Kenya: Farmers Go Wild On Tobacco Cash

Source from:  Daily Nation on the Web 01/11/2012

Commercial sex workers are among the people preying on tobacco farmers in South Nyanza following payment of their leaf deliveries. Growers contracted by BAT Kenya and Alliance One Tobacco Kenya are receiving millions of shillings daily, thus attracting the eye of the night workers. Consequently, some farmers from Migori, Uriri, Rongo, Kuria West and Kuria East districts are painting the region red as they engage in reckless lifestyles. Sex workers from as far away as Nakuru, Kericho and Kisumu are now camping in the area seeking a piece of the cash earned by the growers. Several cases of farmers losing their cash in brothels have been reported. "During planting, women and their children do the most work but during payments, it is the men who pick the money and take off," said an employee of Alliance One Tobacco Company who asked not to be named since he is not allowed to speak to the Press. He said that many tobacco growers continue to live in abject poverty due to reckless lifestyles when they receive their dues. "Poor planning combined with their desire to engage additional women in their lives is to blame for their desperation," the official added. Alliance One has been organising a series of farmers' workshops in Nyanza to sensitise them on wise investments and the need to stop using children on tobacco farms. During the training, growers are taken through labour laws that prohibit engaging children instead of taking them to school. Alliance One is a tobacco leaf exporter to Europe and other parts of the world, unlike BAT Kenya and Mastermind Tobacco which manufacture cigarettes and associated products. Migori DC Julius Mutula said due to quick and easy cash in the tobacco industry, boys and girls were dropping out of school to work on farms and get married thereafter. He said other factors that pushed children to work included poor education infrastructure, family instability caused by divorce or separation and teenage pregnancy. "High cases of child abuse and forced repetition of classes have also contributed to child labour in the region," the administrator said. Education officials said only 61 per of boys and 35 per cent of girls in Kuria reach standard eight, with others opting to drop out before sitting the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) tests. A labour official in the region, Mr Peter Otuane, directed the provincial administration to stop child labour on tobacco farms saying the minors were being exposed to chest and heart diseases associated with the cash crop. "Parents who still see their children as a source of cheap labour on the farms should be arrested and prosecuted. We should not ruin the future of children by subjecting them to dangerous occupations for short term gains," he said. Meanwhile, tobacco farmers in Nyanza and Western provinces have renewed their appeal to Mastermind Tobacco Kenya to pay them over Sh100 million they claim to be owed in leaf delivery arrears. They said they were unable to pay school fees for their children as a result of the delayed payment. The firm had not comment. Enditem