Taking action on tobacco farm worker exploitation

Malawi’s Labour and Manpower Development Minister Henry Mussa has said the government is considering abolishing the country’s tobacco tenancy system and making it mandatory for farm owners to pay their workers regular wages, according to a story in the Malawi Voice relayed by the TMA.

It has called for the amendment of the Employment Act 2000 so as to regulate labour relations on tobacco farms.

The government’s proposals come barely a month after a report commissioned by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Development called for abolition of the tenancy labour system on the country’s tobacco farms.

Among others things, the report revealed that the tenancy system in Malawi was associated with exploitation, forced labour, discrimination, the violation of human rights and low wages.