January 2004-March 2011 Overview

 

 

Introduction

ECLT has supported projects in Tanzania since the beginning of 2004. Prior to the current PROSPER project (click here), ECLT funded two projects: the Urambo Tobacco Sector Project (UTSP) from 2004 until 2006; and UTSP II, which ran from 2007 until 2011.

 

Project 1: UTSP I

Project in brief

Project Name	Urambo Tobacco Sector Project (UTSP)
Partners	1. International Labour Organization (ILO)2. Rural Development and Environmental Conservation Trust (RUDECT)3. Youth Advisory and Development Council (YADEC)4. Tuleane Community Based Organization5. Action for Relief and Development Assistance (AFREDA)6. Hope Farming Group (HFG)
Duration	1st January 2004 until 31st December 2006
Expenditure	US$ 557,000
Location	Selected villages in Urambo District, Western Tanzania
Overall goal	1. To provide social protection services to children at risk of entering hazardous child labour on tobacco farms and to those already engaged in it, including some support to the families of the children to earn a better living. 2. To build capacity of local communities to sustainably tackle child labour in tobacco farming in Urambo district.
Expected outputs	1.1 To provide appropriate basic services to at least 600 children under the age of 15 years at risk of entering worst forms of child labour on tobacco farms. 1.2 To distribute enhanced social protection packages to 250 children under the age of 18 years withdrawn from tobacco farming (under COMAGRI programme) 1.3 To provide strategic services to 200 children who are at school but at risk to enter child labour in tobacco farms 1.4 To economically empower at least 250 vulnerable adult family members (of children withdrawn or at risk).2.1 To sensitize and inform communities and local administrative authorities about the hazards and consequences of worst forms of child labour in tobacco farming, and motivate them to eliminate it   2.2 To enhance the capacity of local partners and the implementing agencies to implement programme, prepare progress and financial reports.

Background

At the time of the project, it was estimated that 80 million African children aged 5 to 14 years (one in every three children) were economically active. As the economies of African countries largely depend on agriculture, the overwhelming majority of these children were engaged in the agricultural sector.

Urambo District was – and still is – the leading tobacco farming district in Tanzania, accounting at the time of the project for between 40% and 45% of the total volume of tobacco produced in the country. Tanzania was the third largest producer of tobacco in Africa, after Malawi and Zimbabwe. The importance of tobacco production in the Tanzanian economy is exemplified by the fact that it was, on average, the third most important foreign exchange earner among the country’s ten top-export commodities between 1997 and 2007.

The Urambo Tobacco Sector Project (UTSP) to combat hazardous and exploitative child labour in tobacco farming was initiated following reports that large numbers of children were engaged in hazardous work in tobacco farming. An ILO-IPEC sponsored rapid assessment survey conducted in 2001 confirmed that after completing primary school the majority of children were absorbed into different informal sector work activities including tobacco farming, particularly in rural areas. The rapid assessment survey also revealed that there were significant inflows of children from other districts into the Urambo District for engagement in tobacco farming. Another ILO-IPEC sponsored study in the same year, but independent of the rapid assessment survey, concluded that the neighbouring Kigoma Region was a source for trafficked Rwandan refugee children for engagement in tobacco farming in Urambo.

Following these anecdotal claims and empirical evidence, the ECLT Foundation stepped in to create and fund the UTSP as a complementary action to the efforts of the National Time Bound Programme (TBP) and the Combating Child Labour in Commercial Agriculture (COMAGRI) programme in the District. UTSP  was launched in January 2004, focusing on  Urambo as an administrative ‘District’ and a tobacco growing ‘Region’.

Key Achievements

1.Withdrawal, Prevention and Protection

The project succeeded in its primary aim of protecting children from hazardous child labour in tobacco-growing. Specifically:

• 822 children out of a target of 600 were withdrawn from child labour in tobacco and were provided with educational services.

2.Education and other basic social services

There was general trend of improved school performance in the last two years of the project in Urambo district. This can be ascribed to the combined efforts of the government and the project itself. 

On the government’s side, a new policy of free and compulsory primary education coupled with concerted attempts to enhance the educational infrastructure at the primary and secondary level led to improved standards and performance.

But improved standards were also as a result of the project’s focus on the educational needs of children. This approach not only meant withdrawing children from the fields and placing them in the classroom but also ensuring that they remained there for four years. High quality scholastic materials were issued to children to encourage them to go to school and new classroom blocks were constructed.   Specifically:

• 675 children (381 boys and 294 girls) received school education; 147 children (92 boys and 55 girls) received vocational training.
• 15 schools were constructed .

