Child labour in agric sector to soar amidst COVID-19 - UNICEF Report

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to aggravte the issue of child labour in agriculture, at least in the short term.

This is on the back of the fact that families who have lost jobs elsewhere are more likely to return to subsistence farming in their quest to survive.

This was revealed in a latest report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) which also identified that the agricultural sector accounts for the largest share of child labour worldwide.

It said most child labour (CL) for boys and girls alike continued to occur in agriculture where 70 per cent of all children in CL, 112 million children in total, and up to 82 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa are in the sector, against 17.3 per cent and 10.7 per cent in the services and industry sectors, respectively.

“Many are younger children, underscoring agriculture as an entry point to child labour. Over three quarters of all children aged five to 11 in CL work in agriculture. It is especially common among younger children, for whom the physical demands and hazards of farm work can be particularly damaging,” it said.

“Broader progress in ending child labour thus largely centres on improving rural livelihoods and building more diversified economies, including in rural areas. Child labour in agriculture takes many forms, each requiring specific strategies.

“On family smallholder farms, which host the largest share, families need to be able to reduce their dependency on CL to sustain their livelihoods,” it said.

It added that such farms must secure a fair price for what they produce and be able to enhance productivity by investing in labour-saving technologies or hiring adult workers instead of relying on children.

“Small producer associations and well-functioning cooperatives can boost market and bargaining power in agricultural value chains and uphold price stability. Such groups can also pool adult labour and agricultural inputs, share knowledge and introduce new farming methods and technology,” it stated.


The report

The report employs a model that uses the latest poverty projections to predict changes in CL and predicts 8.9 million more children in child labour by the end of 2022.

The modelling exercise provides further insights into the likely near-term impact of COVID-19 pandemic on child labour and suggests that the net effect of the pandemic during this period is likely to be a substantial additional rise in child labour.

The report, “Child Labour, Global Estimates, 2020, Trends and the Road Forward,” takes stock of the state of the global effort to end child labour, and states that young children aged five to 11 account for over half (4.9 million) of the total predicted additional children in child labour.

“This escalation reflects only the poverty effects of the crisis; the calculation likely understates the total impact of COVID-19 on child labour, such as through unprecedented disruptions to children’s education,” it said.


Global trends

The report cites Sub-Saharan Africa as the region that stands out with the highest prevalence and largest number of children in child labour, with most children working within their own family unit.

The largest share of CL takes place within families. Seventy-two per cent of all CL and 83 per cent of CL among children aged five to 11 occurs within families, primarily on family farms or in family microenterprises.

It notes that family-based CL is frequently hazardous despite common perceptions of the family as offering a safer work environment.

“More than one in four children aged five to 11 and nearly half of children aged 12 to 14 in family-based CL are in work likely to harm their health, safety or morals.

Consequently, CL remains a persistent problem in the world today.

The latest global estimates indicate that 160 million children – 63 million girls and 97 million boys – were in CL globally at the beginning of 2020, accounting for almost one in 10 of all children worldwide. Seventy-nine million children – nearly half of all those in CL – were in hazardous work that directly endangers their health, safety and moral development.

Also, CL is much more common in rural areas. There are 122.7 million rural children in CL compared to 37.3 million urban children. The prevalence of child labour in rural areas (13.9 per cent) is close to three times higher than in urban areas (4.7 per cent).



Recommendation

According to the report, the international community has recognised the importance of ending child labour as part of achieving SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth.

Under this goal, target 8.7 is to end CL in all its forms by 2025. Ending CL will also contribute to progress on many other SDGs, especially on education and health.

“A first imperative is to prevent further regression amid the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic has clearly heightened the threat of CL. This stems from a sharp rise in poverty and school closures that have denied families logical alternatives,” it said.

It added that to reduce those risks, expanded income support measures for families in situations of vulnerability, through child benefits and other means, would be critical.

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