OVC Support Toolkit  >  Living environments  >  Children living outside of family care 

Commercial farms and other workplaces

This section looks at the situation facing orphans and other vulnerable children living on commercial farms. The experience is based largely on the work of Farm Orphans Support Trust (FOST) in Zimbabwe but lessons learned would be relevant to other workplaces which involve workers living at the workplace. Another section looks in general at issues facing children and young people living outside of family care. Other sections look in detail at children and young people living in prisons, on the street and in situations of conflict.

Key points about orphans and other vulnerable children living on commercial farms are:

1. Much of the experience comes from Zimbabwe, in general, and the work of Family Orphans Support Trust (FOST), in particular.

2. The nature of the 'community' of workers living and working on commercial farms makes children and young people living there particularly vulnerable.

3. Orphans and other vulnerable children on commercial farms face many of the same problems faced by other vulnerable children. However, they rarely have supportive contact with extended family members. This means they often lack the family and community safety nets available to other vulnerable children.

4. There are a range of appropriate responses which avoid the use of institutions. These include the use of farm-based volunteers and non-relative foster carers.

Communities of Farm Workers on Commercial Farms

There are many examples of forms of work which require large numbers of people and require them to live and work at the same place. One example of this which has been widely studied relates to commercial agriculture in Zimbabwe. Communities of workers on commercial farms have certain characteristics. These include:

• Lack of sense of community - workers on commercial farms lack a shared sense of history and belonging which is seen in other communities. They rarely have community structures for decision-making. This results in low levels of social organization.
• Isolation - because of distance and poor communications. Consequently, farm workers may be marginalized from political processes.
• High mobility - workers move from one farm to another.
• Lack of extended family structures - many workers originate from other countries originally and have lost links with their extended family.
• Lack of personal identification documents - such as birth certificates.
• Unstable family groups - are a feature of casual, temporary work. Informal and casual sexual relationships and early marriage are all features of farm life.
• Poor access to facilities for recreation, health and education.

Orphans and other vulnerable children on Commercial Farms

Orphans and other vulnerable children on commercial farms face many of the same problems faced by other vulnerable children. However, they rarely have supportive contact with extended family members. This means they often lack the family and community safety nets available to other vulnerable children.

Problems which affect orphans and other vulnerable children on commercial farms include:

• Food insecurity.
• Lack of access to education.
• The struggle to meet material needs.
• Lack of psychosocial support.
• Poor life skills and knowledge.
• Abuse and exploitation.
• Lack of extended family network.
• Poor housing.
• Lack of secure tenure of housing. This means they do not own their house and can be asked to leave by the farm owner.
• Lack of access to health care.
• Lack of birth certificates.
• Involvement in work.

Appropriate Responses

In general, responses aimed at orphans and other vulnerable children are broadly similar to responses in other settings. They are based on the same principles. This means that establishing institutions is almost never appropriate. Because of the particular nature of communities on commercial farms, new and imaginative responses may be needed. Examples include:

• Working constructively with the farm owner.
• Seeking to establish community development structures on farms, such as farm development committees (FADCOs).
• Providing short-term material support to compensate for absent 'safety nets'. This may include provision of food and funds for school fees.
• Providing training in psychosocial support.
• Identifying and training volunteers from among farm workers. This may include using existing people, such as farm health workers (FHWs).
• 'Fostering' children with non-related farm workers. There are often cultural taboos regarding taking responsibility for unrelated children. However, this can be overcome by regarding the children as household 'guests'.
• Income-generating activities.
• Advocacy at local and national levels.
• Succession planning and other activities focused on preparing for death.

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