Child labour in tobacco cultivation in Santiago Province in the Dominican Republic: ILO/IPEC, April 2004

The ECLT Foundation commissioned the International Labour Organization and its Programme on the Elimination of Child labour (ILO/IPEC) to research the extent of child labour used in tobacco-growing in the Dominican Republic.

Summary of the results

The research estimates that 5,400 to 6,000 children under 18 work in tobacco farms, mainly in the Santiago province. Almost all of them are working in small-scale family farms which belong to their parents or relatives. While most of these children attend school, many drop out without having completed primary school (6th grade). The main consequence for children involved in tobacco-growing is poor performance and low attendance at school: twice as many children repeat classes in Santiago province compared to the national average.

The research identifies that no children are employed in cigar or cigarette manufacturing and that the main problem concerns the small-scale family farming sector.

Recommendations

Recommendations of the researchers include the development of new school-based approaches to make education more attractive: food programmes, grants for poor parents to encourage them to send their children to school, non-formal education and after-school programmes. The research also suggests that monitoring and labour inspections need to be developed by the Dominican Institute of Tobacco (Intabaco) and UN organisations.

Download the Executive Summary in English
Download the entire research document in Spanish

Geneva, 4 March 2005