This study presents findings from the International Labour Organisation’s Accelerating action for the elimination of child labour in supply chains in Africa (ACCEL Africa) project on labour availability in cocoa communities in Cote d’Ivoire. ACCEL identified that between May and July labour is in high demand due to competition between work on cocoa farms and other agricultural products, such as rice and yams. This coincides with a window of heightened vulnerability between June and August when sanitary and agricultural risks are heightened, due to climatic conditions, which can impact farmer cash flows.
The study makes several recommendations to address these issues such as strengthening workers’ groups, for example Community Service Groups, and reducing farmers’ vulnerability levels by developing financial services.
