By 
By Crucial Kuwanga
The collapsing Zimbabwean economy has compromised many families to fail to take care of their children worsened by Covid 19 and this has led many children to practice vending as a way of survival.
The reports have stated that, child vendors in the city of Bulawayo are mostly selling fruit and vegetables and in the capital, Harare, they sell a variety of goods from vegetables to used clothes, sweets and snacks.
The phenomenon of child vendors in Zimbabwe has been topical for some time but the situation appears to be worsening.
According to the Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation in Zimbabwe has estimated that over 20,000 children have turned to vending as a means of survival since the COVID-19 lockdown.
While spending hours of the day in the streets or at the market, Tapiwa Makumba (11) lose a portion of his childhood that will never be regained. He miss out on education, play opportunities and other childhood activities. This has far-reaching effects on this development as a child.
Tapiwa moves from one vehicle to the other carrying a basket of apples and bananas as he avoids being knocked down by passing vehicles at the traffic lights of Samorah Macheal and Enterprises in the city of Harare.
Tapiwa is among thousands of children who have turned to vending on the streets of Harare, thanks to the country’s struggling economy.
“When I was nine that is when I lost my parents and I have 3 siblings to look after. Owing to lack of school fees, I dropped out of school at third grade and have given the chance to my little sister and brother whom I am sending to a local council primary school.”
However, some children are turning into street vendors as parents themselves are failing to take care of them.
A women identified as Mamoyo (45) who lived with disabilities has said the crippled economy has caused her deploy her three children in different places of the city of Harare so they can beg and sell sweets and snacks to put the food on the table.
“Every day, my8, 10- and 12-year-old children have to help me sell sweets and snacks on the streets. I have no money to send them to school and they dropped out of school two years ago.
“In order for us to have food at home, I now deploy them to different vending points where we have set up market stalls not far from our home,” Mamoyo said.
A National Action Plan for Orphans and Vulnerable Children has been in place since 2004 and it seeks the involvement of families and the community in child protection.
But however the policy guides the provision of care for these children and the plan is not working in practice.
Furthermore, the Zimababwean governnment’s ability to drive the plan is severely compromised because it doesn’t have the capacity in the Ministry of Social Services.
This is due to a massive exodus of Zimbabweans from the country as a result of the economic crisis. As a result, the plan is heavily reliant on external assistance and development partners.
Projects coordinator for Justice for Children, a local advocacy organization, Sandra Muyengwa said Zimbabwe’s Constitution protects children from economic exploitation, but the current economic environment makes it impossible for people to survive.
Muyengwa added that there is need for a multi-sectoral approach to deal with the problem of child street vendors and beggars. The government alone cannot solve the problem
But without more recent and accurate data, it is hard to coordinate a meaningful response to the problem, she said.
“The lack of meaningful research is a challenge because if there are going to be interventions, there is need for statistics so as to know how to strategize and invest into the interventions. Zimbabwe has done so well in terms of qualitative research but has a long way to go in terms of quantitative research,” she said.
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