 4"irdi, to !lrje-q"jr.rt's i»c r fvi f "'l^es k% io* finduce ciOie'cnt for tr°"« o'.vn re° A~Q-ments ;n a 'ILLS th-n ''nornu'l" feascn .Kl There h sonic c^den:? Jiat riral(T.,,S f)_^ rc, p«,-,., jvcr - — ^ ji-'%1(^nce f\\x-ior _' ti;o <<'^ v :;n ir f1ie^~ ,A i Ł> "csrr^. ^ *Ł <# "* sa^ ^r " '"cj'i'-rai rcr.nnr-i:t ci\ "* ,"— >+ c.^-.t1".'" r> i"iliŁiC. *-'" f!.; t dirr^ ^:c *->rc4" -1- r'r'ht % " rc vV: c*f "j:"' * "Y "e1 r *odu T ŁŁ 'vedeii.id by P1 "! ° ni'll'r/, rei "triur.i crifrJ v >^ f>- -,,-/''>!"= r.rhtyears,11Many rural women are attempting to fill the gap left by the absent men.Much responsibility both for food production and for bringing up of childrennow rests with the women and it is to this group that much extension educa-tion h"-^ hc-^p riiiwfed in the pa°t. Puf T have ?rrrueri elsewhere t'if«t mucho" ' rrr'e'jJtprn- ;.^t~" "en edbCsirti rbou'I "~o d'recic! t.-^*'4, !--fj"', -Ł'Ł,1er;'-> t;-,.-» j.r>.-r, ^ r -,,; ;r -",%prs? .""> ' ! b^ a "rrrr^ 1 To1* t'" TI ;i'r , "\; v h^rc thrvc: i ^nn 'ninr;v, "Ł:* f^r.ivr.'T v>', ir:%i-rts " "1 tec' "Ł* '"c t.rd f ir.^1? rf'cu* oralr,?.,0^.1;,,,^ y;,-rc, v -r , nurn«'.;r of re iso'v. vk-y urban m:"r'nf, ~»""i ,\ be in-Ł\-o1 eJ l-i r; .-:Ł'! d '. .Ł" i^.r.:n1, f;. ,\h. *}»2 ^k>-'t br.Jhr.1 I-"s ^.-? :\;iv/i bvks tos Ibi"., 11; see also his 'Structure plurality, urbanisation and labour circulation inSouthern Rhodesia', in J. A. Jackson (ed.), Migration (Cambridge Univ. Press 1969), 72." P. Stopforth, 'Comparative Differential Social Change: Highfield African Town-ship and Chitepo Road, Salisbury' (Univ. of Rhodesia, Inst. for Social Research, unpubl.Research Report No. 5, 1973), 53.s The more securely placed townsmen usually make a number of rural investmentsin the form of commercial farms, shops and transport service, as in Nairobi and otherparts of Africa; see A. M. Ross, 'Politics and Urbanisation: Two Communities inNairobi' (Northwestern Univ., Ph.D. thesis, 1968) ; D. Parkin, 'Migration, settlementand the politics of unemployment: a Nairobi case study', in D. Parkin (ed.), Town andCountry in Central and Eastern Africa, 145-55.9 H. Dunlop. 'Land and economic opportunity in Rhodesia', The Rhodesian Journalof Economics (1972). 6, 1-10.io Rhodesia, Report of the Secretary for Internal Affairs for the Year 1971 (SessionalPapers, Cmd R. R., 1972), 16.n G. Smith, 'Agricultural development in Tribal Trust Lands', Probe (Salisbury',1972), 1, 57.'2 G. L. Chavunduka, 'Agents of change in the Tribal Trust Lands', The Geo-graphical Society {University of Rhodesia} Magazine (1970), 1, 9-13.G. L. CHAVU^JDUKA75the Land Husbandry Act.17 The Act was later repealed by the governmentbecause of its unpopularity. As I shall demonstrate, security of residence, forexample, will largely remove the need to maintain a piece of land and live-stock in the rural areas and thus relieve land and stock pressure. The tradi-tion that it is the right of every adult to possess land and cattle will graduallybe abandoned. But people can only abandon their land and cattle if they areoffered alternative forms of livelihood and an alternative form of security tothe traditional dependence upon cattle and the soil.Then there is the need for the introduction of unemployment benefitschemes, medical aid schemes and old-age pension schemes. This will largelyremove the need for dependence on rural relatives for support during timesof crisis. The urban wage structure must be such that the urban worker willbe encouraged to live in the urban area permanently and thus reduce popula-tion and stock pressure in the rural areas.18A study carried out in Highfield African township provides some evid-ence in support of the above recommendations.19 The study compares differ-ential change betv/een Highfield and Chitepo Road.20 Although Chitepo Roadis in fact part of Highfield, socially it is different from the rest of the townshipin many respects. Accommodation on Chitepo Road is relatively more ex-pensive and better than in most parts of the township. The people who livein Chitepo Road can also be differentiated from the mass of Highfield bysuch stratification criteria as income, occupation and education. While educa-tional achievement for Highfield adults tends to peak between Grades Sixand Seven, the select group of Chitepo Road shows a strong trend towardsecondary and high school education with a high proportion reaching univer-sity status. Most of the household heads hold professional jobs, such asteachers, university lecturers, doctors, nurses and journalists. By contrast inthe rest of Highfield most of the workers are in semi-skilled and unskilledemployment. Income is also correspondingly higher in Chitepo Road than inthe township as a whole. Average income among the Chitepo Road sampleis almost five times that of the average worker in Highfield.21Respondents were asked for the reasons for their intention of returningi7 Rhodesia. Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Discontent in the MangzvendeReserve 1961 (Sessional Papers, 19611. For other reasons which led to the oppositionto the implementation of the Land Husbandry Act, see K. Brown, Land in SouthernRhodesia (London. African Bureau. 1959) ; Garbett. 'The Land Husbandry Act . . . ' ;J, F. Holleman. Chief Council and Commissioner (London, Oxford Univ. Press, 1969).is Studies clearly show that the vast maiority of African workers receive wages belowthe Poverty Datum Line; see G. A. Bettison. 'The Poverty Datum Line in CentralAfrica', The Rhodes-Livingstone Journal (1960), 27, 1-40; V. S. Cubitt and R. C.Riddell, The Urban Poverty Datum Line in Rhodesia (Salisbury, Univ. of Rhodesia,Faculty of Social Studies, 1974).is See P. Stopforth, 'Comparative Data for the Assessment of Processes of SocialChange among Urban Africans' (Salisbury Univ. of Rhodesia, Inst. for Social Research,unpuul. Research Report No. 4, 1973); 'Comparative Differential Social Change'.20 Chitepo Road has been renamed Mangwende Drive.2) See the relevant Tables in Stooforth, 'Comparative Data . . .', 8, 10. Other eliteAfrican suburbs in Salisbury are Marimba Park, Westwood, three other smaller localitiesin Highfield itself, Beatrice Cottages and some blocks of flats in Harare Township.74RURAL AND URBAN LIFEbe cultivated each year and what crops are to be planted. Moreover, develop-ment of village agriculture is in their own interest since this would mean areduction of the amount of money they have to send home from time to time.Any profits from the rural areas would also improve their own financial posi-tion. Furthermore, migrants are generally highly respected by members oftheir rural communities.The circulation of people between town and country also impedes thedevelopment of commercial farming in many rural areas. It often leads to thefragmentation of land into uneconomic holdings. As Garbett has shown,obligations arising from kinship are sometimes considerable.13 A landholderhas a duty to support his kinsmen some of whom may not have land rightsin the rural area such as his deceased brother's wife and children, a divorcedsister and his unemployed brother. When a person marries, a further seriesof relationships is established, with further obligations. Thus a landholdermay be forced to allow former urban dwellers to live on his land eachworking a small area. This results in the available land being called upon tosupport many more people than the estimated carrying capacity. Kinshipobligations may be dysfunctional in another respect. When a landholder'sincome increases, the number of kinsmen who will demand support usuallyincreases as well. This discourages some cultivators from undertaking addi-tional improvements.14Others have suggested that these family or kinship ties should be des-troyed in order to increase the rate of economic growth in the rural areas.15Indeed, the destruction of these kinship ties would appear at first sight to bea method of increasing the rate of economic growth. This would mean, how-ever, the destruction of the private system of aid which these ties make possible.The destruction of this private system of aid would make it essential forgovernment to provide for those who become destitute. A good deal of theopposition to the implementation of the Land Husbandry Act was based onthis.16 Because of the general insecurity in the urban areas, many urbandwellers feared that the Act would exclude them permanently from the ruralareas. Furthermore, the government was unable to provide for those whobecame destitute. The Mangwende Report, for example, shows that muchof the violence which took place in Mrewa had been perpetrated by youngmen from the towns who had been denied rights in terms of the provisions of13 G. K. Garbett, 'The Land Husbandry Act of Southern Rhodesia', in D. Biebuyck(ed.), African Agrarian Systems (London, Oxford Univ. Press, 1963), 185-202.'4It should be pointed out that although some lazy or parasitic people take advantageof kinship in order to get support, the integrity of many rural people is such as to usethe system for security in