Building resilience and supporting livelihood improvement in cotton-growing communities

Women’s economic empowerment as an effective strategy to curb child labour

Empowering rural women economically and socially is a key means of reducing child labour in rural areas. In many cotton-growing communities, women face a lot of hardship. They are time-poor and their contributions to farming and household work are sometimes invisible and unaccounted for. Not only do they shoulder a lot of responsibilities, they also play a decisive role in children’s education within their household. 

Efforts to end child labour require the involvement of women. If more women are economically empowered, their impact on communities can be groundbreaking. If more women are provided with the means to take their families out of poverty, their children are likely to stay in school. To support gender equality and empower women to improve the livelihoods of their households, the project empowered women economically. Now, not only do they get to play a transformative role in their children’s lives, their dependency on child labour is drastically reduced and their children are able to remain in school. 

In the three countries, support for Income Generating Activities (IGAs) benefited women from households in vulnerable situations with a higher risk of child labour. In Mali and Pakistan, the project provided capacity building and agricultural inputs. In Burkina Faso, women received conditional cash transfers to purchase directly what they needed to develop their activities in the local market. 

Beneficiaries were selected using the criteria of the Household Economy Approach (HEA), a methodology for assessing groups of households’ vulnerabilities to economic shocks and changes over large rural areas based on livelihood patterns and market information. This support was conditioned on families sending their children back to school with the additional income generated.

The return to school was facilitated by access to the accelerated schooling centres in Mali and Burkina Faso, and the accelerated non-formal education centres in Pakistan.

“Now I understand better the negative effects of child labour and share my learnings with others in my village. I re-enrolled in school my 11-year-old son who used to take care of animals and help me in the field.”

Kamitié Issouf Konate, a farmer in Burkina Faso

In addition, in Mali and Burkina Faso, the project supported the establishment of Village Saving and Loan Associations (VSLAs) that benefited women; and in Pakistan, linkages with public and private safety nets.

Supplementary income and increased resilience help families to better cope with shocks and reduce the need for families to rely on children for labour. When this is combined with improved access to schooling, there is a greater chance for the sustainable reduction of child labour.

“When FAO project came to my village in Niangnéguéla, my father received sheep which are a source of hope for us today because they contribute to the support of my school fees as well as other expenses of the family.”

Djénébou Ballo, Project beneficiary and former child labourer

In Pakistan, the project addressed the drivers of child labour through a livelihood diversification programme targeting women in cotton-growing communities.

The rural women engaged in the programme benefited from training sessions aimed at developing the technical and soft skills needed to start alternative remunerative activities in agrifood value chains. These additional income streams helped to reduce their dependency on child labour. As a result, in the Punjab province, 500 women committed to continuing the schooling of their children.

Rafiqa Bibi is a Pakistani beneficiary of the programme. She lives in Chak 165 Murad, in the tehsil of Hasilpur where she takes care of the house, her six children and the family livestock. She also used to work in cotton fields as a seasonal worker. Even though her husband works and earns between 12 000 PKR (55 USD) and 16 000 PKR (73 USD) per month, their income was meagre and unstable.  

Rafiqa believes in the importance of education but could not afford to send her children. Two of her children had to drop out of school to support household income and production.  Rafiqa was selected to be part of the CLEAR Cotton project to receive technical and life skills training and learn how to run a business.

“It is due to this training that the mortality rate so far is zero. I immediately enrolled my two children in school.”

Rafiqa Bibi, women beneficiary of the income generating activities

She also received direct support in the form of a flock of eight hens and two roosters. In addition to the farming package, she received training on vaccination, medication, flock management, and the sale and marketing of eggs. Since then, her flock has grown fairly quickly from 8 to 19 hens.

As a result of her activities supported by the CLEAR Cotton project, she now gains 200 PKR (0.90 USD) per day by selling eggs. 

This stable and additional income, although apparently modest, makes a difference as it allows Rafiqa to send her children to school. She uses this money to purchase copied, pencils and other stationary items for her children.

With the support of FAO, several communities have established their own lists of hazardous agricultural tasks that children cannot undertake, while cotton producers are now aware of the negative impacts of child labour and have improved their yields through better and safer agricultural practices. 

Community-owned solutions – Dimitra Clubs in Mali and Burkina Faso

Dimitra Listeners’ Clubs are voluntary, informal groups of women, men, youth and children where participants discuss common problems and determine ways to address them by acting together and using local resources.

By their very nature of being participatory and inclusive, the clubs have demonstrated the important role of community engagement in triggering changes in mindsets and behaviours and in taking action for the elimination of child labour. The clubs also support preventive actions like the identification of hazardous tasks as well as monitoring and sanction measures. It also serves as a network for the exchange of information. 

Implicating the whole community, including local authorities, was key. The awareness-raising activities that take place during these meetings make an impact on many community members.  Thanks to the project and the clubs, parents have become more aware of the consequences of child labour and the importance of schooling. The clubs also promote gender equality, giving women and girls an equal voice with men and boys.  More children are now going to school and some youth clubs have set up a self-managed savings and credit group. The funds are usually used to start small income-generating activities. The savings groups strengthened the bonds and the solidarity between community members.

One beneficiary of these clubs is Salimata Diallo, a 19-year-old young woman living in Dièna, in the Sègou Region (Mali). Before learning about the CLEAR project from the village chief, she had already abandoned school and had been forced by her parents into marriage at the age of 15.

She joined the Dimitra Club set up in Dièna by the FAO and the NGO ALPHALOG. She attended training sessions on the negative impacts of child labour, sustainable agricultural practices, public speaking and gender-sensitive communication. She soon felt confident enough to speak up and lead discussions. Gradually, she became a leader of her club. 

“Every Friday, the club members contribute 500 francs Fcfa. The money is used by participants to start small income-generating activities, but also in case of emergency if someone gets sick, or the birth of a child. With this fund, we bought notebooks that we distributed to students to reduce parents’ burden and last year we bought and distributed corn seeds to the poorest families.”

Salimata Diallo, member of the Dimitra Club of Dièna

In addition, a solidarity fund was established to support the community with a contribution of 25 FCFA per week. Notebooks were bought and distributed to students to reduce parents’ burden and corn seeds given to the poorest families. 

Salimata highlights how the Dimitra Clubs and the saving groups strengthened the bonds and solidarity between the community members of Dièna. When people understood the benefits of the clubs, they joined in large numbers. Today, Salimata trains people from the neighbouring towns of Touna and Sègou on the Dimitra Club approach.