Click on the map to see the ECLT programs in Malawi

Malawi was the main case study (as per the FAFO Research Report on Child Labour in the Tobacco Growing Sector in Africa) discussed during the October 2000 Conference in Nairobi, "Eliminate Child Labour: Establishing Best Practice in Tobacco Farming", which led to the creation of the ECLT Foundation.

Malawi depends heavily on the production of tobacco, which represents over 70% of its exports and foreign exchange earnings. Two-thirds of tobacco growers are smallholder farmers who often ask their children to take part in the family economy. The remaining tobacco farmers are hired by estate owners as wage workers or tenants.

They often use their children to supplement a family income that is so low that they end up indebted to the land owner on a long-term basis. Infrastructure and especially schools are very precarious, not maintained and often lacking.