The working conditions of female workers in the food processing industry in Zimbabwe (with special reference to Canneries)

Abstract

This study constitutes the findings of a two-month long research into the working conditions of female workers in the food processing industry with particular reference to canneries in Zimbabwe. The objective of the study was to analyse both the working conditions and the specific problems experienced by female workers and the character of the canning industry itself. Most of the problems and issues examined in previous ILO-sponsored studies on the food-processing industries had tended to be treated in a general and global manner. This Zimbabwean casestudy had therefore a specific focus which yielded extremely useful insights into the structure of the canning industry and into female working conditions and problems in particular. The significance of the food-processing industry to the national economy is obvious. The linkages between manufacturing industry and agriculture are clearly indispensable. The significance of the industry assumes an international character in its demonstrated capacity to produce for external markets. In spite of the diversity which characterizes the Zimbabwean economy, food-processing accounts roughly for about a quarter of the value of the total output of the manufacturing industry. Canning emerges as a crucial sub-secotr of food processing: fruit, vegetables, fish and meat products are the major commodities that are processed for both domestic and export consumption. Although it was obvious that canning was not the major employer of wage-labour in food-processing, there was sufficient evidence to sustain the observation that it was the major employer of casual, seasonal and contract female labour in the industry. To that extent, the particular concern and focus on the problems and conditions experienced by female workers was both warranted and revealing.