Reproduction of child domestic labour in agriculture: The case of tobacco cultivation in Adıyaman

This study investigates child labour in tobacco growing. Although the tobacco has been grown in Turkey for nearly four centuries, there is a paucity of literature on child labour in the industry. What is known about the use of children as workers in the cultivation of tobacco is a mystery. This study is product of the effort to eliminate this obscurity. Focusing on child labour in tobacco cultivation by employing qualitative research method, this dissertation takes tobacco growing in Adıyaman province, famous for tobacco production, as a case. Adıyaman is one of the largest tobacco producers of Turkey. A fieldwork was carried out in Adıyaman by using observation and face to face interview methods. There are two different kinds of tobacco produced in Adıyaman. They called one of them as mountain tobacco and the other as plain tobacco. The fieldwork was conducted in Çelikhan, Samsat, Besni, and Kahta towns. Mountain tobacco is grown in Çelikhan, and plain tobacco is grown in the others. Consisting of 29 adults and 17 children, totally 46 respondents were interviewed during the fieldwork. The findings show that children are mostly involved in tobacco farming as unpaid household labour. It was observed that there are also children as waged labour in the cultivation of tobacco. Comparing the production processes and the marketing methods of mountain tobacco with that of plain tobacco, the research has reached the conclusion that class structure of household, production process and the economic policies implemented by the government shape child labour.