This report by the Rainforest Alliance and Aidenvironment examines three different approaches taken to tackle child labour in Uganda’s coffee sector over three years as part of a pilot project. The report includes discussion of the comparative impacts and costs of a high-intensity Child Labour Free Zone approach, and a medium-intensity approach, and a standards-based certification approach.
For all three approaches, the percentage of households with at least one child in or at risk of child labour decreased between the baseline survey in 2018 and the endline in 2020. However, there was no control group, making it challenging to know to what extent these reductions can be attributed to the three approaches assessed.
The study also includes the following qualitative insights about specific activities:
- Farmer training on productivity helped to boost both yields and revenues
- Village Savings and Loans Associations allowed participants to invest in income-generating activities and support families to pay school fees.
- Child Labor Committees helped to raise awareness and shift community attitudes and practices in relation to child labour
- Teachers reported that training on child labour increased awareness of cases in their classes and boosted their motivation to address them
- Child protection challenges in schools and limited parental support to purchase books and school fees were reported by children as important barriers to attendance