On 5 March 2021, the National Employment Council (NEC) for Agriculture in Zimbabwe announced a 22% minimum wage increase for the Timber Sector effective on 1 January 2021. The latest increase in wages will see the lowest-paid grade-A1 earning ZWL$5856.00/month and the highest grade – C2 earning $11614.40/month. According to Zim-Stat, the National Statistics Agency, the Total Consumption Poverty Line for one person in January 2021 stood at $4987/month. This means that an individual required that much to purchase both non-food and food items as of January 2021 in order not to be deemed poor. Many economic experts classify the Zimbabwean economy as largely informal due to the high unemployment rate which is noted to stand above 80% and the growing informal markets.
Growing poverty, growing informal market| Photo by Jekesai Njikizana/AFP
So what does the wage increase mean for the lowest-paid timber plantation laborer? Speaking to one plantation general hand who chose to remain anonymous the current wage increase translates to US$55 United States dollar for the lowest-paid grade and US$110 for the highest-paid plantation worker in the informal market. Worker's pockets are already tight squeezed with food prices and basic household necessities skyrocketing monthly. According to the World Bank February 2021 Outlook report, the annual inflation rate for Zimbabwe stood at 322%.
Source; https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=RMW
Zimbabwe does not have a national minimum wage, as the 22 NEC’s set their industry minimum wage. The NEC for Agriculture is a bipartite organization with equal representation from employers and employee organizations.
