As legislators continue scrutinising the 2021/2022 budget estimates, the Parliamentary Cluster on Social and Community Affairs and Local Authorities and Rural Development has bemoaned inadequate funding to deal with child labour.  

The Cluster`s co-chairperson Savel Kafwafwa told Yoneco FM the country is still having challenges in dealing with cases of child labour and reduced funding to arrest the vice is a huge setback.

“You know Malawi has been struggling with issues to do with child labour and the ministry of labour actually requires about K125 million to actually deal with this problem and this money is not available in the budget.

“The problem with child labour you know that in Malawi we depend so much on tobacco and you remember the American government had withdrawn their buying of Malawian tobacco because we are using children,” he said.

According to Kafwafwa, there is need for both government and relevant stakeholders to apply concerted efforts if the country is to win the war against child labour.

“So, you know once we goof on tobacco sales then as a nation then as a nation even our forex and everything of our economy will be much more affected.

“So that is why we want to make suer that there are not children working in these farms and others sectors so that is why the K125 million will do wonders to make sure that we are serious in dealing with issue,” said Kafwafwa.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), estimates show that over 70% of all child labour is in agriculture, mostly alongside parents on family farms.