As global leaders prepare for the VI global conference on child labour in Morocco, the evidence is clear: coordinated action is key to lasting change in agriculture.
To end child labour, we must go beyond removing children from the fields — we must change the systems that keep sending them there.
Across rural economies, millions of families depend on small farms that struggle to survive on low yields, volatile markets, and fragile incomes. When parents cannot earn enough to hire adult workers or pay school costs, children often become the hidden labour force that keeps farms running.
Ending this cycle means looking beyond symptoms to address the structures beneath them. Through the lens of Production, Procurement, and Policy — the “3 Ps” — we can identify practical, interconnected solutions that make smallholder farming both viable and child-labour-free.
Production: Building Resilient Farms and Families
Child labour in agriculture is most common where livelihoods are most fragile. Smallholder and subsistence farms — often reliant on manual tools, unpredictable harvests, and low yields — struggle to generate enough income to hire adult labour. As a result, younger children, many aged just 5 to 11, help their families plant, weed, or harvest.
61 % of all child labour occurs in agriculture, and 57 % involves children aged 5 to 11. (ILO & UNICEF, 2024)
Research consistently shows the link between poverty, low productivity, and child labour. A 2022 study on marginal farming households in India found that “higher adult household income and improved access to credit significantly reduce the likelihood of child labour” (Das, 2022). When parents can earn enough to cover costs and hire adults, children are free to attend school. Sustainable production is therefore one of the strongest levers for change. Farms that adopt climate-smart techniques, diversify crops, and have access to rural infrastructure are better able to withstand shocks and generate steady income. A global review of 286 sustainable agriculture projects across 57 countries found that such practices increased yields by an average of 79 per cent (Pretty, 2008).
FAO and ILO guidance also stress that improving productivity must go hand in hand with protecting workers’ rights and improving access to finance (FAO & ILO, 2023). When productivity rises and incomes stabilise, families gain the economic security needed to break their dependence on children’s work.
But productivity alone cannot solve the problem. The way markets reward farmers for that production matters just as much.
Procurement: Making Responsible Sourcing Work for Children
Fairness in markets is as vital as productivity in fields. Procurement decisions — how buyers set prices, schedule payments, or define delivery terms — directly affect whether smallholders can sustain decent livelihoods or must rely on children’s labour to bridge income gaps.
“Procurement practices should ensure responsible sourcing and support for supply-chain actors who commit to decent work, living incomes, and the elimination of child labour.” (ECLT, 2025)
When purchasing practices put downward pressure on prices or delay payments, families absorb the losses. This instability can push parents to depend on their children’s labour to meet production targets or cope with unpaid bills. As highlighted in UNICEF’s 2022 Guidance Note on Child Labour and Responsible Business Conduct, “Irresponsible purchasing practices influence supplier practices that lead to higher child labour risks” (UNICEF, 2022).
Evidence across sectors shows that how buyers behave upstream has a direct impact on labour practices downstream. Timely payments and fair prices create predictability for smallholders. Transparent, long-term contracts allow families to plan expenses, pay adult labourers, and keep children in school even during lean seasons. Conversely, late payments, fluctuating prices, or unfair margins push households back toward children’s work as a coping strategy.
Responsible procurement is therefore not only good business practice — it is a form of child protection. However, for responsible procurement to be truly effective, the ILO and OECD note that it must be grounded in coherent policy and accountability frameworks that uphold human rights across every tier of global supply chains (ILO & OECD, 2019).
Policy: Creating Environments Where Change Lasts
While sustainable farming and fair trading are crucial, they cannot stand alone. Lasting progress against child labour depends on policies that make rural life more equitable and secure — policies that connect livelihoods, education, and labour rights into one coherent system.
Well-designed public policy can break the functional dependence of small farms on children’s labour by addressing the structural barriers that make such dependence necessary. Free and quality rural education, school calendars that align with agricultural seasons, and strong farmer organisations are among the most direct ways to reduce the pressures that keep children in the fields.
“Government and sector policies play a critical role in preventing and reducing the functional dependence of smallholder and subsistence farms on child labour.” (ECLT, 2025)
Evidence from the ILO–OECD report Ending Child Labour, Forced Labour and Human Trafficking in Global Supply Chains reinforces this point. The report highlights the critical role that gaps in statutory legislation, enforcement, and access to justice play in perpetuating child labour. By creating space for non-compliance and allowing exploitative practices to persist, weak legal and policy frameworks worsen the problem. Sustainable progress can only be achieved through a robust legal architecture and coherent policy action across sectors — ensuring that trade, labour, and social protection systems reinforce rather than undermine one another (ILO & OECD, 2019).
In its Framework for Action on Child Labour 2023–2025, the ILO further stresses that “[Its] experience demonstrates that significant reductions in child labour are achieved mainly through the implementation of a smart mix of policies.” (ILO, 2024)
Policy coherence is not an administrative exercise; it is protection that lasts. When education, labour, and agriculture policies work together, families gain options — and children gain futures.
Connecting the 3 Ps: Turning Evidence into Commitment
The 3 Ps are not three separate paths — they are parts of a single, interconnected system. Improvements in production yield stronger incomes; fair procurement reinforces those gains; enabling policies make them sustainable.
Addressing one area without the others is like draining an overflowing bathtub without turning off the tap — progress will always be partial and temporary. When production, procurement, and policy move together, they close the tap completely, cutting off the flow of new children into child labour.
As the world prepares for the VI Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in Morocco 2026, the evidence is clear: to achieve SDG 8.7, governments, businesses, and social partners must act together through an integrated, rights-based framework of policy, production, and procurement.
This approach is more than coordination — it is shared responsibility. By investing in resilient farms, ensuring fair markets, and enacting coherent policies, we can transform the conditions that make child labour necessary in the first place.
The tap can be turned off — if we act together, and act now.
Read ECLT's Call to Action here.
References
Das, S. (2022). Child labour and schooling decision of the marginal farmer households: An empirical evidence from the East Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. arXiv preprint. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2209.01330
ECLT Foundation. (2025). Policy Brief – Turn Off the Tap: Focus on Agriculture and Children 5–11 Years. Geneva: Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco-Growing Foundation (ECLT).
FAO and ILO. (2023). Elimination of Child Labour in Agriculture through Social Protection – Guidance Note. Rome/Geneva: FAO / ILO.
ILO and OECD. (2019). Ending Child Labour, Forced Labour and Human Trafficking in Global Supply Chains. Geneva/Paris: ILO and OECD. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2019/02/ending-child-labour-forced-labour-and-human-trafficking-in-global-supply-chains_b7bbbe62.html
ILO and UNICEF. (2024). Child Labour: Global Estimates 2024, Trends and the Road Forward. Geneva/New York: ILO / UNICEF. Pretty, J. (2008). Agricultural Sustainability: Concepts, Principles and Evidence. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 363(1491), 447–465. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2007.2163
UNICEF. (2022). Guidance Note on Child Labour and Responsible Business Conduct. New York: United Nations Children’s Fund. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/media/122616/file/Guidance-Note-Child-Labour-and-Responsible-Business-Conduct-June-22.pdf