Child labourers in Malawi, some as young as 5 years old, are forced by poverty to pick tobacco. Working conditions are so poor that the children absorb nicotine through their hands equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes a day. They are paid the equivalent of US1.75 cents an hour.
The majority of European and North American tobacco companies purchase tobacco from Malawi to use in their cigarettes.
Further details of the report, carried out by Plan International, can be read here:
https://www.plan.org.au/mediacentre/mediareleases/plan_exposes_malawi_child_tobacco_pickers_50-a-day_habit
On a positive note - Cadbury chocolate is now fair trade! (Which kind of makes me sad in a way, that I have been loving their chocolate all my life and not ever thought about the people involved in its manufacture).
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