ZIMBABWE: An economy running on chickens
MUTOKO, 22 December 2009 (IRIN): Every fortnight Makaitei Musakwa, 45, catches one of her chickens, picks up some of the maize she has grown, and sets off for the village mill to have the maize ground (malet) into mealie-meal, Zimbabwe’s staple food.
– It is difficult for me to raise the money that the miller charges … I have nowhere to get it from, said the widow who looks after four children of her own as well as two nephews. – He charges a chicken to grind for me twice, she explained.
Barter trade has been common practice in Zimbabwe since crippling hyperinflation rendered the local Zimbabwe dollar all but worthless. Economists stopped measuring inflation after it hit a stunning 6.5 quindecillion novemdecillion percent – 65 followed by 107 zeros – and in February 2009 the economy was officially “dollarised”.
Phasing out the local currency and introducing the United States dollar, South African rand and Botswana pula as legal tender has helped rein in inflation, but those currencies are seldom available in remote areas like Mutoko district, some 70 km from the capital, Harare, where Musakwa lives.
A chicken can go a long way
The owners of small businesses in rural areas feel they have no choice but to accept goods in lieu of cash, and a chicken can exchange hands several times.
Simplicius Gomo, the miller in Musakwa’s village, said he gladly accepted payment in kind because it kept him in business.
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