Gender dimensions of child labour in agriculture

FAO

Gender dimensions of child labour in agriculture

Background paper

Year of publication 2021

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 32 p.

Author FAO

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Booklet

ISBN 978-92-5-135213-7

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) Child labour undermines efforts to eradicate hunger, malnutrition and poverty for present and future generations. According to the latest estimates, at the beginning of 2020 there were 160 million children involved in child labour globally, corresponding to almost one in ten of all children worldwide. Of this total, 70 percent were engaged in agriculture, making the sector the primary source of child labour. Therefore, the progress or failure of SDG 8.7 – “eradicating child labour globally by 2025” – will be decided in agriculture. In accordance with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ Framework on Ending Child Labour in Agriculture (FAO, 2020) and as a contribution to the 2021 International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, this paper highlights the often-neglected gender dimension of child labour in agriculture. It focuses mostly on the conditions of rural girls, because their work is often “invisible”, less valued, and associated with specific gender-based challenges such as overburdening with household chores, restrictions on personal freedom, and gender-based violence.

Cite this content as:

FAO. 2021. Gender dimensions of child labour in agriculture. Background paper. Rome.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cb7361en

Language English

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Policy brief

Gender roles related work burden and child labour in agriculture in Punjab 2022

Also available in:

No results found.

This policy brief presents the findings from a study conducted by the Punjab Economic Research Institute (PERI), with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The objective is to analyze the causal relationship between gender roles and vulnerabilities, with a focus on women's work burden, and their effects on child labour in agriculture in Multan, Bahawalpur and Vehari districts, in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. The findings informed the design for the FAO component under the European Union funded CLEAR Cotton project. FAO's intervention centred on strengthening livelihoods of cotton producing households, through the provision of technical and life skills trainings for beneficiaries, to foster investments in children's education.
Book (stand-alone)

The relations between climate change and child labour in agriculture
Evidence on children’s work trends after climate-related events in Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Nepal and Peru
2023

Also available in:

No results found.

Climate change-related events undermine children’s educational attainment, exposing them to child labour, hazardous work and forced migration. This nexus is particularly relevant for agriculture and its subsectors: indeed, they absorb about 26 percent of the economic impacts of climate change-related disasters and host 70 percent of all child labour. This study aims to identify the extent to which climate change-related events and impacts affect child labour in agriculture by exploring the underlying connection between the two challenges as the initial step towards integrating a child labour lens within the international community’s work on climate change. It showcases the multi-dimensional relationship through a mixed-methods approach in four countries: Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Nepal and Peru. The qualitative and quantitative findings propose a set of policy implications that are in line with the concept that one-size-fits-all policy prescriptions are unlikely to work, as they must be tailored to different communities based on their characteristics.
Book (stand-alone)

Report of the Global Solutions Forum: Acting together to end child labour in agriculture
Concrete experiences and successful practices shared on 2–3 November 2021
2022

Also available in:

No results found.

On 2–3 November 2021, to mobilize global action and highlight concrete solutions to eradicate child labour in agriculture, FAO, in close collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and in partnership with the International Partnership for Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture (IPCCLA) and the Alliance 8.7, organized a high-level virtual event: the Global Solutions Forum (GSF). The objectives of the GSF were to raise the voices and commitment of agricultural stakeholders, share game-changing solutions, and identify ways to step up concerted action to prevent and end child labour in all agricultural subsectors. The outcomes of the event are expected to inform the V Global Conference on Child Labour in 2022, along with other global initiatives such as the United Nations Decade of Family Farming.