A strong and sustained global effort is underway to eliminate child labour in agriculture, especially hazardous child labour, in which both ILO and FAO are playing leading roles.

To strengthen the worldwide movement, a new Declaration of intent on cooperation on child labour in agriculture was signed on 12 June 2007 as part of the World Day Against Child Labour in Agriculture, between the following partners:

• International Labour Organization (ILO)
• Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
• International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP)
• International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF)

Through the signing of the Declaration of Intent, these organizations have pledged to work together to:

1. Promote cooperation and achieve policy coherence on child labour among the Partners, and to develop policy and programme links especially at the field level;

2. Create awareness of and mainstream child labour concerns into existing activities, programmes and projects of agricultural organizations and help agricultural agencies and bodies to understand how the elimination of child labour in agriculture, especially hazardous child labour, contributes to achieving organizational mandates;

3. Promote action and cooperation in operational activities aimed at improving rural livelihoods, creating alternative income-generating activities;

4. Promote action and cooperation in operational activities to ensure that children do not carry out hazardous work in agriculture;

5. Promote opportunities for decent youth employment in agriculture and in rural areas.

International agricultural agencies and organizations can play important roles in eliminating child labour in agriculture, especially hazardous work. These organizations represent an important conduit to the national level because of their close contacts with national ministries or departments of agriculture, agricultural extension services, farmers' organizations and cooperatives, agricultural producers' organizations, agricultural research bodies and other organizations.

Worldwide, agriculture is the sector where by far the largest share of working children is found - nearly 70 percent. Over 132 million girls and boys aged 5 to 14 years old work in crop and livestock production, helping supply some of the food and drink we consume and the fibres and raw materials we use to make other products, this figure including working children in fisheries and forestry (World Day Against Child Labour, 12 June 2007).

Child labour is defined by the ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age, 1973, and the ILO Convention No. 182 on Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999, as work that harms children’s well-being and hinders their education, development and future livelihoods. When children are forced to work long hours in the fields, their ability to attend school or skills training is limited, preventing them from gaining education that could help lift them out of poverty in the future. Girls are particularly disadvantaged as they often undertake household chores following work in the fields.

 

Source: ILO

 

It must be stressed that not all activities that children undertake in agriculture are bad for them or would qualify as work to be eliminated under the ILO Convention No. 138 or Convention No. 182. Age-appropriate tasks that do not present hazards and do not interfere with a child’s schooling and right to leisure can be a normal part of growing up in a rural environment. Indeed, many types of contributions to the household's livelihoods can be positive for children, providing them with practical and social skills for work as adults. Improved self-confidence, self-esteem and work skills are attributes often found in young people engaged in some aspects of farm work.

The prevalence of child labour in agriculture, however, undermines decent work, sustainable agriculture and food security. Low family incomes, the absence of schools, the lack of regulations and enforcement, and ingrained attitudes and perceptions about the roles of children in rural areas are only some of the numerous factors which make child labour in agriculture particularly difficult to tackle and eliminate. Thus, eliminating child labour in agriculture remains a challenge. Unless a concerted effort is made to address this problem, especially its root causes such as poverty and food insecurity, it will be impossible to achieve the goal of eliminating all worst forms of child labour by 2016 as per the ILO's Global Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour.

Since 2007 several activities relevant to child labour elimination have been carried out by FAO and ILO, many of which in close collaboration with each other. A Study on Child Labour and children’s economic activities in agriculture in Ghana was published by FAO in collaboration with the Humboldt University Berlin and ILO collaborated in the design and implementation of the work. A FAO newsletter on Participatory Approaches and Child Labour in Agriculture was published by the FAO Participation team in collaboration with many experts around the world including ILO colleagues.

In April 2010 FAO, in cooperation with the ILO, organized a 2,5 days workshop on child labour in fisheries and aquaculture, hosted at FAO headquarters, to provide a forum to exchange and discuss knowledge, experiences and good practices related to  child labour in fisheries and aquaculture and to agree on a set of recommendations, provide advice and define actions that can be applied by various stakeholders. 

Contacts

FAO Focal Point: Eve Crowley, ESWD (Eve.Crowley@fao.org)

ILO Focal Point: Paola Termine, IPEC (termine@ilo.org)