According to ILO figures, 10.5 million children and adolescents work in Latin America and the Caribbean. 6.3 million of them perform hazardous work.

Available data show that child labor prevails in the lowest quintiles, although it is identified at different income levels; it is mainly concentrated in rural areas; it mainly affects the adolescent group and predominates in activities related to the agricultural sector.

Child labor is also related to the structural axes of inequality in the Latin American and Caribbean region and affects children and adolescents differently according to the territory where they are born or live; age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

It is key to recognize that, in the region, the territory is one of the determining factors when it comes to tackling child labor. The fact that close to 52% of child labor is concentrated in the agriculture sector, shows that rural and peri-urban areas are more exposed and therefore require differentiated and more aggressive policies to reduce the gaps and contribute to the eradication of the child labor and the promotion of protected adolescent labor.

In several countries in the region, the rate of child labor in rural areas is double or even triple that of urban areas. Source: ECLAC, ILO and IR (2017). A trap for equality.

Rural families and communities generally have very low incomes, precarious or insecure working conditions, and less access to public services and social protection. This, coupled with the fact that the capacities of local public authorities in rural areas are often more limited, means that those who live and work in rural areas have fewer opportunities to develop and improve their quality of life and well-being.

For many rural families, agriculture is their main subsistence activity, however, the absence of comprehensive and efficient agrarian and environmental development policies make overcoming the structural problems of this activity more complex. Many of these producer families and communities do not have the necessary basic resources, such as water, energy or technology, to improve their crops and distribute them to the market, in addition to being exposed to the effects of climate change.

If this situation continues, the human capital concentrated in this sector will hardly progress, therefore, also productivity, agriculture and rural communities, thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty and child labor, since the unsatisfied needs of the most The rural poor will prompt them to turn to child labor for help.

The high rates of child labor in rural areas are linked to the significant concentration of children and adolescents who work in the agricultural sector, mainly in small family farms, extending to livestock production, fisheries and aquaculture (ILO, 2016 ).

Child labor is predominantly rural and agricultural and this productive sector is one of the most risky and dangerous for children and adolescents due to the long hours it demands, exposure to extreme climates, contact with chemical products, etc. Likewise, the seasonal / temporary nature of this activity encourages constant seasonal migration, which exposes them to situations of abuse, trafficking, servitude or forced labor.

Given that for many families and communities child labor in agriculture is part of cultural traditions and patterns, some activities can be considered part of the training and socialization of their members, which makes relative the risks and dangers that they may entail for development and the safety of children and adolescents. This, together with the difficulty represented by the inspection and even the delivery of key social protection services, such as education or health, and supplements or incentives for production in many rural areas of countries in the region, makes the restitution of rights more complex. of working boys and girls and the protection of permitted adolescent work.

A future of work without child labor

The dreams of a better future for children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean who live and work in the fields are limited not only by child labor, but also by little or weak inter-institutional, intersectoral and intergovernmental coordination to national, regional and local level, to level the development of rural areas and peripheries with that of cities.

The future of fair and sustainable work, to which the 2030 Agenda calls us and the commitment to leave no one behind, has a particular challenge in terms of child labor in terms of the adolescent population. Unlike the rest of the world, child labor in the Latin American and Caribbean region is mostly carried out by adolescents who, even when they meet the minimum age for admission to employment set in their countries, carry out dangerous activities. Hence, a priority challenge is to strengthen the focus on safety and health at work and the measures and services aimed at promoting protected adolescent and youth employment and job retraining services.

For this reason, this year, within the framework of the World Day against Child Labor, the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labor emphasizes the urgency of making visible the shortcomings of rural areas, the need for an innovative vision and perspective and inclusive of the most vulnerable areas, sectors and groups, to build responses that protect and restore rights, but also that are capable of preventing the insertion and recidivism of child labor in the countryside.

In the same way, it demands the creation of decent jobs for rural adolescents and young people, with which they can not only meet their needs and help their families, but also allow them to develop and live peacefully in their communities.

Safety and health at work has a great impact when it comes to child labor in general and, in particular, work in agriculture. Therefore, this call also implies contemplating the care and attention of child and adolescent health from different fronts and through joint actions with strategic allies such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a member of the Interagency Child Labor Group ( GITI) together with ILO, FAO, UN Women, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA and UNICEF, all of them united under the purpose of accelerating efforts to achieve a region free of child labor.  

To learn more about child labor and agriculture, we invite you to visit the following links:

• There are alternatives for children and adolescents in the field: http://www.iniciativa2025alc.org/sites/default/files/ti_agricultura_ALC-FAO_OIT.pdf

• Virtual course "Put an end to child labor in agriculture": http://www.fao.org/in-action/capacitacion-politicas-publicas/cursos/ver/es/c/1037246/