ILO trains Kenyan cooperatives to eliminate child labour in tea and coffee

ILO trains Kenyan cooperatives to eliminate child labour in tea and coffee

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has launched a targeted initiative to eradicate child labour within Kenya's tea and coffee supply chains by strengthening the capacity of agricultural cooperatives. Through the ACCEL Africa project—financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands—the ILO is implementing a systems-based approach to address the economic vulnerabilities that drive children into the workforce.

From March 2 to 14, 2026, the ILO conducted a 14-day Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop in Kisumu. The program equipped 52 trainers, including cooperative officers, government representatives, and members of the Cooperative University of Kenya, Solidaridad, and various cooperative unions. The training focused on four key counties: Kisii, Kericho, Meru, and Nyeri.

The initiative identifies poverty, low household incomes, informality, and limited institutional capacity as the root causes of child labour in these sectors. By leveraging cooperative development tools such as Think.COOP, Start.COOP, and My.COOP, the ILO aims to embed child labour prevention directly into the governance and operational frameworks of member-driven organizations.

Cooperatives are viewed as strategic actors because their democratic, community-based nature allows them to improve farmer incomes and promote decent working conditions. According to Dancan Chando, the National Project Officer for the ACCEL Africa project, strong cooperatives are essential for building transparent, responsible and child-labour-free supply chains.

Local Impact and Governance

Local officials emphasize that improving governance and transparency is the primary path to safeguarding children. Dr Leonard Otii, Director of Cooperatives in Kericho County, stated that sustainable growth must coincide with labour standards compliance. Similarly, Bernard Ochieng, Deputy Director for Cooperatives in Kisii County, noted that the initiative strengthens systems rather than just individuals.

Ochieng announced that his office intends to sustain these gains by embedding specific sub-committees on child labour within county cooperative societies. Trainees are now tasked with cascading this knowledge to grassroots farmers and producer groups. To maintain their ToT certification, participants must provide regular reports to the ILO on their activities every three years.

The practical shift in approach was highlighted by Dorine Chepkemoi, a cooperative officer from Kericho County, who noted that previous efforts focused mainly on production and marketing. Now, officers can support farmers in protecting children while simultaneously increasing earnings.

Regional and Global Context

The urgency of the program is supported by alarming data. A joint 2025 report from the ILO and Unicef found that sub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly two thirds of all child labour. Further data cited by ILO Country Office Director Caroline Mugalla indicates that the absolute number of children in child labour rose from 72.1 million to 92.2 million, an increase attributed entirely to sub-Saharan Africa.

Within Kenya, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reports that roughly 1.3 million children aged five to 17 years are engaged in child labour, with agriculture serving as the largest employer. This domestic reality aligns with a broader African effort; the ACCEL project has already been implemented in Egypt, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Nigeria, Uganda, and Malawi.

Ambassador Maarten Brouwer of the Kingdom of the Netherlands described child labour as economically unwise, arguing that it offers a short term gain at the expense of long-term value by neglecting the potential of a child's future labour that could be developed through education.

Commitments and Next Steps

Kenya's participation is tied to national and international obligations. Florence Bore, Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, stated that Kenya must fulfill the requirements of Convention No 82 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour and Convention No 138 regarding the minimum age for employment.

The broader goal is to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 8.7 by 2025. As part of this ongoing effort, the ILO has issued a Call for Proposals to support further community-based interventions in the tea industry. These proposals, which must come from organizations registered under Kenyan law, were due by July 3, 2026.