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From risks of disease to poor pay, it's a dog's life for cashew workers

Casual labourers at a cashew nut factory in Kilifi. [Marion Kithi, Standard]

Ms Kadzo Tumwa, who works in a cashew nut factory, has been de-shelling nuts for five years without protective gear. She says her back and throat hurts and her fingers have dermatitis, as most of her colleagues. She also has an atopy.

Her role requires that she sits in the same position for most of the day and repeatedly strikes the hard outer shell of the nut. She says the pain is usually worse in the evenings, when weeping sores start to appear. Washing does little to alleviate the agony, it just opens old wounds.

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