ABSTRACT
The most important function of the district service centres is the distribution of consumer goods and farm inputs to the rural areas, a function they share with a network of small rural business centres and rural stores spread throughout the rural districts. Gutu and Gokwe are among the largest district service centres in rural Zimbabwe. Supported by public investments and increased cash-crop production in their rural hinterlands, they have grown into small towns since independence. Gutu centre is located on the western rim of Gutu communal area and thus serves both the communal area and some commercial farming and resettlement areas. The old Mupandawana business centre, which makes up the core of the present Gutu district service centre was started in the 1950s as an African business centre, and some of the present businesses date back to that early period. Since independence, the government has invested in infrastructure and in public and parastatal services.
