Malawi addresses child labour problem

Children work in the tobacco fields

By Raphael Tenthani in Blantyre

Malawi's tobacco industry, which generates up to 70% of the country's entire foreign exchange earnings, has been reeling under heavy criticism from trade unions and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) over the use of child labour.

This week captains of the industry convened a meeting in the capital, Lilongwe, to discuss the extent of the problem and how to tackle it.

Fredgstone Thangwi, vice president of the Tobacco Association of Malawi (Tama) admitted it was true under-aged children were being used in tobacco estates in Malawi.

He, however, said this was partly because of falling tobacco prices that force farmers to use children as they are paid much less despite being expected to work just as hard as adults.

Tama has set up a committee to look into ways of eliminating child labour on the tobacco farms.

ILO action

The announcement comes fast on the heels of a warning by the ILO and the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) that Malawi tobacco - dubbed the "green gold" here for its importance to the economy - risks sanctions because of the use of child labour in estates.

Tea plantations also use child labour

MCTU chair for women's affairs, Dorothea Makhasu, said an ILO-funded survey on tobacco and tea estates - two of Malawi's principle cash crops - indicated that very young children are being used to work in the most hostile conditions.

The survey nonetheless attributed the growing child labour problem in Malawi to chronic poverty among most Malawian households which forces many children to help their parents searching for food.

Naphtal Mtema, a senior tobacco councillor, said the problem of child labour can be eliminated if only there was greater commitment among better off communities in taking care of their less privileged kith and kin.

Poverty trap

Most speakers at the conference were of the view that while tobacco farmers can put a stop on employing children as a matter of principle parents will still continue taking along their children to farms to help them because they cannot afford to send them to school anyway.

The brief of the committee set up to look into the problem is therefore to assess the extent of the problem in tobacco estates and propose how best to integrate those children already in farm in schools.

The committee is also expected to come up with penalties for whoever farmer continues to use child labour.

Meanwhile, the Malawi Congress of Trade Unions has said it will lobby Parliament to enact laws that will make it criminal to employ anyone under the age of 16.