2.1.3 Child Labour
Child labour in West Africa has become a very serious issue within the cocoa sector, and concern expressed by consumers has put pressure on the industry and country governments to take steps to eradicate child labour.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child labour as ‘a violation of fundamental human rights and has been shown to hinder children’s development, potentially leading to lifelong physical or psychological damage’.
Child labour can be divided into three different categories:
- Light work: when a child helps out on a family cocoa farm, the work is not hazardous, does not interfere with the child’s education and should be done under adult supervision;
- Child labour: ILO Convention 138, sets the minimum age a child can be to engage in employment as 15 years;
- Worst forms of child labour: ILO Convention 182, prohibits forced labour (trafficking/slavery) and protects children under the age of 18 years from engaging in hazardous forms of work.
In cocoa production, the worst forms of child labour are defined as:
- land clearing,
- carrying heavy loads,
- exposure to pesticides,
- the use of sharp tools,
- long working hours,
- night working.
During the 2018/2019 cocoa season, the National Opinion Research Centre (NORC) carried out a survey to assess child labour practices in cocoa growing regions in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
The study also intended to compare, where possible, finding from previous surveys carried out in the 2008/2009 and 2013/2014 growing seasons by Tulane University but the difference in the methodologies made this difficult.
Some of the main findings from the NORC Report (2020) [1], especially those relating to pesticide use, are summarised below [2]:
- Approximately 1.56 million children were engaged in child labour in cocoa production, of those, an estimated 95% (1.48 million children) carried out some form of hazardous child labour.
- Among all agricultural households in cocoa-growing areas, the percentage of children aged 5-17 years working in cocoa has increased in the past decade, from 31% in 2008/2009 to 45% in 2018/2019 (Côte d’Ivoire increased from 23-38% and Ghana from 44-55%).
- The proportion of children in cocoa-related child labour and hazardous child labour has remained consistently higher in Ghana than in Côte d’Ivoire
- In cocoa-growing households, rather than all agricultural households in cocoa-growing areas, the prevalence of child labour and hazardous child labour has remained stable since 2013/2014 in both countries.
- Of children aged 5-17 years from agricultural households in cocoa growing regions, 45% were engaged in child labour in cocoa production (38% in Côte d’Ivoire and 55% in Ghana).
- 43% of children aged 5-17 years were engaged in hazardous work in cocoa production (37% in Côte d’Ivoire and 51% in Ghana).
- Among children working in cocoa in agricultural households, the proportion not exposed to any hazard has increased from 4% in 2008/2009 to 11% in 2018/2019, but the proportion of children working in cocoa doing four or more types of hazardous tasks has increased from 7% in 2008/2009 to 22% in 2018/2019.
- Children’s exposure to agrochemicals, which increased on aggregate from 5% to 24%, was most often linked to carrying water for spraying and being present on the farm during or after spraying. The proportion of children directly applying agrochemicals increased by 50% but at a lower level (4% to 8%).
The cocoa industry has responded to the cocoa child labour crisis through the ‘Industry Intervention Package’ led by WCF to identify, monitor and support households with vulnerable children in certain communities through awareness raising, improving educational infrastructure, formation of community protection committees and women’s livelihood support programs.
The findings from a second study by NORC published in 2020 [3] show some improvements but continued stakeholder engagement is essential.
The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) developed a cocoa specific CLMRS (Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System) to set key indicators for child labour and to monitor progress in the sector, several industry partners have adopted this system.
Many certification schemes (e.g. Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade) are also trying to address the issue and include child labour certification criteria as part of their social requirements.
The ‘Chocolate Scorecard [4], which provides an annual summary of companies’ performance relating to several sustainability criteria, includes a section on child labour (and agrochemical use as a separate topic).
In a blog recently published by WCF [5], the author suggests that child labour does not occur in a social vacuum but is symptomatic of a much wider set of issues relating to child welfare and which must be considered if the problem is to be resolved.
