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Abstract:
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The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has estimated that 211 million children-one of every five child between 5 to 14 years - are engaged in economic activities worldwide. 48 million of those children live in Sub-Saharan Africa and most of them are working in the agricultural sector. In recent years, Malawi has been seen to be one of the worst countries on die continent when it comes to child labour practices, and attention has especially been directed at die tobacco-growing sector. Less is known about die situation in other commercial agricultural sectors, as die tea sector, which is another major export sector in die Malawian economy. Malawi Congress of Trade Unions (MCTU) has received various reports on serious incidents of child labour also in tea growing, but there is a lack of systematic knowledge on the situation. On this background, MCTU and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) decided to conduct a pilot study on child labour in the tea sector, in cooperation with Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science (Fafo).
The objectives of die project were to:
• Get an overview of existing information and research on child labour in the tea sector in Malawi
• Explore die needs and possibilities for further research on child labour in the tea sector |