Malpractice in Zimbabwe’s tobacco growing industry is rampant, an international human rights organization has reported after investigation
In a report launched in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare on Thursday, Human rights Watch said cases of child labour, worker exploitation and low pay are rife on the farms around Southern African Country.
Farm workers, the report noted, face serious health risk, particularly the younger labourers. The report, titled A Bitter Harvest: Child Labour and Human Rights Abuses on tobacco farms in Zimbabwe, documents how children work in Hazardous conditions, performing tasks that threaten their health and safety or interfere with their educations.
“Zimbabwe’s Government needs to take urgent steps to protect tobacco workers,” Margaret Wurth, children’s rights Watch and co-author of the report, said.
“Companies sourcing tobacco from Zimbabwe should ensure that they are not buying a crop produced by child workers sacrificing their health and education.”
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