The advocacy-impact gap: A bottom-up analysis of NGO advocacy campaigning and sustainable livelihoods in Zimbabwe

While non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are pivotal in advocating for policies that support sustainable livelihoods in Zimbabwe, a discernible disjuncture often emerges between their advocacy work and the realisation of tangible, sustainable benefits for communities. This article explores this “advocacy-impact gap” by examining community perspectives on the work of three leading Zimbabwean NGOs: ActionAid Zimbabwe (AAZ), the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA), and the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD). Based on qualitative data from focus group discussions across six districts and key informant interviews, this research finds that while communities value NGO-led awareness and capacity-building efforts, they also identify significant limitations. Key critiques include the transient, project-based nature of interventions, the difficulty in attributing specific livelihood improvements to advocacy, and a pronounced “insider-outsider” dynamic where positive impacts are largely confined to direct participants. Consequently, this study contends that bridging the advocacy-impact gap necessitates a strategic shift. NGOs must move beyond a narrow focus on policy victories to embrace sustained, community-driven approaches that confront the “implementation gap” and cultivate genuine local ownership, particularly within Zimbabwe’s challenging context characterised by weak governance and political instability.