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Cash Transfer Program Aims to Combat Child Labor in Ghana

Stacey Knott

   ACCRA, GHANA - Experts warn there could be an increase in child labor
   in cocoa-growing African nations as incomes and enforcement suffer due
   to the coronavirus pandemic.

   Ghana and Ivory Coast produce about 60 percent of the world's cocoa,
   but both have long-standing issues with child labor in cocoa farms.
   Last month, Fairtrade Africa told Reuters News Agency it had received
   reports of possible child labor use in Ivory Coast, leading to warnings
   there might be a spike in cases in both Ivory Coast and neighboring
   Ghana.

   Prince Gyamfi, Ghana's deputy country director for The International
   Cocoa Initiative (ICI), which is focused on child protection in
   cocoa-farming communities, says poverty is a major driver for child
   labor in cocoa farms.

   If the pandemic continues, he said, there will be increased economic
   pressures on farming families, and ongoing school closures in Ghana
   mean children are more likely to accompany their parents to their farms
   and be exposed to hazardous activities.

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