ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a grounded analysis of the everyday experiences of Zimbabwean cross-border traders in Kariba. It traces the cross-border traders’ journey from Zimbabwe to Zambia and back, highlighting their agency and challenges, and the manner in which this shapes their livelihoods in buying and selling goods in the two countries. The analysis of the whole trading cycle provides nuance into practices enacted by the traders to ensure even a limited profit and thus a livelihood. Everyday practices of survival are steeped in the ability to negotiate the border and a foreign space through various illicit and often illegal practices, including evading customs authorities. The lived realities of cross-border trading as a livelihood activity exist in a context of socio-economic uncertainty. Cross-border trading remains survivalist in nature, offering an ephemeral escape from the economic challenges facing Zimbabweans. The everyday practices of survival by cross-border traders provide another example of how Zimbabweans continue to “manage” and survive through economic crises.
