Tobacco industry admits to use of child labour

Malawi’s multi-million dollar tobacco industry admitted on Thursday that it uses illegal cheap child labour on the country’s massive plantations, African Eye News Service reported. Tobacco Association of Malawi (TAMA) vice president Fredgstone Thangwi publicly conceded that the industry, which accounts for most of Malawi’s formal employment in the agriculture sector, used some child labour. The children were also, he said, paid much less than adults but were expected to work just as hard. The admission followed shortly after the country’s Tea Exporters Association took out large newspaper adverts denying that child labour was used on tobacco plantations or in tobacco processing plants. Thangwi stressed that TAMA did not condone the use of child labourers, and said blanket denials by tobacco growers were misleading. “There are employers who strongly deny the use of child labour. Such denials are unfortunate because child labour exists. It would be a disaster if international labour authorities were to come out here to inspect us,” said Thangwi. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has previously threatened to lobby for international trade sanctions against Malawi unless the country urgently clamps down on child labour and other labour abuses. Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) president John Mhango welcomed Thangwi’s “confession” as a constructive first step to wiping out the abuse. “Child labour is an evil practice that contributes to Malawi’s poverty rates. Most of these children are denied schooling and grow up illiterate and uneducated,” Mhango said. Malawi’s crucial tobacco industry is under threat, but it remains the country’s top foreign exchange earner, accounting for 70 percent of the country’s agricultural exports.