consequences. Though the national statistics in Zimbabwe
are very unreliable, the best estimate is that by 2008,
Zimbabwe’s per capita income was about half of what it
was when the country gained its independence in 1980.
Dramatic as this sounds, it does not in fact begin to capture
the deterioration in living standards in Zimbabwe. The state
has collapsed and more or less stopped providing any
basic public services. In 2008–2009 the deterioration in the
health systems led to an outbreak of cholera across the
country. As of January 10, 2010, there have been 98,741
reported cases and 4,293 deaths, making it the deadliest
cholera outbreak in Africa over the previous fifteen years. In
the meantime, mass unemployment has also reached
unprecedented levels. In early 2009, the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitar