The Resilience Deficit: Community-led Drought Disaster Mitigation Pathways in Masvingo Rural District, Zimbabwe

Rural communities in Zimbabwe's Masvingo Rural District face a pervasive 'resilience deficit' characterised by increasing vulnerability to recurrent droughts. Exogenous disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies have fallen short of sustaining local absorptive and adaptive capacities. This study addresses this gap by identifying and systematising community[1]led pathways for drought disaster mitigation. The research is underpinned by the Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) Theory that places people at the centre of all response mechanisms. The Resilience and Complex Adaptive Systems (RCAS) Theory is also employed in this research. Using a rigorous qualitative meta-analysis methodology, this research synthesises empirical evidence from multiple case studies, project reports, including grey literature spanning three decades (1990-2025). The analysis distils successful endogenous practices like small grain cultivation, water harvesting and indigenous early warning systems, delineating socio[1]political and institutional factors that enable or constrain their efficacy. The findings reveal that effective community-led pathways are not merely technical but are fundamentally underpinned by local knowledge co[1]production, collective action and equitable access to natural resources. This study concludes that bridging the resilience deficit requires a fundamental shift towards polycentric governance models that formally recognise, support and integrate community-led initiatives into mainstream climate adaptation policy. The study propounds a critical evidence-based resilience framework.