Chinkhata Cooperative's transformative movement towards decent work and sustainability

The TAMA Farmers Trust with support from ADDRESS project is working in four districts- Mzimba, Kasungu, Mchinji, and Lilongwe to effectively identify and address decent work deficits in the tobacco sector that include child labour, tenancy labour systems, forced labour and right to social dialogue and ensure access to fundamental principles and rights at work as a means to improve livelihoods, income and food security.
United by a common goal, the TAMA Farmers Trust and the ADDRESS project are igniting a transformative movement, aimed at reshaping and revolutionizing the tobacco sector and overall Malawi’s agriculture sector by engaging in decent work practices and addressing decent work challenges.
“I learned many important things about child labour, abolition of tenancy labour systems, Occupational, Safety and Health, social dialogue, the importance of diversification and workers' rights through the cooperative. One key lesson was the need for a formal work agreement with farmers as they begin their work. I agreed with my workers on a minimum wage starting from K 52,000 (about USD 30) and upwards. Additionally, if a worker has a wife, she should have her own contract,” said Mr. Elias Phiri, a Chinkhata Cooperative member and owner of Chimwemwe Estate.
Mr. Phiri has employed four workers at his farm and has embraced the transition from the tenancy system to waged labour and is committed to implementing other decent work principles including the revised minimum wage by the government of Malawi.
He said he has benefited from the ADDRESS project as he has managed to change farming practices and arrangements, moving away from the old system, where they would buy tobacco from farmers and pay them later to using his own resources.
Like many other farmers who have been assisted by the ADDRESS project to adopt crop rotation method, Mr. Phiri said he has diversified to other crops that includes maize, soya beans and groundnuts.
Mr. Phiri said he has been selling soya beans at a competitive price and has cultivated enough maize for home consumption.
Chinkhata is one of the eight cooperatives and farmer organizations, making an effort to end the tenancy farming system following a milestone that occurred in 2021 when the Malawian government abolished the tenancy labour system.
Tenancy which is often been considered an exploitative labour practice and a form of forced labour with characteristics of bondage labour has had historical reach in Malawi’s tobacco sector. The abolishment by law paved the way for a shift to waged labour and decent work.
According to the ILO survey on tenant growers in Malawi’s tobacco industry 2024, 74 percent of the tobacco working households are engaged in tenancy arrangements, with 44.1 percent of tenants not having a written contract agreement and further examination into the gender parity reveals that 54.9 percent of the tenants were males and 45.1 percent were female tenants.