the correct manner with abuse being the exception rather thanthe rule. I am indebted to Mr M. G. Reid for bringing this point to my attention.is A. F. Hunt, 'The economic position of the Tribal Trust Land in relation toagriculture'. Proceedings of the Rhodesian Economic Society (1966), 11, 54-62.is The Land Husbandry Act (No. 52 of 1951) was designed to give each eligibleadult male who was present in the rural area at the time of its implementation, a por-tion of land (about 8 acres) and rights to graze a certain number of cattle (about 6head) in the grazing area.76RURAL AND URBAN LIFEto their rural homes when their working days are over. Seventy-five per centcited land and security as their main reason (Table V). Chitepo Road resid-ents who enjoy relative security in the urban area did not rate land andsecurity at the rural home as a positive inducement to return home.22 Therespondents were also asked whether they would prefer a pension or cattleon retirement. Seventy-eight of Chitepo Road respondents chose a pensionrather than cattle on retirement. This is an indication of their willingness towithdraw from traditional rural forms of wealth and status and shows acommitment to modern urban standards. For the rest of Highfield 67,8 percent preferred cattle on retirement (Table VI). Mainly because of job securityand relatively higher wages, people in Chitepo Road were more prepared tocut their ties with rural relatives than were respondents in the rest of High-field (Table VII). Eighty-three per cent of the Chitepo Road respondents,however, agreed that they would be prepared to help rural kinsmen in casesof emergency.23Table V**REASONS ADVANCED FOR INTENTION OF RETURNING TO RURAL ESTATEOR OTHERWISEReasonsLand and security at homeEasy life at homeUncertain future in townPreference for living with kinTOTALChitepo RoadN %71222133,357,19,599,9HighfieldN %457356075,011,75,08,3100,0x2 = 10,0069 with I d.f., p , 01 (Land security Š other reasons)* N includes 3 'Don't know'.22 Nearly all residents of Chitepo Road have now been allowed by government tobuy their present houses and are in fact in the course of doing1 so.23 Another study carried out in Salisbury recently shows that urban people whoenjoy residence and job security tend to give up their land rights, cut their rural kinshipties and become more urbanised. See V. Moller, 'Comparative Mobility and UrbanCommitment in Three Salisbury African Townships: Harare (Hostels), Mufakose ancfKambuzurna' (Univ. of Rhodesia, Dep. of Sociology, unpubl. paper, 1975).24 From Stopforth, 'Comparative Data . . .' Table Xa.G. L. CHAVUNDUKA77Table F/25PREFERENCE FOR CATTLE OR PENSION ON RETIREMENTPreferenceChitepo RoadN %HighfieldN " %CattlePension2921,678,4592867,832,2TOTAL37 100,087 100,0x2 = 22,3035 with I d.f., p , 001TableWHEN SHOULD RELATIVES IN TOWN HELP THOSE IN THE COUNTRYResponseAt all timesIn emergencyWhen financially ableWith ploughingNeverOtherTOTALChitepo RoadN2312237%5,483,85,45,4100,0HighfieldN %49 56,322 25,38 9,25 5,71 LI2 2,387 99,9x2 = 35,7272 with I d.f., p , 001 (At all times Š In emergency).CONCLUSIONI have attempted in this paper to demonstrate the relationship betweenurban and rural life. When describing rural development one has to takeas Ibid., Table XVIIa.26 Ibid., Table XI.78RURAL AND URBAN LIFEinto account the economic, political and social conditions in the urban areas.On the other hand when discussing urban stabilization, labour turn-overand unemployment one has to know something about the distance, and thesocial, economic and agricultural conditions of the home area from whichmigrants have come. In discussing the question of circulation of labour be-tween town and country, it becomes necessary to talk not only about theaspirations of rural people, shortage of land or poverty of soil, but also theadministrative policies of local and central government on urban stabilization,agricultural development, land and so on. Rural or urban development can-not be treated in isolation. Migrants form the main link between the twosystems.At the present time many rural people who come into town rarely findconditions which allow them to become real town-dwellers quickly. Thusthey have a tendency to keep, at least partially, their former rural character-istics especially their links with the rural areas. This sometimes results in'ruralization' of towns rather than urbanization Š a phenomenon well worthserious study. On the other hand the constant movement of people facilitatesthe propagation of urban ideas of modernity.