According to the United Nations, more than 160 million children worlwide are in child labour. We are taking giant leaps on our own and partner farms to remedy this. However, research without remedies is just paperwork, so we took the findings from our Child labour research back to the villages. Using Human-Centred Design workshops and Living-Incom math, we worked side by side with the local communities themselves to find real solutions. This is what we achieved:
- Established Child-Labour Committees in each coffee-growing community: moms, dads, teachers and elders log cases, track school attendance and intervene immediately.
- Set up prototype daycare huts at two washing stations so toddlers need not accompany their parents into the field.
- Created a Living-Income Reference Price pilot: farmers sign 3-year cherry contracts at prices tied to a living-income calculator, not the commodity market.
- Introduced agroforestry starter kits (shade trees, gooseberry seedlings, poultry) to diversify income throughout the year so older children needn’t work the fields.
We'll keep you updated on the progress and our quest to end child labour in our coffee supply chain!
Source: https://violenceagainstchildren.un.org/content/Child%20Labour