Kampong Cham Province

Child labor in Commercial Tobacco and Cassava Production primarily in the Kampong Cham province. Tobacco is one of Cambodia’s major exports. However, the National Plan of Action identifies tobacco production as one of the worst forms of child labor.  About 1,200 small tobacco producers grow tobacco in Cambodia and around 780 farmers with 1,618 hectares work directly with the British American Tobacco (BAT) Company, which provides seeds and working capital and pays farmers for their crops.  The remaining farmers work as independent producers and sell tobacco to local markets.  Cassava, an increasingly important export product for Cambodia, requires high numbers of seasonal workers who work under harsh conditions and migrate with their families.  Cassava is produced on large landholdings where owners pay migrants and landless laborers to plant and harvest their crops. 

No research has ever addressed hazardous child labor associated with either tobacco or cassava.  With collaboration from British American Tobacco (BAT), the Cambodian Union Federation, and Department of Labor and Vocational Training (DoLVT) of Kampong Cham, CHES will assess child labor used to produce both crops.  The research team will use the same tool developed to assess child labor in agriculture at the subsistence level.  In addition, for tobacco CHES researchers will compare the differences between those farmers working with BAT versus those working independently to determine the impact on child labor and education.  The tobacco and cassava research will also explore parents’ and children’s educational needs and the type of education programs that can be provided. 

Project staff will integrate the findings from both research activities throughout the CHES program and disseminate results widely to:

·         Inform about development of specific interventions in each province and provide a baseline for tracking all project beneficiaries in the four provinces (Output One). 

·         Provide official data to corroborate speculation linking child labor in agriculture with some of the worst forms of child labor such as trafficking, brick making, fishing, and sexual exploitation (Output Two)

·         Incorporate findings from labor and education policy work so that Prakas can be developed to respond to child labor and education needs (Output Two). 

·         Contribute to understanding children’s light work and hazardous labor in subsistence and new commercial agriculture sectors (Output Three).

·         Integrate this material into the capacity building workshops and briefings with national, provincial, district and commune officials as well as with BAT, the Cambodian Union Federation, and DoLVT of Kampong Cham and into the child labor curriculum and through  awareness raising (Output Three).