The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) carried out a study in which 600 randomised Ghanaian cocoa-growing families in the Brong-Ahafo and Eastern regions received regular cash transfers over a period of six months. The study is purportedly the first of its kind and looked to measure the impact of a stable cash flow on child labour, which is a polarising issue in the Cocoa industry.
Nestlé recently implemented a similar programme to reduce the financial strain on farming families and remove some underlying reasons contributing to children not attending school.
In this instance, the programme looked at the effect of a monthly cash transfer of approximately $30 on households and children in particular.
The 6-month experiment concluded with some key findings:
Reduction in child labour
The cash transfers resulted in a 9.3% reduction of hazardous child labour in the area. This represents a significant decrease from the previously recorded prevalence of 58%. Although this is a step in the right direction, the remaining rate of child labour is still relatively high at 50%.
Hazardous child labour is defined by the ILO as:
work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.
Matthias Lange, ICI’s Executive Director, explains, “During the six-month pilot, child labour significantly reduced. These results demonstrate the important role of income in tackling child labour, but also that it cannot solve the issue alone – even after the programme, child labour prevalence remained relatively high at around 50%. Income support needs to be one part of a broader set of measures to prevent and address child labour.”
Improved Material Well Being
The material well being of the children under the programme was noted to improve over the 6 month period – this was measured in the amount of basic material needs items owned by a child.
Increased Resilience to Unexpected Hardships
Households under the programme were also more resilient to unforeseen events. The cash transfers allowed them to build up some wealth that could then be relied upon in instances of illness, inability to work or loss of earnings. This meant that households were less likely to resort to child labour or reduce basic necessities like food in order to cope.
The study found that about two in three families in the sample experienced such adverse events. Still, those receiving the cash transfer were less likely to resort to negative coping strategies. Yaw Donkor is an example of a farmer from Sankore who received the cash transfer as part of the programme. As a result, he benefited from the extra money when he was struck with a sudden illness. “I was seriously sick,” explained Yaw, “I had some issues with my eyes…if not for the money, I have no idea how my children and I would have survived that period.”
While the findings of this study certainly are promising, there is more that needs to be considered if such programmes are to be meaningfully implemented as part of the ongoing battle against child labour. How much money is transferred, how often and to who are all factors that require further and longer-term study.
The participating families in the control group collected six months of payments to maintain fairness in the community.
The ICI partnered with ECOM to deliver the cash transfer programme as part of an innovation project funded partly by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
