The agricultural sector employs nearly 70 per cent of child labour globally. Tobacco is an important cash crop in a hundred countries. Where tobacco is grown child labour tends to be prevalent.

Children in agriculture

The agricultural sector employs nearly 70 per cent of child labour globally – that is 132 million girls and boys aged between 5-14 years old.

Agriculture, alongside mining and construction is ranked as one of the most dangerous industries. A further concern particularly in agriculture is the lack of regulation. Some countries exclude agriculture from labour legislation or have lower requirements for agriculture. The International Labour Organization (ILO) has recognised this and has developed a compressive range of instruments to give guidance on working conditions in the sector. For example this includes Convention 11 on rights of association in agriculture, Convention 110 on plantations, Convention 141 on rural workers’ organisations, Convention 169 on labour inspection in agriculture and Convention 184 on safety and health in agriculture.

For a good summary of conditions in the sector see chapter 6 in ILO’s report Promotion of rural employment of poverty reduction. 

Child labour is common in areas and countries where tobacco is grown. The main drivers for child labour are poverty and inter-related issues like HIV/AIDS, lack of food security and lack of access to education. HIV/AIDS is robbing children of their parents or leaving them caring for dying parents. Children have little choice but to support siblings and sick parents. For those lucky enough to have healthy parents the costs and quality of schooling means that it is either not available to them, or is simply not effective. In many rural communities the lack of access to basic healthcare, clean water and sanitation adds to a precarious existence for families and their children.

See an ILO film on child labour in agriculture.  Also from the ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour there is a useful overview of child labour in agriculture, ‘Tackling hazardous child labour in agriculture: Guidance on policy and practice.’

Child labour in tobacco

Tobacco is a major cash crop. It is farmed in over 100 countries. It is labour intensive requiring a total of 33 million workers globally at farm level. As in other agricultural sectors, child labour is prevalent, particularly in the poorer areas. Often the whole family is involved in the cultivation and harvesting process. Children provide ‘adjustable labour’ at peak periods and sometimes contribute to a third of labour input.

Though still scarce, information on child labour in tobacco growing has been documented in some reports. Before ECLT was founded the Fafo, (Institute for Labour and Social Research) published a Report on Child Labour in the Tobacco Growing Sector in Africa.

Below is an extract from the document:

“Previous studies indicate that the use of child labour on the tobacco estates is in fact continuous and part of the overall labour market. Children are usually not employed directly on the estates but work as part of the tenant family. When a tenant is employed on the estate he or she is employed as the head of the household and responsible for fulfilling the quota required by the estate owner. This quota cannot be grown unless the entire family of the tenant is involved in the growing of tobacco. Children are then directly involved in all aspects of tobacco growing.

“The following facts about child labour have been extracted from previous studies:

• Seventy-eight percent of children between 10 and 14 years work either full-time or part-time with their parents at the estates.
• A study in the Thyolo district, in Malawi, found that children between 6 and 14 years account for 8 per cent of all regularly working household members in male-headed households and 29 per cent in female-headed households.
• 20 per cent of all children under 15 years were reported by their parents as working full-time and a further 21 per cent were working part-time.
• For children 10 to 14 years, the proportion working full-time and part-time were 46 and 32 per cent respectively.
• Children under 10 years of age were also found working alongside their parents as full-time workers in almost all the tasks of tobacco cultivation.
• About 43 per cent of the estates have children as direct labourers, and 46 per cent as casual labourers.
• The proportion of owners and managers providing wage rates for child employees was 8 per cent in the case of children working as direct labourers and 15 per cent where they were employed as casual labourers.
• There seems to be no discrimination between male and female children as far as child labour is concerned.”

More recently ECLT has conducted some baseline surveys to examine the extent and nature of child labour in tobacco growing. Details from these can be found below.

Child labour in tobacco growing areas in Malawi

A baseline survey commissioned by ECLT in August 2008 set out to determine the nature and extent of child labour in two tobacco growing districts in Malawi (Suza in Kasungu district and Katalima in Dowa district). It aimed to map out the socioeconomic make up of the communities in these areas.

The study found that:

Well over half of all children (57%) are involved in activities indicative of child labour. These children are working more than 14 hours a week, being paid, missing school and/or undertaking hazardous tasks. 63% of children of tobacco growing families and 51% of non-tobacco growing families are involved in child labour.

36% of children from tobacco growing families are undertaking tobacco related work for long hours i.e. more than 14 hrs a week thus defining it as child labour. This proportion of children goes up to 43% in the 6 to 11 age range. One third of children from tobacco growing families are exposed to hazardous tasks.

