Farmers in this country have been advised to refrain from using child labour especially at this time when field work is gradually picking. Tama Farmers Trust President Abiel Masache Kalima Banda said this on Wednesday, January 25 afternoon when he officially received a certificate and a medal of recognition for being the best member institution in the fight against child labour in 2022.
“It is pleasing to note that more and more organisations are recognizing our work in the fight against child labour. The Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM) went through a rigorous process in assessing their members in various categories. To have been recognised as the best awardee in this category is not only good news but an encouragement on our part. This is why I call upon my fellow farmers not to relent in the fight against child labour. I know farmers are tempted to use cheap labour but I urge them not to touch the child sector. I speak to all farmers yes, but to tobacco growers I say just refrain from having children around tobacco work,” said Kalima Banda.
Mr. Kalima Banda went further to advise his fellow growers to continue taking good care of their crops more especially tobacco, which according to him is promising.
“I will begin with advising on curing structures. The leaf looks good but if we do not cure it well, we will end up compromising its final quality. Let us use well ventilated barns so that the necessary light cures the leaf,” he said.
Commenting on the weather, Mr. Kalima Banda said he expects quality tobacco due the prevailing weather conditions. He said that if all other factors were as favourable as this year’s weather, the country was going to make a new history.
“The only challenge is that most of us reduced hectarage due to high cost of inputs such as fertilizer. This kind of weather combined with availability of farm inputs, we should have probably met the trade requirements in respect to volume. With this situation I expect that the country would beat last year’s volume of tobacco but I doubt if we will meet the buyer demand,” he narrated.
ECAM organized end of year gala dinner in Blantyre in December 2022 where member institutions were recognised for their role in specific areas such as employer of the year, gender equity, human resources development, crisis management and child labour among others. In the child labour category Tama Farmers Trust was seconded by the Tobacco Commission.
Tama Farmers Trust trains farmers in Occupation Safety and Health (OSH) through risk assessment and Social Dialogue technics as means of combating child labour in agriculture.