12 June 2025

On the occasion of the World Day Against Child Labour, FAO reaffirms its commitment to eliminating child labour in food systems and beyond. This year’s theme, "Progress is clear, but there is more to do. Let us speed up efforts!", recognises recent gains while underscoring the urgent need to scale up action.

Child labour remains a serious global concern, particularly in agriculture, which accounts for 61% of all cases. According to the ILO-UNICEF 2024 Global Estimates of Child Labour, today nearly 138 million children aged 5 to 17 are in child labour worldwide, down from 160 million four years ago.  

In agrifood systems, particularly in rural areas, child labour is often a survival strategy for families as they rely on unpaid workers within the household. This reflects the deep links between rural poverty, limited access to education, weak social protection, food insecurity, and the growing pressures of climate change. Child labour in agriculture cannot be addressed in isolation. It requires coordinated, area-based approaches that tackle underlying drivers in partnership with a range of actors, each bringing complementary expertise. 

Scaling up joint efforts: From cotton to coffee and beyond

FAO’s work to eliminate child labour is grounded in its Framework on Ending Child Labour in Agriculture and reflects its commitment to support agrifood system actors in achieving SDG target 8.7 on ending all forms of child labour. Building on this foundation, FAO’s collaboration with partners such as the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNICEF, and the International Trade Centre (ITC) has evolved and deepened over time. This joint work is shaped by a shared vision to address the root causes of child labour by leveraging respective comparative advantages.

This journey began with the CLEAR Cotton project, launched in 2018 and implemented in Burkina Faso, Mali, Pakistan, and Peru. Funded by the European Union and co-led by ILO, the project aimed to eliminate child and forced labour in cotton, textile, and garment value chains. FAO played a central role in reaching more than 10,000 men, women, youth, and children through a two-part strategy. One focus was on helping vulnerable smallholder farming families improve their livelihoods by offering conditional cash transfers, training, and support for income diversification through Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA). The second focus was on promoting education and safer agricultural practices through Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools, Dimitra Clubs, rural radio campaigns, and community-based awareness efforts. In Pakistan, additional activities included Women’s Open Schools and Children’s Ecological Clubs. In several countries, FAO also supported reintegration into education for children involved in or at risk of child labour. As a result, approximately 1,500 households saw improved livelihoods, and farming communities became more aware of the risks associated with child labour, particularly children's exposure to hazardous tasks such as pesticide use through the Facilitators Visual Tool, “Protect Children from Pesticides!”. 

Building on the foundation of CLEAR Cotton, the CLEAR Supply Chains project expands this approach to other high-risk value chains. It focuses primarily on coffee and also draws on lessons from work in the cobalt sector. The project is being implemented in four countries - Honduras, Uganda, Vietnam, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo - from 2023 to 2026, with a total budget of USD 10 million, funded by the European Commission. It applies an area-based approach designed to address the root causes of child labour at the community level.

In this context, FAO works mainly in Honduras and Uganda in supporting smallholder farmers to strengthen their livelihoods and climate change resilience through labour-saving technologies, climate adaptation practices and income diversification. The Organization also helps strengthen farmer organizations, improve access to markets, and integrate child labour concerns into agricultural policy frameworks. In Uganda, for example, FAO is piloting approaches that reduce the demand for child labour during peak harvest seasons. In Honduras, the focus is on providing training opportunities for working-age children (14-17) lacking education opportunities through Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS), introduced for the first time in the region. As with CLEAR Cotton, the strength of this programme lies in its integrated design. It brings together agricultural development, labour standards, child protection, education and due diligence support to provide coordinated and multisectoral solutions.

Innovative monitoring to guide future action

To support and sharpen these field-based efforts, FAO is also investing in innovation. Most recently, the Organization developed DIGICHILD, a first-of-its-kind GIS-based index designed to estimate the risk of child labour in agrifood systems. Implemented under the FAO ELEVATE Programme 2024-2025, DIGICHILD represents a forward-looking step in how data and digital tools can enhance traditional data collection based on direct observation, due diligence compliance and a shift from mere remediation to prevention actions.

The tool combines several georeferenced and survey data, such as poverty, food insecurity, school proximity and dropout rates, climate vulnerability, early pregnancies and marriage, women-headed households, water proximity, infrastructure, conflicts and others, to generate location-based risk scores. This enables governments to better identify and prioritise high-risk areas for cost-effective, timely, and tailored interventions.

Piloted in Honduras and Uganda, DIGICHILD was developed through a participatory approach involving multiple country-level consultations, securing national buy-in and ownership and ensuring its relevance and usability in their respective countries. The UN integrated approach contributed to this innovative project, with both the ILO and UNICEF contributing to the index's consultation process. Unlike conventional assessments, this tool takes a systems view, helping stakeholders move from reactive programming to anticipatory action based on emerging risks. Through the adaptation of its methodological framework, DIGICHILD is now ready to be replicated in other countries.

Ending child labour: A shared responsibility

Recognising that no single organisation can address child labour alone, FAO’s collaboration with ILO, UNICEF, and ITC - from CLEAR Cotton to CLEAR Supply Chains and now DIGICHILD - demonstrates how an integrated UN approach has expanded in both scope and impact. Spanning different countries, commodities, and regions, these initiatives are united by a common foundation: an area-based model that places communities at the centre. As this collaboration continues to evolve, we can collectively build food systems that protect children, support rural livelihoods, and promote decent work for all.

On this World Day Against Child Labour, FAO stands ready to contribute to the upcoming Sixth Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labor, hosted by the Government of Morocco. Ending child labour in agriculture remains a key priority, as reaffirmed in the Durban Call to Action. While fewer children are now involved in agriculture, the numbers remain unacceptably high. Groundbreaking, collaborative solutions are urgently needed to reverse this trend. In this context, Alliance 8.7 plays a key role in driving coordinated action, particularly through the engagement of pathfinder countries. FAO calls for an inclusive dialogue that actively involves partners and stakeholders to end child labour.