Amongst those involved in child labour:

• 12% of children were injured or sick because of work.
• 24% are exposed to hazardous work (for instance carrying heavy loads, work causing injuries/sickness, application of chemicals, working more than 43 hours per week)
• 32% of children in tobacco growing families are exposed to hazardous work environments, 24% of children apply chemicals.
• 8% of all the children were out of school because of work or their schooling is affected by work. This percentage is 10% for six to14 year olds from tobacco growing families (14% amongst 12 to14 year olds).
• Illness is the main reason given by the children for school absenteeism.
• 16% of the parents said their children were out of school because of an inability to buy school materials like uniforms, shoes and money for fees.

Find out more about this study.

Child labour in tobacco growing areas in the Philippines

An ECLT survey was conducted in ECLT project areas in 2008: Alcala in Pangasinan, Balaoanin La Union, San Emilioin Ilocos Sur, San Juan in Ilocos Sur, Pinili in Ilocos Norte. The survey found that:

• Nearly half of all the children (47%) in the project areas are involved in an activity indicative of child labour. Specifically by age group, 66% of children aged 12 to 14 are involved in activities indicative of child labour, 44% of children aged six to 11 and 31% of 15 to 17 year olds.
• Child labour is more prevalent amongst tobacco growing families. 68% of children in tobacco growing families are involved in activities indicative of child labour as compared with 40% in non-tobacco growing families.
• The average weekly hours worked by children in tobacco growing families are fourteen hours in the low tobacco season and over 19 in the high season. 13-15 year olds work on average 27 hours a week in the high season.
• 13% of children are exposed to the worst forms of child labour. This broke down as 5% of six to 11 year olds; 14% of 10 to 14 year olds; 27% of 15 to 17 year olds. Amongst tobacco farmers’ families 24% of children are exposed to the worst forms of child labour.
• In the entire tobacco growing community
  • 7% of all children work more than 43 hours a week
  • 16% of 15 to 17 year olds work more than 43 hours a week
  • 2% of children were injured or sick because of work
  • 6.5% of the children are  involved in hazardous activities (eg applying chemicals)

Child labour in tobacco growing areas in Mozambique

An ECLT study in Mozambique in 2006 found that 80% of the tobacco growing households had children working on tobacco farms. This represents 68% of children aged 6 to 14 years old and 90% of the children aged 15 to 17 years old. The majority (81%) of those involved in child labour were younger than 15.

Working conditions
Half of the working children aged 15 to 17 performed all tobacco-related activities during the crop season while three quarters of the age group 6 to 14 (74.6%) only occasionally performed some tobacco-related tasks. The most common activities carried out by the majority of the working children were picking, curing and marketing of tobacco leaves. The assessment of the working environment and conditions revealed that there were various hazards and risks faced by working children. These emanated from the nature of the tasks performed, ranging from simple cuts inflicted by the tools they use to exposure to extreme climatic conditions and to chemicals.

Most of the children aged 6 to 14 working on small-scale tobacco farms were not wage earners as they were considered support for the family. However, 40% of smallholder tobacco growers gave a wage to working children aged 15 to 17, and to 18% of children aged 6 to 14.

Schooling versus labouring
81% of children aged 6 to 14 and 63% of children aged 15 to 17 included were attending school. On average it took 10 years for children to reach level 5. Dropout was an important problem and many children were not able to complete the basic education level. Working children were less likely to go to school (27%) than non-working children (14%). Poverty was found to be a major cause for children not going to school. Unsuccessful tobacco-growing households (those who did not make a benefit or even had a debt to tobacco companies in 2005) were more likely to have their children aged 6 to 14 out of school than successful farmers (40% versus 18%).

Find out more about this study.

Work that children in tobacco growing in Tanzania are involved in

The Report on Child Labour in the Tobacco Growing Sector in Africa, mentioned above, highlights the following activities undertaken by children:

• Clearing tobacco and other crop plantations;
• Making bricks;
• Domestic work;
• Building tobacco drying sheds;
• Preparing tobacco nurseries;
• Sowing tobacco seedlings;
• Watering tobacco seedlings;
• Transplanting tobacco seedlings and tilling tobacco ridges;
• Fertilising tobacco plants;
• Weeding tobacco and other crops;
• Cutting poles and logs of firewood;
• Carrying poles and logs of firewood from forests;
• Plucking tobacco leaves;
• Hanging tobacco leaves on poles in tobacco drying sheds;
• Smoking tobacco leaves;
• Hanging tobacco leaves from poles in drying sheds;
• Plaiting tobacco leaves;
• Grading tobacco leaves;
• Tying tobacco leaves in bundles;
• Selling tobacco;
• Burning tobacco stems;
• Harvesting other crops.

Download the full report