In the FCA bulletin 110 (page 4) Laura Green (Berlin) and Marty Otanez (Denver) sign a very interesting article about the situation in Malawi and how to develop effective strategies to help exploited tobacco farmers.
A proposal sponsored by Father Michael Crosby of the Capuchin Order asked for Philip Morris not to purchase from farms where there is child labor. It did not pass but it is a reminder of the importance of continuing to push for the eradication of child labor, mostly driven by the low pay of tobacco workers.
Des milliers d'enfants travaillant dans les plantations de tabac au
Malawi souffrent d'un empoisonnement à la nicotine équivalant à la
consommation de 50 cigarettes par jour, a dénoncé PLAN, une
organisation de défense des droits des enfants dans un rapport (en anglais) intitulé Hard Work, Long Hours, Little Pay.
Auction Holdings Limited Malawi, has called on tobacco farmers to stop using children in their farms. The
company’s General Manager Evance Matabwa said this practice of using
children to work in tobacco estates is against international labour
China is discussing a huge tobacco investment in the African
nation of Malawi. This became known after the recent visit of Chinese
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to the country, and according to Chinese
Ambassador Lin Songtian.
Malawian youngsters are ranked number three
among 12 African countries currently implementing a tobacco smoking
control African situational analysis (ATSA) programme, figures from
World Health Organisation revealed this week.
Top civil servant in the Ministry of Health Chris Kang’ombe on
Wednesday admitted that the country’s reliance on tobacco has affected
the fight against malaria as there are resistance to the adoption of
use of Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane (DDT) spraying which is proven
to eradicate the fatal disease.
Bannatyne, multi-millionaire and the scourge of Dragons' Den, journeys
to Africa to explore the rise in the number of kids smoking, and the
activities of one tobacco company in particular.
He uncovers evidence of the extraordinary marketing tactics of BAT which he believes are encouraging kids
to smoke. His sharp business brain forensically gathers the evidence
and then confronts the company back in London.
But this is not just a hard hitting investigation, this is an emotional
journey for Bannatyne. An ex-smoker himself, he loves Africa and in his
travels he has a laugh with a tobacco grower, is teased by the dinner
ladies at a school in Malawi where he helps to cook the dinner and he
has to deal with the cockroach in his hotel room. He also meets kids as
young as 11 who are not only smoking ten a day, but also trying to make
a living selling cigarettes.
There is a crisis for the tobacco farmers and farm workers in Malawi.
Many are facing extreme poverty and little or no money for their work in
Despite pressure from the Tobacco Tenants and Allied Workers Union of
Malawi, the trade union representing the country's tobacco farmers and
farm workers, national legislation to improve the living and working
introduced in the 1990s is being delayed.
In the spirit of FCTC Article 17 on support for economically viable
alternatives for tobacco farmers and providing farmers with improved
livelihoods to transition to healthy and environment-friendly crops,
support Malawi tobacco farmers’ efforts to create a regulatory