Tafadzwa Chakwara sits on a wooden crate, his elbow resting comfortably on a neat stack of packed onions atop his market stall. — Aljazeera “Life is just tough now,” the 27-year-old says, taking a puff from his cigarette. “It doesn’t matter whether one has a formal job or an informal one.” In a country where unemployment has reached an estimated 90%, Chakwara, a university graduate of political science and public administration, has recently had to settle for a job selling onions in Mbare Musika, a fruit and vegetable market just outside Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. The country is deep in the throes of a severe economic crisis. Its currency, the Zimbabwean dollar, has virtually collapsed and now trades at 1:90 against the US dollar. Prices of goods are rising fast, manufacturing and exports are dwindling and foreign currency is in short supply. With a rapidly devaluing currency and hyperinflation last measured in May at close to 800% on an annual basis, most Zimbabweans have haplessly watched their earnings evaporate. Some cannot afford to feed themselves any more. “Before I got this job, there were nights I went without food,' says Chakwara. From his odd job at the market, he earns $2-$3 daily, just about enough to keep hunger at bay - a loaf of bread currently costs $1. “The money is not a lot but it’s better than nothing,” adds Chakwara. Opposition leaders and economists contend the economic crisis is at a tipping point. In 2009, soaring inflation prompted Zimbabwe to ditch its failing sovereign currency in favour of a series of foreign currencies led by the United States dollar. But “dollarising” the economy hit a major bump in 2015 when greenbacks started vanishing from the formal banking system. In a bid to end the US dollar shortage, Zimbabwe’s central bank in 2016 introduced bond notes — a form of surrogate currency — that was backed by a $200m bond facility from the Africa Export-Import Bank. But black market speculation quickly eroded the bond note's value, triggering a shortage that the central bank tried to offset by creating electronic notes. In February 2019, bond notes -—both physical and electronic — were merged into the Real Time Gross Settlement dollar, also known as the Zimdollar. In June last year, the government banned transacting in all foreign currencies and eventually introduced a new Zimbabwean dollar in November. Meanwhile, a strict lockdown imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic has also affected Zimbabweans who earn a living from informal activities such as vending, hawking and illegal foreign exchange deals. With their movement restricted, many of them have been left without a source of income. “The crisis has reached tipping point, for sure,” economist Victor Bhoroma said, citing the “high levels of inflation, serious wage compression for labour, income and exchange rate losses for businesses, persistent fuel shortages, corruption and high levels of starvation”. Professionals have also been hit by the economic meltdown. The highest-paid teacher in February earned a sa