Child Labour in Tobacco Growing

Tobacco and nicotine companies profit from child labour. Child labour in tobacco growing is one of the worst forms of child labour. Still, in all major tobacco growing countries there are children working on the fields. Many of them develop Green Tobacco Sickness as a result.

What is child labour?

Children have various reasons for working and not all work performed by children is considered child labour. Some children may work in order to help family members or to be able to pay for their living. Some jobs can help children acquire certain skills or achieve their goals. This may include the wish to continue attending school and therefore be able to pay school fees or maybe have an income to fulfill their individual wishes.

According to the article 32 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), children have the right to be protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development. The ILO Convention 182 considers work that harms the mental and physical health or the safety of children and adolescents as one of the worst forms of child labour, which must be eliminated and banned globally.

Child labour puts basic children’s rights at risk, for example the inherent right to life, the rights to be heard, to health, to education, to rest and leisure and to be protected from violence, economic exploitation and addictive substances. All these rights have been agreed on in the UNCRC.

Children and teenagers should be able to decide freely, whether they want to work or not. They need a life, in which they are not forced to work due to their social status or family circumstances. This includes ensuring that their parents can work under decent conditions, earn a living wage and receive social security, e.g. against illness and accidents at work.

Considering the various realities of children everywhere, we need to distinguish between working children and child labour. Working children are a social group. Their work should be appreciated and they should be able to work in dignity. Therefore, they should be able to have a say in decision making and recieve fair pay.

However, the exploitative conditions under which children work should not be appreciated and instead immediately stopped. Child labour harms children and teenagers and puts their basic rights at risk.

Child labour in tobacco growing

There is no global research on how many children are working in tobacco growing, but there are reports from all major tobacco growing countries. The US Department of Labor annually publishes a List of all Goods Produced with Forced and Child Labor. In 2024 there were 17 countries on the list for using child labour in tobacco growing.¹

Nevertheless cultivation in the USA and in Bangladesh or India for example is not mentioned despite public reports of child labour on tobacco fields there.

Children from the ages of 5 work in tobacco fields. The work is hard and dangerous. The children have to prepare seedbeds by turning soil and cutting down trees. They remove weeds on the fields and bring out fertilizers and pesticides without protective gear.

During harvesting the green tobacco leaves, children are exposed to the risk of contracting nicotine poisoning, because nicotine can enter the body through the skin. Even small amounts of the neurotoxic substance can cause a severe nicotine poisoning called Green Tobacco Sickness. It causes nausea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness and episodes of weakness.

A study conducted by Plan International in 2009 showed that children working in tobacco fields in Malawi might absorb up to 54 milligrammes of nicotine through the skin every day. This is equivalent to the nicotine contained in 50 cigarettes.

By working in tobacco fields, children can get the following injuries and diseases:

• poisoning like the Green Tobacco Sickness
• skin rashes, allergic reactions, breathing difficulties, vision impairment, chemical poisoning, liver damage, neurological diseases and infertility due to exposure to chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides
• bone and joint deformation caused by carrying heavy loads
• back pain during harvest
• Sunstrokes
• snakebites and mosquito-borne diseases
• cuts and blisters
• severe exhaustion and fatigue

The acute and long-term health effects of tobacco cultivation jeopardise children’s development. Additionally, after 5 to 6 hours work daily, the children have little time to rest and often have to completely neglect school during the harvest. Without a degree their chances for a higher income and social security are low, thus destroying their chances of escaping the circle of poverty.

This is why child labour in tobacco growing harms children and their basic rights.

According to the ILO Convention 182, child labour in tobacco growing is one of he worst forms of child labour. Therefore any child under the age of 18 should not be performing work related to tobacco production at all.

Why do children work in tobacco growing?

Even though the reasons for work performed by children are diverse, the main reason for child labour in tobacco growing is the poverty of their families. Through their work the children contribute to the income and the livelihood of their families.

This is because of the low prices that tobacco companies or plantation owners pay for the leaf tobacco. Therefore, the farmers live in poverty and often in debt despite their hard work. In order to pay off the debt, they grow more tobacco than they can handle with the work force of the adults and are unable to pay seasonal workers. Thus, they have to rely on the unpaid labour of their own children.

How to prevent child labour in tobacco growing

To end the circle of exploitation and poverty, farmers need a proper income that covers their living expenses. This means that tobacco companies must pay higher prices for the tobacco to enable families not to rely on the work of their children.

This includes that the basic rights of tobacco farmers and workers on the tobacco fields, for example in Malawi, need to be protected. They need written, legally enforcable contracts and appropriate adequate payment.

Additionally, the Act on Corporate Due Diligence in Supply Chains in Germany and Europe is an important legal measure. It obliges companies adhere to human rights and environmental standards. It is important that workers are informed about their rights, the due diligence legislation and the associated options for complaints, as well as they need to know that they can take action against child labour caused by tobacco companies, for example, and how to do so.

Furthermore, the availability and chances of education for children in tobacco growing countries need to be improved. According to the UNCRC, elementary school education is compulsary. This means that governments, for example in Malawi or Bangladesh, need to ensure access to a proper elementary school education for children. School meal initiatives supported by governments for example, are a good incentive for children to attend school.

In the long term, however, it is important for a decent and self-determined life for the farmers and their families that they can develop sustainable future prospects for themselves based on decent work. This can be achieved by quitting tobacco cultivation and creating alternative livelihoods. For instance, farmers in Brasil switched from tobacco growing to growing food crops, that they sell on local markets and to school meal initiatives.

1. According to the US Department of Labour, children are working on tobacco fields in the following countries:

   Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Cambodia, Kenya, Kyrgyz Republic, Lebanon, Malawi, Mexico, Mosambique, Nicaragua, Philippines, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Vietnam, Zimbabwe. Not included in the list: USA, Bangladesh, India. Additionally, in India and Bangladesh children are working in the bidi production.