Examination of the Determinants of Youth Voluntary Participation in Rural Community Development: The Case of Mutoko District, Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT The increasing challenge posed by HIV/AIDS and poverty coupled with limited government service delivery have increased the reliance on youth volunteers in Zimbabwe. Ironically, youth continue to lose interest in voluntary work and the reasons for this are not clear. Therefore, this paper explored factors that either promote or inhibit the involvement of youth in voluntary work. Perceptions of youth towards volunteering were also sought. A case study design involving focus group discussions and individual interviews was utilised. Youth participants were selected using a multistage stratified random sampling technique. The data was analysed using the Atlas Ti version 6 software. The desire to develop communities, for the hope of getting incentives and the quest to develop networks, motivated youth to volunteer. Results also showed that youth voluntary participation in community development vary according to gender. Likewise, the factors of volunteering differed as distance increased from the main urban area.