TERHAN (UNIC) -- This year’s World Day Against Child Labor, 12th June 2007, focuses on child labor in agriculture. Agriculture is the sector where the largest percentage of working children is found, nearly 70 percent.

Over 132 million girls and boys aged 5 to 14 years old often work from sun up to sun down on farms and plantations, planting and harvesting crops, spraying pesticides and tending livestock. It is understood that many times children are simply helping the family and tasks are part of the daily chores, but what is considered to be dangerous is that child labor is work that prevents the child from attending school, and is harmful to their physical and or mental state.

In the context of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and International Labor Organization (ILO) Memorandum of Understanding and following the Inter-Agency Consultation on the Development of Policy Coherence on Child Labor in Agriculture, FAO, ILO and other agricultural agencies such as International Fund on Agricultural Development (IFAD); Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR -- comprising 15 international agricultural research centers); International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP -- representing farmers/employers and their organizations); International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF -- representing workers and their organizations) and World Food Program (WFP) have agreed to join forces to contribute to the elimination of child labor in agriculture.

Unless a concerted effort is applied to reducing child labor in agriculture, it will be impossible to achieve the ILO goal of elimination of all worst forms of child labor by 2016. An overview of FAO’s activities contributing to the elimination of child labor:

FAO recognizes that the causes of child labor in agriculture are rooted in poverty and that generating alternative income sources for rural households is critical to reduce the need for children to work. Most of FAO’s work has an indirect effect on child labor. FAO reduces the need for children to work in agriculture through livelihoods diversification, enterprise and agri-business development, improved access to land and other livelihoods assets especially for the landless, employment generation programs, improvement of labor productivity and adult wages, and strengthened participation of smallholders and workers not only in the market economy, but also in policy formulation.

FAO assists member governments to recognize the different needs and constraints that boys and girls face and to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in agriculture through policy and technical assistance, information, research, and good practices related to rural employment and decent work. FAO helps to reduce child labor and improve human health, safety and welfare within particular value chains through the promotion of Good Agricultural Practices. International conventions on the distribution and use of pesticides and programs on Integrated Production and Pest Management contribute to reducing the risks of child exposure to hazardous pesticides and other chemicals. In HIV/AIDS affected communities, where orphaned and vulnerable children are particularly prone to child labor to compensate for labor deficits, FAO helps to reduce malnutrition, abuse, and sexual exploitation through Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools. Support for rural radio, Education for Rural People, and information and communication technology enable children to develop awareness and build skills to diversify their livelihoods and reduce poverty. FAO studies in fisheries are helping to identify the particular hazards to children working in this sector. Through the International Alliance Against Hunger and the Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) Initiative, FAO works closely with other UN Agencies, Ministries of Agriculture and Labor, farmers’ organizations, trade unions, cooperatives, and other civil society organizations to fight hunger, promote decent conditions of employment in agriculture, and enhance rural livelihoods.