Child Labour Baseline Study

Malawi is one of the countries selected to implement the International Labour Organisation/International Programme on the Elimination of Child’s Labour (ILO/IPEC’s) “Regional Programme on prevention, withdraw and rehabilitation of children engaged in hazardous work in commercial agriculture in Africa”. The overall objective of the  programme is to contribute towards the elimination of the worst forms of child labour in commercial agriculture. The Malawian districts of Mzimba, Kasungu, Mchinji and Mangochi have been selected because they host commercial estates. However, before the programme is implemented, it was felt necessary to document baseline conditions in the districts. This study was, therefore, commissioned to shed light on the dynamics and underpinnings of child labour in the selected districts.

The study finds that an average of 53 percent of the migrant child workers had migrated within the same district they were found at the time of survey. In Mzimba district, around 83 percent of the children migrated from Mzimba itself, while in Mangochi the corresponding proportion was 60 percent. In the districts of Kasungu and Mchinji where tobacco growing is extensive, only 21 percent and 43 percent, respectively, came from within the districts. Of interest is Kasungu district where as many as 79 percent of the migrant child workers in Kasungu came from outside district. In general, Zomba, Mangochi, Mulanje and Phalombe in the south are prominent origins of migrant child labour. In the country as a whole, the districts of Zomba, Dedza and Mangochi are leading suppliers of child labourers working in estates as tenants.

The study further shows that migration of working children is mainly influenced by parents’ decisions to migrate as well as parents’ decisions to have their children live elsewhere possibly with relatives and other guardians. Thus the children did not migrate on their own wish to seek employment.

In conclusion, the authors state that:

• there is a positive relationship between level of development and incidence of child labour - there is a high incidence of child labour in Malawi because of household poverty
• household size of working children are generally larger than average
• children mostly work in agriculture and very few are vendors
• children go for work for pay to assist their households alleviate general poverty and food insecurity
• community stakeholders, including estate managers have little knowledge of the legal framework for child labour.
  

The authors recommend the following:

• government should develop a comprehensive child labour policy and then review the legal framework accordingly
• government should put into law the tenancy bill that has been on hold for a long time - tenants and their children require legal protection and the benevolence of estate management
• government and NGOs should mount intensive civic education discouraging child labour and encouraging child education
• government should make it a priority to deal with the pervasive poverty at the household level
• district offices working to reduce the incidence of child labour like the labour office, social welfare and education should be adequately funded
• for the ILO/IPEC programme, the resources should concentrate on beefing up labour inspections, repatriation of child workers and funding Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and NGOs for assisting children found working for pay.