Agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries
Child labour in agriculture remains a global concern. Agriculture is the sector where most child labour is found. Employment of children mostly relates to farm household poverty in developing countries. This raises the question of the extent to which the modernisation of agriculture prevents the use...
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| Format: | Artículo preliminar |
| Language: | Inglés |
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International Food Policy Research Institute
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143453 |
| _version_ | 1855542615430135808 |
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| author | Vos, Rob Takeshima, Hiroyuki |
| author_browse | Takeshima, Hiroyuki Vos, Rob |
| author_facet | Vos, Rob Takeshima, Hiroyuki |
| author_sort | Vos, Rob |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Child labour in agriculture remains a global concern. Agriculture is the sector where most child labour is found. Employment of children mostly relates to farm household poverty in developing countries. This raises the question of the extent to which the modernisation of agriculture prevents the use of child labour while also leading to higher productivity. One of the central questions in this context is whether agricultural mechanisation helps limit children’s employment. Available studies have put forward opposing hypotheses, but rigorous empirical evidence is scant. The present study aims to fill some of this void by studying the evidence from comparable farm household survey data in seven developing countries, including three in Asia (India, Nepal, and Vietnam) and four in sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania). Various key findings emerge. First, many children are found to engage in productive activities in studied countries. The prevalence is particularly high in African countries, such as in Ethiopia where more than one third of children aged 5-14 years engage in farm or off-farm work. Second, while the prevalence of child labour in agriculture (i.e., when productive engagement is detrimental to schooling and child growth) is much lower (at 10% or less in seven countries), they are still sizable in absolute terms; at least 6 million children in these countries partake in agricultural work at the expense of opportunities in adulthood. Third, agricultural mechanization, reflected in farm household’s use of machinery such as tractors, significantly reduces the likelihood of use of children’s labour and increases school attendance. Fourth, the measured impacts of mechanization are only modest, however, and likely indirect, that is, dependent on the extent to which mechanization helps improve household income and on local conditions (such as quality of rural infrastructure and accessibility of education and other social services). Overall, promotion of agricultural mechanization can help prevent use of child labour. To be truly impactful, however, related support measures should be embedded in broader strategies to enable agricultural productivity growth and improve livelihoods of poor rural households. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace143453 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1434532025-12-02T21:02:52Z Agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries Vos, Rob Takeshima, Hiroyuki child labour employment households labour agriculture children agricultural mechanization developing countries farms Child labour in agriculture remains a global concern. Agriculture is the sector where most child labour is found. Employment of children mostly relates to farm household poverty in developing countries. This raises the question of the extent to which the modernisation of agriculture prevents the use of child labour while also leading to higher productivity. One of the central questions in this context is whether agricultural mechanisation helps limit children’s employment. Available studies have put forward opposing hypotheses, but rigorous empirical evidence is scant. The present study aims to fill some of this void by studying the evidence from comparable farm household survey data in seven developing countries, including three in Asia (India, Nepal, and Vietnam) and four in sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania). Various key findings emerge. First, many children are found to engage in productive activities in studied countries. The prevalence is particularly high in African countries, such as in Ethiopia where more than one third of children aged 5-14 years engage in farm or off-farm work. Second, while the prevalence of child labour in agriculture (i.e., when productive engagement is detrimental to schooling and child growth) is much lower (at 10% or less in seven countries), they are still sizable in absolute terms; at least 6 million children in these countries partake in agricultural work at the expense of opportunities in adulthood. Third, agricultural mechanization, reflected in farm household’s use of machinery such as tractors, significantly reduces the likelihood of use of children’s labour and increases school attendance. Fourth, the measured impacts of mechanization are only modest, however, and likely indirect, that is, dependent on the extent to which mechanization helps improve household income and on local conditions (such as quality of rural infrastructure and accessibility of education and other social services). Overall, promotion of agricultural mechanization can help prevent use of child labour. To be truly impactful, however, related support measures should be embedded in broader strategies to enable agricultural productivity growth and improve livelihoods of poor rural households. 2021-12-29 2024-05-22T12:14:15Z 2024-05-22T12:14:15Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143453 en https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896293809 https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198848059.003.0001 https://doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejs010 https://doi.org/10.4060/cb8550en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Vos, Rob; and Takeshima, Hiroyuki. 2021. Agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2080. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134916. |
| spellingShingle | child labour employment households labour agriculture children agricultural mechanization developing countries farms Vos, Rob Takeshima, Hiroyuki Agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries |
| title | Agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries |
| title_full | Agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries |
| title_fullStr | Agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries |
| title_full_unstemmed | Agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries |
| title_short | Agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries |
| title_sort | agricultural mechanisation and child labour in developing countries |
| topic | child labour employment households labour agriculture children agricultural mechanization developing countries farms |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143453 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vosrob agriculturalmechanisationandchildlabourindevelopingcountries AT takeshimahiroyuki agriculturalmechanisationandchildlabourindevelopingcountries |