Harare — WITH about an hour of daylight remaining, Susan Chakubva stared at the clear sky pondering if she would get a customer that day.

The 42-year-old street vendor had been at her stall in Harare's Kuwadzana suburb since daybreak but had not recorded a single sale.

Chakubva is one of thousands of people across the country who have resorted to vending for a living as poverty levels soar to new heights in many households.

"One of my children has since dropped out of school. If you don't buy from me I won't eat supper today," the mother of two said with a tone that betrayed her desperation. Other vendors are in the same predicament.

"I sell anything which comes my way," said another vendor, Nyarai Shamuyarira, a 33-year-old mother of three.

"I rarely make more than US$5 a day, which is not enough for my family."

The open-market vendors, who pay US$18 a month to the city council, said surviving on vending was increasingly becoming difficult as many people have turned to the same business.

They sell wares ranging from vegetables, tomatoes, onions, masawu (wild fruit), and sugarcane to basic commodities they buy from shops for resale in smaller quantities affordable to the poor.

This is not unique to Harare. It's a common sight across the country as more people join the ranks of the poor.

Economists estimate that over 90% of Zimbabweans are poor and many more are joining their ranks as the economy continues to tumble.

The dollarisation of the economy has not helped the ordinary people much as they still cannot access foreign currency, and subsequently fail to afford basic necessities.

Even foreign currency dealers who used to live flashy lives have been reduced to paupers. Some have also taken up vending for a living.

As the situation worsens, many households are resorting to one proper meal a day while some families in rural areas survive on wild fruits and roots for days.

Some are outright beggars -- moving from door to door -- seeking assistance.

The United Nations, which recently donated US$9 million to bolster aid programmes in the country, said the humanitarian situation in the country "remains acute".

The agency says about 22 000 children under the age of five are in need of urgent treatment for severe malnutrition.

The figure, said the agency, could double if it remains unchecked.

It said presently six million people have limited or no access to safe water and sanitation in rural and urban areas.

The agency estimates that 2,8 million people need food aid at the peak of 2009/10 season while 1,5 million children require support to access education.

"In addition, challenges of poverty, malnutrition and unemployment among others prevail, hence the urgent need for financial support to help efforts to rebuild the country's capacity," said the agency.

Independent economic analyst John Robertson said with a 90% unemployment rate, poverty levels are set to worsen.

This, he said, is compounded by the fact that no new companies are making new investments.

Investors are still sceptical of the political environment.

"It's (poverty) worsening because of lack of economic growth," Robertson said.

"With power and water cuts very few companies are looking for workers."

The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) said despite the availability of basic commodities in shops, the goods remain beyond the reach of ordinary people, the majority of whom are already out of employment.

It called on government to review salaries in line with the monthly basket, which it estimated at US$437,62 in June, to cushion workers.

Last month the government raised earnings for civil servants from the US$100 allowances to an average of US$150 a month.

But the workers dismissed it as a "mockery".

The country's largest worker representative body, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), has warned of a possible worker resistance following the paltry salary adjustments.

It called on employers to pay workers salaries of over the poverty datum line (PDL), currently pegged at US$500 a month.

"The recent token increments only served to pacify public service employees but the tensions continue to simmer," said ZCTU secretary-general Wellington Chibebe.

"The issue of PDL-linked salaries is a potentially explosive matter and government must move with speed to address this and not keep on making empty promises."

The department of social welfare, which falls under the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, is not functioning due to lack of funding.

Labour and Social Welfare Minister Paurina Mpariwa could not be reached for comment.

But Robertson believes that the US$88 million allocated to the Labour ministry in the 2009 budget has not and will not make a difference.

"We are halfway anyway. A lot of it will pay those who work for it. It won't get to the people," Robertson said.