A webinar organized by FAO and KIT featuring presentations from Ariane Genthon (FAO), Emmanuel Bukomeko (Kyagalanyi Coffee) and Lieke Guinee (Cocoanect/Beyond Beans)

1. TAKING A GENDER SENSITIVE APPROACH TO PROMOTE CHILD DEVELOPMENT IN
COFFEE AND COCOA VALUE CHAINS
A webinar hosted by the Gender in Cocoa and Coffee Initiative and
convened by FAO and KIT Royal Tropical Institute
Photo credit: Kyaganalyi Ltd.

2. THE GENDER IN COCOA AND
COFFEE INITIATIVE
• 2016 FAO, KIT and TWIN established a partnership to
foster gender equitable coffee and cocoa value chains
• Why coffee and cocoa?
• Similar constrains and issues faced by rural
women, as well as analogous gender issues
experienced by stakeholders in both chains
• Interest expressed by a variety of actors and
evidence of existence of good practices
2

3. COCOA AND COFFEE INITIATIVE’S
OBJECTIVES
• Identify innovative approaches and strategies
• Systematize good practices that can be widely shared
• Create a space of dialogue among a range of actors to
facilitate knowledge dissemination and exchange of
experiences and foster collaboration
• Strengthen the gender related capacities of the different
actors in both sectors
3

4. KEY ACTIVITIES Overview of activities carried out by the Cocoa and Coffee Initiative
Multi-stakeholder consultation
• The Initiative brought together
about 50 participants from the
coffee and cocoa sector in how to
foster gender sensitive producer
organisations and VC
4
2017 workshop
The Initiative organized a
workshop where participants
from eight organizations
presented, compared and
reflected on their case studies.
Publication
• Published in 2017 and titled:
“Changing the terms of
engagement in cocoa and coffee
supply chains”
Webinar series
Webinar series to launch of
publication and thematic
discussions

5. Taking a gender sensitive approach to promote
child development & prevent child labour in coffee and
cocoa value chains
Ariane Genthon, FAO Programme Officer (Child Labour in Agriculture)
Webinar
FAO & KIT

6. Gender sensitive approach to child development & child labour prevention in
coffee and cocoa value chains
WHAT IS AT STAKE?
Cocoa and Coffee are global
value chains
Pressure for sustainable
production in cocoa and
coffee: from consumers, to
obtain certification
standards, to meet due
diligence requirements
Among the main
interconnected social
demands: gender equality,
economic empowerment for
women, and No Child
Labour.
Small scale producers and
family farmers are much
involved at the production
stage of these VCs.
The lower tier, production, is
the most difficult to monitor.
How to help small-scale
producers meet the
enormous challenges and
improve their livelihoods
and practices?

7. Child
Development
criteria…
• Health/ physical development
• Education/ Cognitive Dev
• Social Skills/ Emotional Dev
The terms of of our discussion today – Child Development and Child Labour
…are interconnected
with what defines
Child Labour

8. interferes with compulsory
schooling
is hazardous
engages children below the
national minimum
employment age
is mentally, physically ,
spiritually, socially or morally
dangerous and harmful to
children
Child labour is not:
age-appropriate tasks
that are not hazardous
and do not interfere with
a child’s education
What is and what is not child labour?

9. Gender aspects of child labour situations:
Girls and Boys in cocoa and coffee value chains
GENDER ROLES, BIRTH ORDER AND
SOCIAL NORMS OFTEN DICTATE:
OCCUPATIONS AND TASKS UNDERTAKEN
BY BOYS AND GIRLS,
WHO WORKS,
WHO GETS AN EDUCATION.
• Boys and girls less than 10 y.o. tend to perform the same tasks, and to accompany
their mothers.
Gender differences in child labour increase with age (from 11 y.o. onwards)
DATA AVAILABLE ON GIRLS’ AND BOYS’
LABOUR IN AGRICULTURE, AND IN
COCOA AND COFFEE, IS LIMITED.
• 2,100,000 children in child labour in cocoa farming in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana
Less data available on coffee farming.
Both girls and boys perform a different range of tasks in both value chains.
+ Girls tasks not only associated to the coffee/cocoa production and so, less
visible/captured.
CONDITIONS OF WORK, EXPOSURE TO
RISKS AND HAZARDS OF BOYS AND
GIRLS CAN BE DIFFERENT.
• In cocoa production, young boys and girls both harvest overhead cocoa with hook,
break cocoa pods with a sharp knife or carrying heavy bags of cocoa.
In coffee production, young boys & girls harvest coffee, but girls are over-
represented in household chores.
boys > girls in hazardous tasks BUT girls combine coffee/cocoa related tasks with
households chores.

