PERSPECTIVES OF INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF THREE WARDS IN NKAYI DISTRICT, ZIMBABWE

Rural development has been attempted in Zimbabwe both prior to independence and in the post-independent era. While results have been meager, very few studies have attempted to give a portrayal of the state of development in certain places. Moreover, few studies attend to localized experiences of such development. This study makes a modest contribution towards filling this lacuna. It employs Michael Lipton's urban bias theory as a theoretical framework to make sense of the situation in Zimbabwe. Using a case study approach, the study focussed on Nkayi District in Matabeleland North province. Within the case study, purposively selected interviews and observations were conducted. The findings are that (1) not all key development has been state-led; (2) small strides have been made in terms of infrastructure and these strides tend to be sector specific; (3) Nkayi suffers from poor infrastructural development, and; (4) resident's perceptions of service delivery in such sectors as health and education are average in the main.