Closely linked to the project’s achievements around Institutional Capacity Building (see below) there was a significant increase in community and individual fundraising activities to support education-related facilities. Specifically, this included:

• the construction of teachers’ houses at Kaliua village, Kasis village, Itundu village.
• the construction of dormitories at Songambele ward secondary school.

3.Advocacy and awareness-raising

There was a marked increase in adherence to children’s rights over the course of the project. A project-wide awareness campaign centred on the illegal and exploitative nature of child labour. The campaign succeeded for two reasons:

• The public was educated about the basic rights that children were entitled to in terms of food, shelter, healthcare and education.
• Tobacco companies leaf technicians’ made it clear to farmers that child labour was illegal, and that therefore any further use of child labour on farms would result in the companies ceasing to purchase tobacco from that farmer.

4.Institutional capacity building

The project focused on the empowerment of beneficiaries beyond the life of the project itself. The interventions were both sustainable and long-term, and based on a realistic assessment of what would make the most difference. Specifically:

• 36 Community Child Labour Committees were formed which monitored incidents of child labour, and thus acted as a framework of protection for children in the project area.
• Effective networks were established with various partners working on child labour, such as Winrock International.

5.Economic strengthening

The project recognised that vulnerable families would need alternative sources of income to replace the income provided by children when working in tobacco fields. Specifically:

• 150 families benefitted from the support of Income Generating Activities (IGAs), such as maize production, use of animal power for crop production and chicken rearing, out of  a target of 250.
• 430 adult members (203 men and 227 women) of vulnerable families were trained in IGAs.
• 13 credit and saving societies were also created.

Good practices emerging from the project

The identification and encouragement of good practices is essential in any project if it is to be sustainable beyond the life of the project itself. The following good practices emerged from UTSP I:

• The project facilitated the formation and training of village labour committees which served as watchdogs in each village and effectively monitored the presence of children in school.
  • Community support for the project was the catalyst to various development activities. Whilst the project funded the provision of industrial building materials and skilled labour, the communities themselves contributed burnt bricks and unskilled labour.
  • The project encouraged community leaders to identify further initiatives to gather materials for necessary activities, such as the construction of teachers’ houses or the provision of school desks.
  • Vocational students were supported and helped with loans to purchase tools for their chosen professions.
  • Vulnerable parents were supported with IGAs of their choice and to exploit opportunities presented by the market.
  • Teachers at Jionee Mwenyewe primary school ensured that their pupils were at the forefront of the fight to eliminate child labour. The children were taught their rights through song and are now singing these rights to parents during school closing sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays.
  • The Tanzania Tobacco Board, the Association of Tanzanian Tobacco Traders, the Western Zone Tobacco Growers Cooperative Union formed a steering committee to assist with awareness raising for tobacco growers in the country. As a result, the industry funds a radio programme through Mwanza based Radio Free Africa to raise awareness with tobacco growers on the effects of hazardous child labour.
  • The tobacco trading companies Tanzania Leaf Tobacco Company and Alliance One Tobacco Company established  oxen training centres. Trained animals and implements (ploughs and carts) are loaned to tobacco growers at interest-free rates.

 

Project 2: UTSP II

The end of project evaluation found that UTSP had been worthwhile and recommended a second phase. Among the key programme recommendations for the next phase were:

1. To make a greater effort to lobby and involve the tobacco industry in efforts to reduce child labour in tobacco-growing
2. To give more support to income generating activities (particularly women) and to support the formation of savings and credit societies, and the need for thorough market analysis
3. To set up a more effective model for vocational training
4. To extend support beyond primary school
5. To include upstream activities to ensure sharing and replication

