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Talent Tapera Correspondent
In his developmental analysis, renowned economics writer and development scholar, Michael P Todaro, points to poverty as the main impediment to development. “Throughout the world people wake each morning to face a new day in very different circumstances. Some live in comfortable homes with many rooms. “They have more than enough to eat, are well clothed, in good health and can look forward to a reasonable degree of financial security.

“Others, and these constitute more than two thirds of the earth’s four billion peoples, are much less fortunate,” said Todaro in 1977.
It is therefore imperative to address the issues that underpin development so as to sufficiently alleviate constant hunger pains, lack of sanitation, freshwater and frequent sickness experienced by children especially those in the farming communities of Zimbabwe.

Poverty remains a serious impediment for development not only in farming communities but in Sub Sahara Africa.
From FOST work in farming communities, it has been noted that more than one third of the children are malnourished and face a permanent limitation on their lives’ potential due to chronic malnutrition or stunting.

A lot has been said about strengthening of responses to children’s plight in the public sphere.
This has seen a lot of organisations being formed to complement the current efforts on the subject and to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Despite the talk, very little has been done to alleviate the condition of most vulnerable children, with the primary health care system in the country faltering and the maternal mortality ratio more than doubling.

With the economic situation remaining fragile, the poorest and most vulnerable households keep increasing in the farming communities.
Children are the most affected — with the integrity of the education system under threat — leaving many without viable learning and employment options.

Have you ever thought what life is like for children in farming communities who do not get the chance to go to school or attends a sparsely resourced satellite school, not owning a birth certificate, being susceptible to child labour?

For the children in farming communities it is something they face daily as the world celebrates the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) @25.
For a child growing up in the farm communities, what you might term as a simple item can stand between him/her and an education.
It might be a uniform or pair of shoes.
It might be a notebook and a few pencils.
Her parents or guardian may not raise enough (ranging between US$5 and US$15 per term) money for school fees.
Of importance to note is their denial to the right to name and nationality.
Birth registration represents the starting point of the recognition, protection and fulfilment of all children’s rights.

According to Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2014, the proportion of under-five births who were reported registered has dropped from 38 percent in 2009 to about 32 percent in 2014.

The situation of children in farming communities who are not able to access birth certificates is even higher.
This is due to the fact that parents’ identity documents are not available.
It is disturbing to note that these limitations in attaining birth certificates deny the children the element of citizenship.
It thus denies children the rights to benefits that accrue on the basis of owning a birth certificate such as medication, justice, education among others.
The above problems call on Government, Civil Society Organisations and other stakeholders in society to set principles that bring all sectors together as we celebrate CRC@25 by coordinating a strategic framework that works to monitor and evaluate the situation of children in farming communities for the betterment of not only the children but the nation and world at large.

The author is the Knowledge Management Officer at FOST Zimbabwe.

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