10.15 Ethical farming issues
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10.15.1 Tobacco farming and child labour
According to the International Labour Organization[34] (an agency of the United Nations), about 166 million children aged between 5 and 14 were involved in child labour in 2006. Nearly 70% of these children were active in the agricultural sector.221 Most child labour occurs in the Asia-Pacific region, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.221 Child labour is common in many regions in which tobacco is grown, although the overall number of children involved is not known. Reports of the plight of child workers in tobacco plantations are available from commentators in Uganda, Zambia, Kenya and Malawi. These accounts describe the long hours and labour intensity of tobacco farming, and the economic necessity for children to work.199, 200, 222, 223 Apart from denying children access to education, work in the tobacco fields may also be hazardous, exposing children to pesticides and other chemicals, and to toxicity due to nicotine in the leaf ('green tobacco sickness'—see also Chapter 3, Section 3.20).
Poverty is a major impetus behind child labour, but not the only one: the ILO also identifies other important influences including social inequality, paucity of educational opportunities and options for decent adult employment, strongly agrarian economies, and traditional and cultural norms. Unscrupulous employers may play a part, and external events such as natural disasters, epidemics (such as HIV/AIDS) and armed conflict also push children into adopting the role of breadwinner.224
Not surprisingly the tobacco industry states its abhorrence of child labour, and each of the companies which operate in Australia provides its policies for perusal on its website.3, 5, 8
In 2002 the International Tobacco Growers' Association (ITGA)[35] established the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco (ELCT) Foundation with a membership comprising workers' unions, tobacco manufacturers and the ITGA itself, with the aim of assessing the extent of child labour in tobacco growing, supporting projects to combat child labour, and sharing best practice.225 The ELCT Foundation's 2005–06 Annual Report details activities in several countries in Africa, the Philippines, Indonesia, Argentina and Kyrgyzstan.226
The effectiveness of these policies and programs remains a matter for debate. Research by the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education into the background and modus operandi of the ELCT Foundation has shown that the primary concern for the tobacco companies involved was to enhance their corporate image, without initiating any real change which might undermine the financial benefits presented by child labour.227 The authors of this study comment that the costs of banning child labour and introducing decent working conditions and remuneration for adult tobacco workers in Malawi would be about US$10 million a year, a sum easily affordable given the enormous revenues of the tobacco companies.227
10.15.2 Tobacco farming and 'fair trade'
'Fair trade' describes commercial transactions in which farmers and labourers who produce a commodity are paid a fair price, allowing for decent wages, living conditions and community sustainability.[36] Fair trade is most often associated with tea, coffee, cotton and cocoa grown in the developing world and sold to more wealthy countries. A noted in Section 10.8.1, most tobacco is sourced from the developing world where farming conditions are often harsh. Acknowledging this, the concept of fair trade in tobacco has been launched with 1st-Nation cigarettes, a brand produced by a small company led by and employing Mohawk Natives on the Akwesasne Reservation close to the border of New York and Ontario, using tobacco sourced from selected independent tobacco farmers in Malawi. At the time of writing, these cigarettes could only be purchased in the UK.94
While the good intentions of the individuals involved are not in doubt, the concept of a 'fair trade' cigarette has raised eyebrows. If the touchstone of fair trade products is ethical trading practices, what are the implications if the product itself is inherently dangerous when used as the manufacturer intended?228 Ironically, the very people which 1st-Nation wishes to support—poor tobacco farmers in the developing world and First Nation peoples of North America—are especially affected by the burden of tobacco-caused death and disease.[37] To date, 1st-Nation has not been accredited by any international fair trade organisation, since none of these organisations has endorsed standards which cover tobacco production.94
[35] For further discussion about ITGA, refer to Section 10.20.5
[36] See the international website for Fairtrade for further information: http://www.fairtrade.net/about_fairtrade.html
[37]Like some other Indigenous peoples, First Nation people have a higher prevalence of smoking than the rest of their country's population and hence bear greater health consequences (see Chapter 8, Section 8.3.4 ). The burden of death and disease due to smoking is shifting to the developing world, where prevalence of smoking has not declined and in some regions continues to increase (see Chapter 3, Section 3.36 ).
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