With power and influence comes responsibility, even for those things you might not have direct control over. As a huge global concern, British American Tobacco has become acutely aware that the success of its corporate social responsibility policy will be judged not just on what the group achieves but on how its suppliers behave.

As a result, it has set in train an ambitious ‘Social responsibility in the production of tobacco’ programme to encourage its suppliers to improve workplace conditions, health and safety, the environment and, crucially, their performance on child labour.

Although a significant part of the group’s supply chain consists of makers of machinery, packaging and cigarette components such as paper, inks and filters, British American Tobacco’s biggest sphere of influence is in the ‘leaf sector’ – the enterprises which supply the £1.3billion ($2bn) worth of tobacco it needs every year.

The group buys around 70 per cent of its tobacco leaf directly from some 250,000 farmers worldwide. It has contracts with most of them, and so can be pro-active on social and environmental issues. ‘Although we have no legal obligation for the social and environmental performance of those who supply us and are beyond our direct control, we accept that our influence entails responsibilities,’ says the head of leaf, Ian Snowden. ‘That’s why we set up the programme and why we monitor our suppliers as closely as we can.’

The company will audit all leaf suppliers over a three-year period to ensure they are applying the principles of the programme, with follow-up work to help those experiencing problems. They are also assessed against four levels of achievement on social responsibility, ranging from level one, indicating poor performance, to level four, at which suppliers are pro-active on social and environmental issues.

The programme advises and encourages farmers, among other things, to cut pesticide use, prevent soil erosion, reduce the amount of hard manual labour in leaf production, and improve training and facilities for workers.

It also tackles the thorny issue of child labour. While it is group policy that British American Tobacco itself does not employ children – the child labour policy it announced in February 2000 commits the group ‘to the principles of protecting children from child labour exploitation’ – the reality is that there is a long-standing child labour problem in the tobacco growing industry.

For decades, the industry failed to get to grips with the issue, but has made some progress recently. British American Tobacco has led the way by encouraging all companies in the field to work together.

The group was the lead company in the creation of the Geneva-based Eliminate Child Labour in Tobacco Foundation. Launched in summer 2002, this industry-wide body is supported by the International Labour Organization, the International Tobacco Growers Association and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers Associations (IUF).

Funded by British American Tobacco and other tobacco companies, the foundation’s aim is to help tobacco interests work together to research the extent and nature of child labour in the industry, to share best practice, and to collaborate on projects to eliminate it.

It is likely some of those projects will follow the framework established by British American Tobacco’s own Project Florece, begun three years ago in Mexico. Created by group subsidiary Cigarrera La Moderna in partnership with government officials, non-governmental organizations, the Mexican Tobacco Growers Association and, latterly, competitor companies, Project Florece aims to eliminate child labour in the tobacco fields and to improve the living conditions for children of migrant workers hired at harvest time. It takes a pragmatic line on child labour, acknowledging that it cannot be eliminated overnight.

So far the project has provided schooling for children with help from the Ministry of Education and the National Institute for the Indigenous People, dental care and basic sanitary education in association with the health ministry, and meals in conjunction with social workers from the Mexican Institute of Social Security.

A similar British American Tobacco initiative has been running successfully in Brazil, and projects are planned in other parts of the world, including Pakistan and Uganda, under the guidance of local company managers. Regional workshops have been set up in Africa and the Middle East to help managers improve their understanding of the issues and to launch local projects.

Shabanji Opukah, international development affairs manager, points out that child labour in tobacco farming is often directly linked to poor social and economic conditions and made worse when children become orphans because their parents have died after contracting Aids.

‘We’ve learned that if we are to tackle the root causes of child labour, we need social interventions that deal with poverty. If you can alleviate the poverty by setting up food projects, some form of health intervention and providing education on farms for workers, then you are on the way.’

The local British American Tobacco company will be doing this in Malawi, where child labour is widespread and where the foundation is funding its first project to tackle poverty.

Opukah stresses, however, that only a partnership approach to child labour will work. ‘We need to involve the farmers themselves, the NGOs, union representatives and governments. You get more done that way,’ he says. ‘But it’s also a question of education, particularly with the small farmers, who are often using their own children to help out and keeping them away from school as a result.

‘It’s often just a job of raising awareness and presenting them with alternative ways of doing things. Most small farmers want their children to go to school and if encouraged, will allow that to happen.’