Cotton Picking in Uzbekistan: Photos and Opinions
Politics and Society, Uzbekistan10 Comments
All Photographs copyright by Thomas Grabka
LJ user aqua_snezhok posted photos of cotton picking in Uzbekistan. The country is one of the five leading exporters of cotton in the world, and cotton is major export production in the country. Most cotton in the United States, Europe and Australia is harvested mechanically, either by a cotton picker, a machine that removes the cotton from the boll without damaging the cotton plant, or by a cotton stripper, which strips the entire boll off the plant. In Uzbekistan, it is still being done by hands, and often, like on these photos, by children.
If they are lucky, these 12-year olds can earn 100-200 sums (US 38 cents) per day harvesting cotton working from 7am to 5pm. Many children earn nothing at all for their labours, writes the Environmental Justice Foundation.
neweurasia Uzbekistan has covered cotton picking on several occasions before. Nick spoke about the SOAS conference “Cotton Sector in Central Asia: Economic Policy and Development Challengesâ€? and the ICG report, The Curse of Cotton: Central Asia’s Destructive Monocultur. “Naturally, there’s something for anyone interested in Central Asia: development, agriculture, politics, human rights, history etc. “, wrote Nick.
Here is a comment from a Livejournal user yidrisov (RUS) to give another view, the one that justifies the practice:
“The reasons are the following:
â„–1. Attracting pupils/students/soldiers to the work in the fields was and remains a common practice in all former USSR countries for a long time. Once it allowed to partially solve the problem of lack of the workforce and machinery. Thus, it was necessary for economic reasons.
â„–2. In modern Uzbekistan cotton picking is one of the main sources for filling the monetary reserves of the state, therefore strict state regulation. As the experience of Russian oil pipeline taught us, the absence of strict state control leads to the theft of the strategic resources by sly people. Therefore, bodies responsible for defense of national interests control the cotton picking in Uzbekistan.
â„–3. Taking into account the close attention to cotton picking from the state, the heads of the local administration are concerned about conforming with the plan for cotton production. This is coupled with fast salination of water and soil, old Soviet machines (there is no alternative to it, no matter what the guys from UzCase say), and migration of workforce to the neighboring countries to earn money. Therefore, attracting the pupils, students and soldiers to harvesting – is one of the few ways to sustain Uzbekistan’s extensive economy.”
You can see more photos of children picking cotton here.
RSS Feeds
Podcasts
Thanks for the post with the moving pictures. I might add that it is acually possible in Uzbekistan for children who are forced to pick cotton to pay in order not to do so.
Reply
FYI, Here is a short movie on cotton picking in Uzbekistan : http://www.green.tv/white_gold
Reply
[...] posts photos of children taking part in Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest and translates some discussions on LiveJournal blogs of the use of child labor to harvest [...]
[...] Times. New Eurasia provides us with tangible evidence of Uzbekistan’s failings, carrying a photo essay on child labour in the cotton fields. In a worrying development on the media freedom front, Deutsche Welle journalist and Uzbek citizen [...]
The conscious commerce and consumer is vital to a sustaibable global society. I feel terrible for the children and their families who have endured such degredation of their environment and health. The world watches in sadness but can do very little because of the invisible hands that hold the political and corporate strings together. The people need help and empowerment… I wish I could help.
Reply
Hey, what do you understand by it? You people know how to criticize only. Ok, do you know what will happen if the people don’t help our farmers??? Huh??? what will happen to the fields if there are no students who pick the cotton? The MAchines alone can not pick the cotton cleanly, like what people’s hands do!!! It is just a help for the country’s future!!! Nothing will happen if the children or students help theri country for one month ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reply
[...] I hope the t-shirt is great and that “100% heavyweight cotton” is not a cotton that was produced in Uzbekistan with forced labor of children and students (photos). [...]
If that’s true then how come Uzbekistan is essentially the only place on earth where this type of forced labor is practiced?
Reply
thanks. gree
Reply
[...] March 2007, Leila’s neweurasia post “Cotton Picking in Uzbekistan: Photos and Opinions” highlighted the reality of child labor by reposting photos of pure [...]