Curbing child labor: FAO and WUR explore blockchain to monitor risks linked to cocoa and coffee

13 Jun 2023 --- The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working with partners to eliminate child labor in key sectors, including cocoa and coffee. The project maps out ways of using blockchain technology for both monitoring and prevention.

The FAO and Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in the Netherlands have released the paper “Digitalization and child labor in agriculture: exploring blockchain and Geographic Information System,” which highlights child labor in Ghana’s cocoa sector. 

The paper explores the potential application of innovative technologies, particularly blockchain and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), to improve data collection and risk estimation of child labor in the cocoa sector. 

It identifies 13 points for child labor monitoring and remediation.

Globally, 70% of children in child labor are found in agriculture.Prevalence in farming
Child labor is three times more prevalent among rural smallholders in farming, fisheries or forestry than in urban areas and is often the result of complex economic and social vulnerabilities and shocks. It’s driven by poverty and growing food insecurity. 

“Child labor violates the rights of children; by endangering the health and education of the young, it also forms an obstacle to sustainable agri-food systems development and food security,” FAO chief economist Máximo Torero says.

Child labor in agriculture rising
Child labor is targeted for elimination by 2025, according to Sustainable Development Goal target 8.7. 

But a joint report by the International Labour Organization and the UN Children’s Fund UNICEF in 2021 indicated that more than 160 million children worldwide were still engaged in child labor, with 86.6 million of them in Sub-Saharan Africa – more than in the rest of the world combined. 

Globally, 70% of children in child labor are found in agriculture and between 2016 and 2020, an additional four million girls and boys were reported to be involved in child labor in agriculture. 

FAO and agricultural stakeholders have a critical responsibility, alongside partner organizations, to work to address the issue, Torero says, stressing that doing so requires a multi-faceted and integrated approach. 

Targeting small-scale farmers
Among the initiatives is an FAO collaboration in a new €10 million (US$10.7 million) European Union initiative on Ending Child Labor in Supply Chains, working in partnership with the EU, ILO and UNICEF to address root causes of child labor in the coffee value chains of Uganda, Honduras and Vietnam.The project maps out ways of using blockchain technology for both monitoring and prevention.

FAO will focus on strengthening the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in areas hit by the effects of climate change to reduce their dependence on child labor. 

The project will emphasize the empowerment of marginalized groups – including women, youth, children, and indigenous communities.

FAO has organized a Global Solutions Forum in collaboration with ILO and the International Partnership for Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture to showcase concrete solutions in different agriculture sub-sectors and selected value chains. 

FAO has also established the Child Labour in Agriculture Prevention Facility, in line with the focus on increasing investments in rural areas and particularly small-scale producers. Delegates adopted this document at the 5th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour last May.

Edited by Gaynor Selby