By JAMES KUNDA

CHILDREN in Zambia continue falling victim to child labour; an infringement on their rights.

This is mostly because children constitute cheap a labour force as is the story of Brian Musonda (not real name) aged 12 from Mumbwa District of Central Province.

Brian was forced to start work at a very tender age due to household financial challenges and started working on one of the tobacco farms in the region to gain some income.

“When I started working, I was tasked to water the nurseries, cut logs and spray insecticides on the same nurseries, while also grading the tobacco,” he narrated.

Brian’s story is just one of many cases of children who have been engaged in work and have been denied rights to enjoy their childhood.

In Zambia, for instance, the agriculture sector accounts for the largest share of child labourers at more than 90 per cent, according to statistics by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Based on the Zambia labour force survey of 2008, 950,000 child labourers between the ages of 5-14 are engaged in the practice.

ILO defines child labour as any activity, economic or non-economic performed by a child, that is either too dangerous or hazardous or for which the child is too young to perform and that has the potential to negatively affect his/her health, education, moral and normal development.

Child labour has negative effects on children physically, mentally, socially and physiologically.

Zambia has however made a number of important legal and political commitments to combating child labour albeit the practice continues to remain respectively high in the country.

For the tobacco industry, it is said that Zambian rural children contribute almost 75 per cent of tobacco farm labour, in additional to collecting water and fuel wood.

Apart from producing tobacco, children are also responsible for producing all types of food for their households and also provide most of labour for the field that produce tobacco.

This is why the Tobacco Free Association of Zambia (TOFAZA) says it has engaged authorities to look into the unfavorable conditions children are exposed to in tobacco farms.

The association is running a number of programmes with the Ministries of Agriculture and Health with support from Center for Tobacco Control in Africa, are currently conducting pilot projects on alternative livelihoods to tobacco.

“Three high tobacco producing provinces of Zambia namely; Eastern, Western and Central provinces were selected for the project.

TOFAZAs work in tobacco control has attracted the attention of more children especially young children and girls who are now taking up the torch of tobacco control, the association’s executive director Brenda Chitindi says.

Ms Chitindi said children in tobacco cultivation need to be more supported to improve their livelihoods and to engage in other crops as an alternative livelihood, as many do not want to continue tobacco farming.

She says education opportunities, knowledge about health risks of tobacco farming and protective measures, training on communication and assertive skills, as well as better access to water and energy resources will improve the livelihoods of these children.

“Children need the knowledge and technical support to grow and market crops other than tobacco, as well as access to loans and cooperatives to support those endeavors,” she adds.

Ms Chitindi says the Government and other stakeholders should put every effort to break the poverty cycle that locks the tobacco children growers and workers in the industry.

She says Zambia needs to promote economically viable alternatives for tobacco children growers and workers with objective to protect their health.

This, she adds would also imply a need for diversification away from entire dependence on growing the crop.