ABSTRACT
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, stringent state regulations were developed worldwide. While these regulations were intended to curb the spread of the virus, they had profound impacts on people’s livelihoods, accentuating food security in particular. However, this picture of food scarcity under the pandemic needs nuancing to show how the state’s presence in fact receded during the COVID-19 lockdown in remote (or ‘frontier’) parts of Zimbabwe. As a result, local communities that supplement their diets through hunting and the consumption of wild foods were able to increase their access to diverse food sources. Considering the long-standing conflicts and tensions between the BaTonga and the state, our findings suggest that despite legal restrictions, people continued to survive through what officials perceived as encroachments into protected areas and poaching of animals such as impala and bushbuck. This brings attention to the diversity of livelihood strategies and suggests the need for thinking about more diverse responses to a crisis such as COVID-19. The chapter also brings attention to the complex impact of development and conservation on livelihoods.
