In Hopley, a slum community about 15 km west of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, Shepherd Chowe drags a cart loaded with cans, iron rods, and other metallic objects down a dusty roadway.
At a scrap yard where dozens of metal scavengers are waiting to sell their products, 46-year-old Chowe has come at 11 a.m. Chowe receives $6 for two sacks. I begin roaming throughout the township at eight in the morning, asking people for scrap metal or anything metallic they are no longer using, said Chowe, who added that on a good day, he earns $40.
Chowe is one of the Zimbabweans who sells scrap metal for survival as the cost of living rises, adding pressure to a population already experiencing food shortages and high unemployment, bringing back memories of the country's economic hardships. President Emmerson Mnangagwa's efforts to revive the economy have been hampered by annual inflation, which reached 256.9% in July.
Chowe is able to pay his rent, purchase food, and send his two kids to school thanks to the sale of scrap metal.
Scrap metal, according to Chowe, "has given us hope."
Since the bankruptcy of the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel) more than ten years ago, Zimbabwe's steel sector has been in trouble.
Small steel makers, however, who collaborate with merchants at scrap yards, are already picking up the pieces. "The steel industry, which we serve, benefits from these scavengers. Although they (steel producers) occasionally lack the funds to pay us, the metal is always accessible "Fungai Mataga, Scavengers sell their goods to Mataga for $0.15 per kg for cast iron and $0.22 for mild steel.
He responded, "They all come here to sell (metal) to survive.
Although the trading in scrap metal is not prohibited in Zimbabwe, the state-owned National Railways of Zimbabwe has advocated for regulation of the industry because of worries about infrastructure destruction.
Mike Mavhunga, 19, who is carrying bags of tins, arrives as Chowe exits the scrap yard. He gets up at 5 a.m. every day to make the 10-kilometer trip to Glen Norah, a township west of Harare, where he hunts for metal.
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In Hopley, a slum community about 15 km west of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, Shepherd Chowe drags a cart loaded with cans, iron rods, and other metallic objects down a dusty roadway.
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