The ECLT Foundation's first results in reducing child labour in
tobacco-growing

18 months into its 4-year TECS project in Malawi, the ECLT Foundation commissioned an independent researcher to carry out a mid-term evaluation and look at the project impact in reducing child labour among tobacco farming communities in Dowa district.

This mid-term evaluation report has just been handed over by the evaluator, Ms Juliet le Breton, a British national with a long experience working in the development field including with Oxfam and the World Bank.

The key findings are very encouraging and demonstrate that by addressing the causes of child labour – which is mainly poverty driven – the project is having an impressively quick and positive impact in reducing child labour.

The evaluator's main findings and conclusions are:

• within a short timeframe, the project has resulted in children having a better quality of life, access to education and significantly reduced workloads
• the 32 % increase in school enrolment and 64 % decrease in school dropouts have reduced opportunities for child labour
• the improvement in food security among the communities who have had access to the project's irrigation schemes has decreased reliance on children's additional incomes
• the provision of safe water through the project's shallow wells has reduced the incidence of water-borne death and disease, and resulted in children spending less time collecting water
• there is a high level of ownership, participation and commitment among the local communities, which points to long-term sustainability of the project.

For the report's full conclusions, please click here.

This evaluation report was discussed on 24 February 2004 at the seventh ECLT Foundation Board meeting. The Foundation Board members expressed their satisfaction as to the achievements made by TECS project so far and approved the second part of the project funding (years 3 and 4). In order to complement the project's integrated approach, they have also agreed to expand into the health sector as health is the "make or break" of family economy in developing countries. This should further increase the project's impact on child labour.

The ECLT Foundation is very encouraged by these first results which reinforce its commitment to address child labour in tobacco-growing in a comprehensive form by:

• raising awareness on child labour among the rural communities
• improving access to education
• improving the communities' living conditions (food security, health, sanitation, reforestation, etc).

Geneva, 9 March 2004