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Article

13 May 2014

Author:
Marcus Yemiete, ThisDay (Nigeria)

Tobacco farming as modern slavery [Nigeria]

...Oluwasegun Sangobode...a tobacco farmer...[says] “If the year is good and my product is worth...a million naira, after all loans are repaid I will be left with...N300,000 for a year’s work...[S]ometimes, I do not realise any money and if the loan is not fully repaid what is accrued would be carried over into the next year.”...[A]nother farmer...added that BATN was putting them in modern slavery and pleaded for government intervention as BATN reaped bountifully on their sweat...[yet] farmers have little...to show for their hard work...Another farmer...said that he no longer plants because of the adverse effects on his health...BATN grants loans to...unsuspecting farmers with the aim of carting away most of their products as they...grade the leaves and can tilt results in their favour...As a result...farmers use children (including theirs) to work...for meager sums so as to reduce expenses...

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