Malawi is one of the least developed nations in the world...and [has] one of the highest numbers of child labourers in Africa – around 1.5 million. With tobacco sales making up 70 percent of the country's income and a significant part of its industrial activity, it is sadly inevitable that many of these children (aged between five and 15) are being forced by economic necessity to work with their families in the tobacco fields, risking their health, safety, and future...[W]hen the children cut and bundle the tobacco leaves they are put at risk of absorbing toxic quantities of nicotine through their skin. Many suffer from a disease called green tobacco sickness, or nicotine poisoning...The cigarette manufacturers all insist that they are firmly opposed to the use of children working in their supply chain and that in Malawi they fund projects aimed at getting children out of the fields and into education. They say they are also behind programmes that raise awareness about the health risks of handling raw tobacco. [refers to Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco & Japan Tobacco]