Since
its establishment, the Centre for Social Concern (CFSC) has recognized
the problems faced by smallholder tobacco workers and their lack of
protection. Because of these
problems, a study was therefore commissioned by CFSC in collaboration
with the JCTR to assess the socio-economic, working and living
conditions of the smallholder tobacco growers and their families on
tobacco estates in Lilongwe,
Mchinji, and Mzimba
districts.
BENEFITS OF THE STUDY
It
was envisioned that the study results would help Unions to open up
debate on the production and purchase of tobacco in Malawi.
Specifically the results of
the survey would help Tenants and Allied Workers Union of Malawi (TOTAWUM)
in its bargaining position with the major stakeholders in the tobacco
industry. Moreover the
results would also strengthen TOTAWUM demand for better living, working
and social economic conditions for its members involved in tobacco
production. Finally, it was
seen that would give input into the newly drafted Tenancy Labour Bill to
be tabled in Parliament in the near future.
STUDY
METHODOLOGY
The
study methodology involved the analysis of the available literature on
the tobacco industry. It
also involved consultations with a wide range of stakeholders aimed at
obtaining their perception of the factors affecting the operations of
the industry. In addition, a
field survey was carried out which covered the districts of Lilongwe,
Mchinji and Mzimba.
The
choice of the districts was based on the fact that these were areas
where most of the tobacco estates were found in Malawi.
The data in the field was
collected through the use of a questionnaire that was written in
Chichewa. The technical team
suspected that a lot of respondents seemed not to be free to give
answers in the presence of their managers. In
order to fill in the gaps, the missing information was collected through
Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The
FGDs were conducted in private, away from the work place of respondents.
It was observed that the
respondents discussed sensitive topics more in FGD than through the
individual interviews.
MAIN FOREIGN EXCHANGE EARNER
Tobacco
production is associated with economic development in Malawi.
It provides employment to a
cross section of Malawians and contributes over 70 per cent of the
country’s foreign exchange earnings. The
powerful forces behind Malawi’s
tobacco-dependent economy are the US
subsidiaries Limber Leaf, Stancom and Demon.
These companies together purchase over 95 per cent of the tobacco
crop and sell it to global cigarettes firms like Philip Morris and
British American Tobacco.
The
study results have revealed that the prices of tobacco prevailing on the
auction floor have been generally declining over the last few years. The
cause for
the low
prices at
the auction floors has recently
been a subject of controversy between the tobacco producers and tobacco
buyers.
On
one hand, the producers believe that the low prices are as a result of
deliberate manipulation of the international buyers who have developed
monopolistic behavior of fixing tobacco prices for their own benefit. The
producers believe that the price fixing by the multinational tobacco
buyers coupled with various government levies on tobacco has grossly
reduced their profit margins. On
the other hand, the buyers blame the low quality and the presence of
plastic in tobacco bales as the real contributors to current low tobacco
prices at the auction floors.
EXPLOITATION ON ESTATES
The
study revealed that tobacco workers live in extreme poverty and are
often subjected to high levels of exploitation. It
was reported that the situation has become more serious since the advent
of market liberalisation. The
majority of the tobacco workers (tenants and contract workers) work
without contracts written or
oral. It
was revealed that their produce is
under-priced due to deliberate under-grading done by the estate owners. This
practice leaves most of the estates workers with huge debt. Furthermore,
many landlords on tobacco estates deny workers basic necessities such as
medication, food when they run out of their monthly allocation, safe
drinking water and housing. In
this survey, some respondents reported to have gone without food for two
or more days during the time of the survey.
Moreover,
estate workers are not entitled to annual or maternity leave, transport
facilities, medical scheme, death gratuity, etc. If
estate workers fall ill, they are neither entitled to sick leave nor
provided transport to go to the hospital.
It
was also established that the degree of women’s involvement in tobacco
production is equal to that of men. In
addition to tobacco production, women are also involved in domestic work
in the household. Despite
their heavy schedules on the tobacco fields and the household their
contributions are not directly rewarded by the estate owners or their
husbands. In one of the
focus group discussions, the women claimed to have been subjected to
mental, sexual and physical abuses from landlords and their own
husbands. The majority of
those interviewed claimed to have been sexually harassed or even raped
by their own masters.
Most
estates do not provide services for school-going children, leading to
high incidences of child labour on tobacco estates. It
was established that although primary school is free in Malawi,
children become part of the workforce by working along side their
parents on tobacco fields. There
was also a lot of evidence that children as young as 10 years become
full time workers on these estates and earning far much less than
adults.
STUDY RECOMMENDATIONS
The
study strongly recommended that there should be signed contract
agreements between the landlords and estate workers (seasonal labour and
tenants) that will stipulate what the landlords will provide as support
services to the workers and how much lump sum will be paid
to the workers at the end of the season.
The
study also recommended that the government through the Ministry of
Labour should ensure that the signing of contracts by both parties be
made compulsory. In
addition, the landlords should have farm record books in which all the
advances made to estate workers are recorded at prevailing current
prices. This will minimize
cheating the estate workers at the end of every season.
The
study established that estate workers are usually helpless people
whose welfare is at the mercy of their landlords.
In the current political
dispensation which promotes freedom of expression
and respect of human rights, the circumstances surrounding the
estate workers can no longer be ignored or tolerated. The
study further strongly recommended for the promotion of trade unions
within the tobacco estates. Their
mandate would be to ensure that estate workers have recourse to
collective bargaining to express their grievances to their landlords and
also to be used as channels for communicating all forms of abuse at work
place. In addition, TOTAWUM
should be carrying out active publicity campaigns of forming trade
unions.
In
order to eradicate child labour, the study recommended that government
should make primary school compulsory for all school going age groups. This
can be enforced through setting up of village-level monitoring
committees. The study
proposed that the estate owners should have a social obligation to
provide socio-economic amenities in areas where there are no schools.
The
study recommended that the draft Tenancy Labour Bill that was prepared
by the Ministry of Labour be tabled in the next sitting of Parliament. It
was learnt that this Bill was drafted by the Ministry of Labour in 1995
and was sent to Ministry of Justice in 1997 where it has been without
being acted upon.
The
draft legislation is a very important tool designed to address all sorts
of labour disputes at workplaces. This
Bill emphasizes written contracts between tenants and landlords covering
things like transportation of tenants, food provisions and
accommodation, and fair loan repayment schemes.
Centre for Social Concern
Lilongwe
