Fairtrade’s approach to child protection

At Fairtrade, we are committed to fighting the root causes of child labour and preventing abuse and exploitation of children.

School playground and kids
School playground and kids

Child protection is a key issue for Fairtrade, as child labour unfortunately remains commonplace in the agricultural sector, especially in communities who hardly earn a living income.

UNICEF estimates that 160 million children around the world are engaged in work that threatens their health and safety or interrupts schooling – 70 percent of them in the agricultural sector.

Child labour refers to work – paid or unpaid – which harms a child’s health and wellbeing, their education, leisure or development. It involves both boys and girls, and in some regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, more than one child in four aged five to 17 are engaged in child labour. The causes are multi-faceted and complex, but poverty remains the key driver.

The Fairtrade approach to child protection is human rights-based and inclusive, and targets direct root causes.

  • 9M
    additional working children after the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent global economic downturn, UNICEF estimates.
  • 1.5M
    children aged five to 17 are working on cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana alone.
Child labour

Fast facts

Here are a few facts about this critical systemic issue.

How Fairtrade supports child protection

  • Strong Standards

  • Targeted projects and programmes

  • Community-based monitoring

“The level of exploitation of children in cocoa growing areas has been a stumbling block to their education and the result has been the cyclical nature of poverty in these communities. Children can open up to you and discuss anything that troubles them if they feel safe with you. Community participation and active involvement eliminates the defensive position and enhances ownership and cooperation.”

Anthony Badu, Fairtrade YICBMR monitor, Ghana

Child protection through mitigation and remediation

If Fairtrade finds breaches of our child protection requirements in any Fairtrade certified organisation, we will take immediate action to protect the impacted child or children:

  • We work with national child protection agencies, local authorities and child rights organisations to ensure children’s safe remediation and long-term wellbeing.
  • Fairtrade connects companies with producers to tackle child labour - for example through the voluntary best practice section of Fairtrade’s Trader Standard.

Ending child labour needs everyone – farmers, consumers, businesses and governments to play their part.

By purchasing Fairtrade products you are not only supporting producers to earn a better living and send their children to school, but to also tackle the underlying causes of child labour in their communities.