Project in brief

Project Name	Urambo Tobacco Sector Project (UTSP) II
Implementing Partner	International Labour Organization (ILO) /International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)
Duration	1st February 2007 until 31st March 2011
Expenditure	US$ 1,439,671
Location	Selected villages in Urambo District, Western Tanzania (as in UTSP I)
Purpose	To utilise and build on acquired partner skills and use these to address the root causes of child labour in tobacco growing in Urambo and at large and assist the Government in achieving the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (MKUKUTA) goals for elimination of child labour and poverty eradication.
Development objective	To contribute to the prevention and elimination of child labour in the country, particularly hazardous child labour in tobacco growing.
Immediate objectives	Model interventions for the prevention and elimination of child labour in tobacco growing will be in place in Urambo district. The capacity of relevant institutions to address child labour issues in a sustainable manner will be strengthened
Expected outputs	1.1. At least 1,500 girls and boys, up to 15 years of age, involved in or at risk of hazardous child labour in tobacco sector will be withdrawn from child labour or prevented from entering child labour through educational opportunities. 1.2. At least 200 girls and boys aged 14-18, involved in or at risk of hazardous child labour in the tobacco sector will be provided with formal/informal vocational or skills training. 1.3. At least 300 mothers, fathers, guardians among the most vulnerable ones across the nine wards will be trained and supported for income-generation activities. 2.1. District Child Labour Committees and Community Child Labour Committees will be trained and functional.2.2. Community-based simple and basic child labour monitoring programme will be established.   2.3. Implementing agencies and partners will be trained on child labour issues and management of action programmes.   2.4. At least 30 educators, including teachers, will be trained as trainers.   2.5. At least 900 farmers (i.e. 100 per Urambo Tobacco Sector Programme ward), including leaf technicians, will be provided orientation on issues related to child labour and corporate social responsibility issues.   2.6. At least 20 district officials will be trained on child labour integration issues.   2.7. At least 9 schools (one per ward) will establish school-based income generating activities.   2.8. Urambo Tobacco Sector Programme experiences will be documented   2.9. Action-oriented research and impact assessment will be undertaken to provide information on critical issues

Key Achievements

1.Withdrawal, Prevention and Protection

The project succeeded in its primary aim of protecting children from hazardous child labour in tobacco-growing. Specifically:

• 1,973 children between 8 and 17 old directly benefited from the project interventions.
• 1,001 children were withdrawn from child labour and 972 were prevented from entering into child labour.

Education and other basic social services
The establishment of a more effective vocational training model had a positive impact on the project’s benficiaries. Specifically:

• 473 children between 14 and 18  years old were trained in vocational and business skills in two colleges.
• Classes sponsored by the project included masonry, carpentry and tailoring.
• The renovation and upgrading of the training facilities at the Folk Development College in Urambo was completed. Dormitories were equipped with beds and mattresses and a water tank was constructed.

2.Advocacy and awareness-raising

Building on the success of the the first phase of the project, awareness-raising was further embedded into the work of both farmers and tobacco companies’ leaf technicians:

• 900 tobacco farmers and 45 tobacco leaf technicians were trained in child labour issues and improved farming and business practices.
• This included three booklets on child labour. The booklets included a general definition of child labour, the factors that cause child labour and how to overcome them.
• Training also focused on financial management, the use of oxen for ploughing, supporting education for children, promoting gender equality, and health and safety in farming.

3.Institutional capacity building

Successful Community Child Labour Committees were established in the first phase of the project. Following on from this:

• 18 implementing agencies  were trained in project management.
• A Child Labour Monitoring System was developed and implemented in four wards in Urambo District. Urambo District Council is in the process of expanding its coverage to another five wards.

4.Economic strengthening

A specific recommendation for more income-generating activities  (IGAs) was made in the final evaluation report of UTSP I. IGAs therefore played a central role in the interventions of this phase of the project.

• 405 families either with children in child labour or at risk of entering in child labour were trained in IGAs.
• These activities included support for crop diversification such as sunflower and market food crops and tailoring.
• Beneficiary families were issued with shared sewing machines and foot water pumps.
• 18 teachers from the nine primary schools (two per school) covered by the project were trained in financial management and profitable IGAs.
• These teachers were then qualified to coordinate IGAs in their schools.

5.Collaboration to strengthen sustainability

The project was designed so that interventions to reduce child labour lasted well beyond the lifespan of the project itself. Several activities were undertaken to ensure this:

• Some of the children sponsored and trained on vocational skills during the project were refered to the Youth Entrepreneurship Facility to receive further entrepreneurship skills and support.
• The child labour book series was launched in May 2010. It covered the following topics: “The Concept of Child Labour,” “National Policies, Legislation and Strategies  on Child Labour” and finally “Child Labour, Commercial Agriculture and the Role of Tobacco Farmers”. All key stakeholders, including tobacco companies, were given copies to be used by the leaf technicians to train farmers in all tobacco growing regions.
• One of the most successful collaborations of the project was with the private sector. UTSP provided technical support for the insertion of child labour into the training curriculum of the leaf technicians (LTs) who are trained at Urambo seed farms. These LTs, who work for tobacco companies, are then dispatched throughout the tobacco growing regions of Tanzania where they can disseminate child labour messages to the farmers they work with. LTs actively monitor child labour in the field and report infractions. The ECLT project therefore impacted not only in Urambo but also other tobacco growing districts.