ICI has published a new study on how community data can be used to estimate the risk of child labour. This study uses data from 258 cocoa-producing communities in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire to answer the following questions:
- Which community factors indicate that a community is more vulnerable to child labour?
- How can community-level data be used to assess child labour risk more cost-effectively?
The results show that a limited set of community characteristics, which can be collected easily and at low cost, provide a powerful predictor of a community’s child labour risk.
The research team produced two models – one for Côte d’Ivoire and one for Ghana – which can be used to identify and target the most vulnerable communities for support. Using only 12 criteria, a community can be classified in one of three categories: lower, medium or higher risk of child labour.
In practice, these models can help actors in cocoa-growing communities to prioritize where further assessments are needed and identify appropriate action to take.
The study was conducted by the Understanding Children’s Work (UCW) Programme, a joint initiative by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Bank. It was funded by the Jacobs Foundation, the Chocoloney Foundation, the Lindt Cocoa Foundation, and several ICI Board Members.
Read the summary report: Using community level data to understand child labour risk in cocoa-growing areas of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.