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Summary of Findings from the Child Labor Surveys in the Cocoa Sector of West Africa

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Federal Publications Key Workplace Documents 
July 2002 
Summary of Findings from the Child Labor Surveys in the Cocoa 
Sector of West Africa 
U.S. International Child Labor Program 
United States Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB) 
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Summary of Findings from the Child Labor Surveys in the Cocoa Sector of West 
Africa 
Keywords 
Federal, key workplace documents, Catherwood, ILR, child, labor, cocoa, West Africa, ILO, international, 
study, 
Comments 
International Child Labor Program - Bureau of International Affairs (ILAB) 
This article is available at DigitalCommons@ILR: https://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/key_workplace/149 
  
 
Summary of Findings from the Child Labor Surveys 
 In the Cocoa Sector of West Africa: 
Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria  
 
July 2002 
 
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and national research 
collaborators in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria have completed a study of 
child labor in the cocoa sector of West Africa, with the support of the U.S. Agency for 
International Development (USAID), U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), World Cocoa 
Foundation, International Labor Organization (ILO), and the participating West African 
governments. The research was carried out under the framework of IITA’s Sustainable 
Tree Crops Program (STCP).    
 
West Africa accounts for approximately 70 percent of the world’s cocoa production; with 
an estimated 43 percent produced by Côte d’Ivoire, 15 percent produced by Ghana, 7 
percent produced by Nigeria, and 4 percent by Cameroon. Since the adoption of ILO 
Convention 182 “Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination 
of the Worst Forms of Child Labor” on June 17, 1999, and of ILO Convention 184 
“Concerning the Safety and Health in Agriculture” on June 5, 2001, there is a growing 
need to research the extent and nature of children’s work in agriculture to determine the 
types of activities that place children at risk. With a vast majority (70 percent) of the 
world’s working children in agriculture, these two international standards provide 
important guidance to address the needs of children engaged in hazardous work for this 
sector. 
 
 
 Purpose of Study 
 
• Recent reports on child labor on cocoa farms in West Africa by foreign 
governments, international agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and 
the media have increased awareness on child labor practices in the cocoa sector 
and elicited significant actions by governments and the chocolate industry to 
address these concerns.   
 
• In response to the need for accurate information to inform policy development 
and program interventions in accordance with the International Labor 
Organization (ILO) Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, this 
study was commissioned as part of the “Protocol for the Growing and Processing 
of Cocoa Beans and their Derivative Products” that was signed between the U.S. 
Congress, in particular Senator Harkin and Congressman Engel, and the global 
chocolate industry on September 19, 2001.   
 
 
 Research Objectives 
 
• The primary objectives of the child labor studies were to: (1) collect and analyze 
information related to children working in the cocoa sector; (2) determine the 
estimated magnitude of children working on cocoa farms; (3) identify the nature 
of conditions in which children work; (4) establish the social, demographic, and 
economic characteristics of working children, their families and communities; and 
(5) document the migration and work histories of children working in the cocoa 
sector in the study areas of West Africa.  
 
 
 Research Methods and Procedures 
 
• Both quantitative and qualitative approaches using three different types of inter-
related surveys were designed to collect data on child labor practices in the cocoa 
sector of West Africa. The surveys employed in the study were the (1) Baseline 
Producer Survey (BPS), (2) Producer-Worker Survey (PWS), and (3) Community 
Survey (CS). 
 
• Households interviewed for the quantitative study were randomly selected in 
areas with high rates of national cocoa production.  
 
 
 Study Areas 
 
• Baseline Producer Surveys (BPS) were conducted in 203 villages in Cameroon, 
Ghana, and Nigeria.  The sample size for these countries included 3,086 
respondents. A BPS has just been concluded in Côte d’Ivoire, and data from this 
survey are currently being analyzed. 
 
• Producer-Worker Surveys (PWS) and Community Surveys (CS) were conducted 
in Côte d’Ivoire.  The PWS covered the entire cocoa producing region visiting 
250 localities and interviewing 1,500 producers.  The CS included 114 interviews 
in 15 of the 250 PWS localities. 
 
 
 Technical Advisory Committee 
 
• USAID established a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of 16 independent 
experts drawn from international research institutes, the World Bank, United 
Nations agencies (FAO, ILO, UNICEF), national research organizations, trade 
unions, and the NGO community to ensure that the survey instruments and 
outcomes of the study are credible and scientifically sound. 
 
 
  
 
 
 On-Going Efforts & Future Actions 
 
• USAID and USDOL are committed to collaborating with the governments of 
West Africa, the global chocolate industry, ILO, and other international 
organizations and NGOs to address the problem of child labor in cocoa 
production in West Africa.   
 
• During the past year, these stakeholders have focused on developing an action 
plan to respond to the needs and challenges identified by the study.  Planning of 
pilot phase activities will build on the ongoing USAID-STCP program, USDOL-
supported ILO-IPEC project to combat the trafficking of children for labor 
exploitation in nine countries in West and Central Africa, and the findings from 
the child labor surveys. 
 
 
 Key Definitions and Concepts 
 
• The international definition of child labor is derived from ILO Convention 138, 
which states that child labor is any economic activity performed by a person 
under the age of 15 years.  However, not all work is considered harmful to or 
exploitative of children.  Child labor is defined as work that prevents children 
from attending and participating effectively in school or is performed by children 
under hazardous conditions that place their healthy physical, intellectual, or moral 
development at risk. 
 
