CLEAR REDUCTION IN HAZARDOUS CHILD LABOUR ON COCOA FARMS IN GHANA AND IVORY COAST

Independent evaluation validates International Cocoa Initiative's work

Children who live in the cocoa growing communities where the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) works are increasingly shielded from the hazards associated with their family's livelihood.

In communities where ICI works, most children no longer spray cocoa farms or carry heavy loads while local schools report increased enrolment and improved attendance. In fact, some communities go so far as imposing fines on parents whose children are on the farm when they should be at school.

Results from independent evaluators assessing the ICI's programmes in Ghana are in and the findings validate ICI's community-led model and its vision for long-term, sustainable change for cocoa growing communities.

Seven years after a groundswell of public outrage led to a commitment by the cocoa industry to eradicate child labour, ICI is active in over 250 communities in Ghana and Ivory Coast and dedicated to ending the worst forms of child labour in cocoa production.

While the evaluation focused on programmes in Ghana, ICI also works in the Ivory Coast and there is real change on the ground here as well. Read more about two communities' efforts to protect their children.

CASE STUDY: Campement Paul
Campement Paul is located in the San Pedro District of the Ivory Coast. The first Ivorian community to adopt an ICI-sponsored Community Action Plan (CAP), the lack of education provision was identified as a key constraint. As a result, the community built teachers' accommodation and recruited two volunteer teachers. ICI sponsored the construction of new classrooms and eighty pupils now attend primary school for the first time. The community also focused on reducing the involvement of children in hazardous tasks.

Today, the number of children using machetes has dropped 19%, those involved in spraying of pesticides and fertilizers by 26% and those carrying heavy loads by 34%. In addition, younger children are now banned from farms being sprayed or working on school days.

CASE STUDY: Dotou
In Dotou, another community in the Ivory Coast, a dialogue with the community resulted in a plan to protect their children. Here, community members have decided to implement the following initiatives:

· Four volunteer teachers have been recruited and are paid directly by the community.

· Three new classrooms, including tables, benches and blackboards have been financed by ICI.

· The community raised funds directly to contribute to the roofing of this new school.

· The local authority has built an additional three classrooms.

· Community leaders have created a local committee against child labour in cocoa.

Dotou was recently featured in the BBC programme the Stacey Dooley Project.

Key findings of the evaluation
· Most children no longer spray cocoa farms, carry heavy loads, remove parasitic plants or weed large areas of land

· Increased enrolment and attendance rates in primary school and fewer children drop out

· The difference between children helping on the family farm and the worst forms of child labour is widely understood and practices have been modified to reflect this

· Validates ICI's model: communities lead and drive change

· Poverty is the overarching issue: marry programmes with economic development

· Partnerships, partnerships, partnerships: national and local level working together

Development / Accra / Ghana / Africa / Modernghana.com