In 2000, Zimbabwe ratified the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). At the national level, the Labour Act stipulates that an employer should be at least 15 and an apprentice 13 (any employment contract with an employee between the ages of 13 and 15 should be signed by the apprentice’s legal guardian). The Labour Act also stipulates “… no employer shall cause any person under the age of 18 years to perform any work which is likely to jeopardise that person’s health, safety and morals which work shall include but not limited to work involving such activities as may be prescribed…” (LRS, 2010). Moreover, the national legislation (Article 81/1) protects children from “economic and sexual exploitation, and from child labour, and from any form of abuse”. In practice, there are few inspections and therefore the number of violations related to child labour is unknown (U.S. Department of Labour, 2012). In 2011, UNICEF conducted a survey on child labour in Zimbabwe.44 It found that about 10% of children between the ages of 5 and 14 are engaged in economic activities. They are mainly orphans or children from poor families. These activities are related to mining (gold, diamond), domestic work and prostitution. Child labour in agriculture mainly is found in the production of tea, cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane.45 In the context of Zimbabwe, children’s involvement in the beef sector does not seem then to be a major issue compared to other activity sectors (e.g. tobacco plantation).
Nevertheless, from our own observation and different studies, child labour in the beef value chain exists at the farm level. Moreover, a study conducted in Nkayi and Lupane districts under the framework of the FAO-EU livestock project (EU, FAO, 2014) and Table 35, shows that boys are commonly involved in herding and/or milking (and/or to a lesser extent in collecting grass and feeding). Children’s work in livestock may also include cleaning out cowsheds, manure disposal, and animal health management.
44https://www.unicef.org/zimbabwe/media_15205.html, accessed 16th March 2018
125 Nkayi Lupane Adult Males Adult Females
Boys Girls Hired Labour
Adult Males
Adult Females
Boys Girls Hired Labour % yes % yes Purchasing cattle 84.5 27.5 4.5 0.0 0.0 84.0 50.9 8.6 1.2 1.8 Selling/ slaughtering 84.5 29.0 4.0 0.0 0.0 81.6 58.3 8.6 1.2 0.6 Herding 42.5 3.5 57.0 1.0 16.0 59.5 19.0 62.6 2.5 20.9 Breeding decisions 78.5 19.0 9.0 0.0 0.5 79.8 23.3 21.5 1.2 1.8 Feeding 53.0 12.0 29.0 2.0 6.0 68.7 36.8 41.1 9.2 11.7 Milking 48.5 5.5 50.5 1.5 9.5 56.4 25.8 55.2 8.6 16.6 Making dairy products 1.0 49.0 1.5 1.0 0.0 14.1 78.5 4.3 12.3 2.5 Selling dairy products 0.5 8.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 7.4 35.0 3.7 4.3 1.2 Animal health 71.0 16.5 22.5 1.0 8.5 77.3 36.8 36.2 1.8 11.7
TABLE 35: HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS RESPONSIBLE FOR CATTLE ACTIVITIES
Source: EU, FAO, 2014 We visited a primary school (in rural, peri-urban area) during our field visit and had a meeting with a group of children (around 60, from 9 to 12 years old) and their teachers to discuss children’s involvement in farm work. Boys are involved in herding, girls in milking. Some of the boys (7) declared that they worked as herders during the weekend and holidays and enjoyed it. Those children without cattle at home declared that they enjoyed going herding with their friends. Attending a dip tank session with their father (and even sometimes replacing the father at a dip tank session) is seen as a “coming-of-age ceremony or ritual” /activity. Herding cattle is also perceived as a task with a high level of responsibility since it includes protecting cultivated fields from cattle as well as protecting the cattle from potential lion attacks (the school visited was not far from a wildlife conservancy).
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FIGURE 34: FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION IN RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOL
Source: Photo credit, Charles Chakoma (2018)
School attendance
The ILO raises the problems of child labour in livestock worldwide and its negative consequences on school attendance46: "Herders represent one of the most widespread and culturally accepted forms of children’s work in many regions... Children in pastoral communities may spend many months as shepherds and herders in remote, isolated areas tending animals or participating in heavy work, such as leading livestock long distances to water sources. This lifestyle often impedes normal school enrolment and attendance...".
According to the UNICEF survey in Zimbabwe mentioned above,47 children engaged in economic child labour (10% see above) are less likely to be in school; and of the total number of children aged 5 to 14 years engaged in economic labour, about 15% were not in school.
It is very common to see children, at any time of the day, any day of the week, herding cattle on the road-side. Nevertheless, we had a group discussion with women involved in cattle activities. All of these women confirmed that school attendance is a priority and that their children only contribute to farm work during weekends and holidays and in a very reasonable manner. This has been confirmed during our meeting with a school director and teachers: school attendance is not affected by the peak period of farm work. It happens, but only a few times a year when pupils ask permission to be absent in order to take their family cattle to a dip tank session.
Children’s involvement in farm work is not necessarily totally detrimental to school attendance. A report from ITUC notes that children may be engaged in part-time work in order to pay their school
46 http://www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Agriculture/WCMS_172431/lang--en/index.htm, accessed 16th March 2018. 47 https://www.unicef.org/zimbabwe/media_15205.html, accessed 16th March 2018
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fees (ITUC, 2011). We have been told that in the past some companies (i.e., tea or tobacco companies) had a deal with some schools and parents. They paid the school fees for children in exchange for their involvement in farm work in the afternoon. This kind of arrangement is forbidden today.
Overall, cattle owning at the farm level is directly positively linked to school attendance. According to Muvirimi and Ellis Johnson (1999), “traditionally hand hoe cultivation was practiced widely but as available labour decreased due to increasing schooling, animal power assumed the importance now attached to it". More importantly, cattle generate income which is mainly used for paying school fees, as confirmed by our interview and numerous studies (EU, FAO, 2014; ICF, 2015).
Child Exposure to harmful jobs
According to the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) conducted by the ILO,48 herding, shepherding and handling livestock maybe considered as hazardous work for children. "Injuries from animals include being bitten, butted, jostled, stamped on, gored or trampled. Large and small animals do not need to be aggressive to cause serious harm or even kill a child... Children rarely wear protective shoes or boots, and this increases their risk for additional injuries and illnesses such as cuts, wounds, bruises, thorn injuries, skin disorders, and infections. Diseases can be contracted through routine contact with animals, insects, pathogens in animal carcasses and work near livestock stabling areas and butchering houses. Exposure to crop dusts and contaminated plant material, water or soil can also pose a health hazard to children. Additionally, livestock dust can penetrate deep into the lungs causing health problems. Chemical products, including disinfectants for use in livestock production contain caustic or corrosive materials and may be stored in areas that are accessible to children. Fumes released when mixing and applying products can be a particular health hazard for children”.
The hospital staff in Chiredzi did not report specific problems in relation to children’s involvement in livestock activities. Three of the pupils met at the school reported an accident: one fell from a scotch cart, one had been badly kicked while milking, and one injured while ploughing.