• ILO Convention 182 defines the worst forms of child labor as the use of any 
individual under the age of 18 for the purposes of debt bondage, armed conflict, 
commercial sexual exploitation, drug trafficking, and other types of work 
identified as hazardous to children by ratifying members. 
 
• Working children are those who carried out at least one task/activity in the cocoa 
farm, i.e., clearing ground; weeding; maintaining cocoa trees; applying pesticides; 
spreading fertilizer; harvesting; piling/gathering up; pod breaking; fermenting; 
transporting; drying; and other activities. 
 
 
 Major Findings 
 
Child Labor in Cocoa Farming 
 
In West Africa, children in rural areas have traditionally worked in agriculture as part 
of the family unit.    The child labor surveys conducted in the four West African 
countries studied found the following: 
 
• Overall, family labor is the most used labor type.  In Côte d’Ivoire, 87 percent of 
the permanent labor used in cocoa farming came from the family.  
 
• Some children working in cocoa farms have no family ties to the farmers. 
   
• In cocoa farming, children are engaged in a number of tasks/activities such as 
clearing fields; weeding; maintaining cocoa trees; applying pesticides, fermenting; 
transporting; drying; and other tasks.  
 
• Boys are more likely to work in cocoa farming.  About 59 percent of children 
working cocoa farming are boys while girls account for 41 percent. 
 
• The majority of working children (64 percent) in cocoa farming are below the age 
of 14.  
 
 
 
Children in potentially hazardous/exploitative situations
 
Children work in a variety of tasks which depending on the conditions may or may 
not be detrimental to the child’s well-being.  Types of hazardous activities in cocoa 
farming include spraying of pesticide, use of machetes, and carrying heavy loads.   In 
addition, children with no family ties and those recruited through intermediaries are 
more likely to be at risk for exploitation. The surveys found that: 
 
• In the four West African countries studied, numerous children were engaged in 
hazardous activities in cocoa farming. For instance, an estimated 284,000 children 
were clearing fields in cocoa farms using machetes, and 153,000 children were 
involved in the application of pesticides (See Table 1).    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• Close to 12,000 children had no family relations to the cocoa farmer or local farm 
workers in Côte d’Ivoire. 
 
• There is an estimated 2,500 working children who were recruited through 
intermediaries for cocoa farming in Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria. 
 
 
 
Table 1. Estimates of Child Labor by Selected Characteristics in Study Areas of West Africa
Characteristic Côte d’Ivoire Cameroon Ghana Nigeria
Children who carry out all tasks 129,410
– – – 
Apply pesticides 13,200 5,500
–
4,600
Use dangerous tools (machetes) 71,100 35,200 38,700 9,300
Paid child workers 5,121 0 0 1,220
Children with no family ties 11,994
– – – 
Sources: Calculations based on data from the Sustainable Tree Crops Program Surveys (STCP).
– Not Available
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Child Labor and Education 
 
Children that work are less likely to be enrolled or attending school.  The type of 
work that is of greatest concern is that which denies children access to education or 
that diminishes the benefits that a child could derive from schooling.   The surveys 
found that: 
 
• In Côte d’Ivoire, approximately one-third of school-age children (6 to 17) living 
in cocoa producing households have never attended school.  
 
• Children working in Côte d’Ivoire involved in all cocoa farming tasks were less 
likely to be enrolled in school (34 percent school enrollment rate) compared to 
those children who did not work (64 percent). 
 
• In Côte d’Ivoire, children of immigrant cocoa farmers are also less likely to be 
enrolled in school compared to children of local cocoa farmers – 33 percent 
compared to 71 percent, respectively. 
 
• Throughout the survey areas, girls have lower enrollment rates than boys. 
 
Farmers’ Income and Child Labor 
 
In West Africa, cocoa production is labor intensive, with little use of mechanized 
tools.  Most of the production is in the hands of small-scale farmers with little 
resources that often use their entire family unit to contribute to cocoa farming.  The 
surveys found that: 
 
• Average annual cocoa revenues ranged from US$ 30 to US$ 110 per household 
member. 
 
• Cocoa accounts for a large share of total household income among cocoa 
farmers – ranging from 50 percent in Cameroon, 55 percent in Ghana, 66 percent 
in Côte d’Ivoire, to 68 percent in Nigeria. 
 
• Even though cocoa farming is the main source of income, the quantity of cocoa 
production is relatively low making it difficult for families to have sufficient 
income to meet their needs.   In West Africa, the average cocoa yield is in the 
range of 207 kg/ha in Ghana to 475 kg/ha in Nigeria. 
### 
Table 2. Estimates of Working Children at High Risk by Selected Activities and Characteristics in
Study Areas of West Africa
Characteristic Côte d’Ivoire Cameroon Ghana Nigeria
Application of pesticides 142,610 5,500 – 4,600
Children recruited through intermediaries 2,100 0 0 354
Use of machetes by children (Under 15) 109,299 16,192 18,189 2,325
Children without family ties 11,994 – – – 
Sources: Calculations based on data from the Sustainable Tree Crops Program Surveys (STCP).
– Not Available


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Summary of Findings from the Child Labor Surveys in the Cocoa Sector of West Africa

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