Roots of Child Labour Go Deep

As has been already mentioned in the previous blog installment, the main reason child labour exists is poverty. The hard life of an agricultural worker -- receiving little pay for back-breaking work -- means that all family members must contribute to survival of the family unit. Parents sell their children into bondage because they are too poor and see little alternative. Workers employed on estates get paid too little and family farms get prices that are too low to allow their children the liberty of not working.

Coffee is a labour-intensive product to cultivate, harvest and process. The need to maintain a standard of quality on the farm and during the processing stage means that extra time and effort must be expended in the production of coffee. Coffee experts in producing countries estimate that the amount of labour needed to produce a pound of coffee is 2.2 hours. Even at commodity prices of $1.00, the pressure to keep labour costs low is intense. Current prices are such that labour costs need to be even lower than that.

In Guatemala, there are reports that for several years now estate holders have been laying off what were permanently-employed workers on a massive scale and hiring instead cheaper temporary and migrant workers outside the protection of government. The trend is also evident in other countries as well. In Brazil, both resident workers on plantations and small farmers have been expelled from their land and have joined the ranks of migrant and temporary workers. Because the earnings of many families have diminished considerably, children have been increasingly employed to bolster the family income. Today child workers make up a considerable portion of the labour force, many of which are migrants.

Family farmers typically earn only a fraction of the export price of their coffee, since they must work through local middlemen ("coyotes") that take a substantial percentage. The family income is also subject to the vagaries of the commodities market, which has recently experienced a downswing in coffee demand.

While most child rights advocates agree that the worst forms of child labour need to be abolished immediately, they are divided on how to improve the children's lives in the long term. While some support the abolition of child labour in all its forms, others argue that total prohibition is unrealistic and contrary to the interests of the children themselves. Such advocates argue that child labour must be seen within the broader context of social, economic and educational progress in the developing world.

With the recent public awareness of child labour, some coffee industry companies have sought a "Certified -- No Child Labour" guarantee much as the chocolate industry has. But there are those who will argue that such policies are misguided and ignore the broader socio-economic reality.

The child labour issue won't disappear any time soon. As long as povery exists in the world, child labour will continue as well. Better access to schools, health care and decent housing will do much to improve the situation in the long run, as well as the adoption of improved industry practices that see a greater proportion of money in the hands of the small producers and workers.