10. Flash File
InputGraphicsFinalCWD_1266_38.s
The main
“drivers are:
Women bear the triple work
burden and often need their
children to en help out,
especially where care
facilities are lacking.
Women have limited access
to training, land and other
resources which make them
more vulnerable to shocks
and negative coping
strategies
Social norms, traditions,
which do not value girls’
education, early marriage
and pregnancy, a school
environment hostile to
their presence
Rural women tend to earn less than
men and they may rely on their
children to supplement household
income
Gender dimensions of the drivers of child labour:
gender inequality among adults

11. • Improve livelihoods of households vulnerable to child labour by
economically empowering women, through income generation activities
• Raise awareness at community level through participative approaches
• Securing access to financial services and promoting inclusive business
strategies
• Adopting social security schemes/social protection programmes
benefitting women
How to meet the challenge? Examples of Gender sensitive
strategies towards child labour and child development

12. Now let’s hear our colleagues @Cocoanect/Ghana and
Kyagalanyi/Uganda on they are doing to make a difference!
For more information about FAO’s work on child labour prevention:
http://www.fao.org/childlabouragriculture/en/
Thank you!

13. KYAGALANYI COFFEE LTD
INTEGRATION OF GENDER & CHILD EDUCATION APPROACHES
Experience from West Nile, Uganda
Emmanuel Bukomeko & Anneke Fermont
March 2020

14. Kyagalanyi Coffee Ltd.
• Part of Volcafe group
• No 1 exporter in Uganda (East Africa)
• Strong sustainability department
o 21,000 certified households in 2019
o Range of services
o Innovative approaches

15. West Nile Arabica Scheme
• Started in 2014
• 6,800 households – 27 farmer support staff
• Objective: sustainably improve coffee production & quality through range of
services
o Processing equipment
o Agronomy trainings & individual household trainings
o Coffee Youth teams
o Gender
o Child education
• UTZ & CP certified -> member households should not have child labour

16. Gender 4 Growth - basics
• Background: if husband and wife do not work together, households do not
adopt better practices and fail to improve their livelihoods
• Objective: Improve gender relations @ HH level
• Started in Q4 2017
• 1,200 gender households in 60 clusters
• 60 VSLAs
• 1 Gender Officer + Change Agents
• Supported by Strauss & aBi development

17. Child education - basics
• Background: Many certified households cannot afford to send their children
to school.
• Objective: promote child education
• 1st project: Child labour free zone (CLFZ; 2015-2017)
• 2nd project: Evaluation of 3 levels of intensity (2018-2020)
• 3 partners – one message: all children should be in school
o CEFORD (NGO) – communities & local leaders
o UNATU (Teacher Union) – Schools
o Kyagalanyi – certified members
• Supported by UTZ/RA & Hivos

18. Integration of Gender & Child Education approaches
VILLAGE SAVINGS AND LOANS ASSOCIATIONS (VSLAs)
• VSLAs meet weekly to save &
borrow. Members pay weekly
shares.
• Savings are used for personal
development and school fees
• Members can get loans with a
small interest rate to pay school
fees and for other investments
• All VSLAs set requirement that to
become a member all your
children must be in school

19. Integration of Gender & Child Education approaches
VSLAs
• Social fund
Members can borrow – without
interest – for emergencies such
as school fees, medical treatment
and burial expenses.
• Education fund
VSLA supports a disadvantaged,
but bright child to remain in
school
• Members pay weekly fixed
contributions to both funds

20. Integration of Gender & Child Education approaches
VSLAs
• VSLAs = entry point for trainings
• Sensitisation on child education
& child labour by Child Labour
Liaison Officers
o What is child labour?
o Causes
o identification
o Remediation strategies
o Importance of child education
• Agronomy trainings by KCL field
staff to improve coffee income &
pay school fees

21. Integration of Gender & Child Education approaches
Gender tools
• Household vision
• Tool helps households (husband,
wife, children) to develop a
vision, for example: send children
back to school
• Tool encourages planning as a
household
• Tool helps household to evaluate
their progress

22. Integration of Gender & Child Education approaches
Gender tools
• Household plan & budget
• Tool helps households to budget
for their activities and allocate
resources for household
development and child education
• Tool promotes joined decision
making & transparency on
resource use

23. Integration of Gender & Child Education approaches
Gender tools
• Gender harvest game
• Game simulates situations that
happen in the life of farmers
• Game teaches importance of
joint decision making
• Game encourages educating
children
• Game encourages adoption of
GAPs & intercropping to earn
more income

24. Integration of Gender & Child Education approaches
Results
Gender
• Women are empowered
• 300 of 480 VSLA leaders are women
• Households work together
Coffee production & Income
• Productivity increased by 50%
• Income increased by 76%

25. Integration of Gender & Child Education approaches
Results
Child education
• 1st project: 437 (189 boys and 248 girls) children returned to school
• 2nd project: 760 (431 boys and 329 girls) children returned to school till date

26. THANKS

27. WebinarGenderinCocoaandCoffee
Initiative:VSLA+CHILD

28. How can we make two proven concepts - VSLA and GALS -
work to combat child labour in cocoa?

29. A b o u t C o c o a n e c t / E T G / B e y o n d
B e a n s
We build dedicated sustainable supply chains with farmer
groups, local exporters, and chocolate brands
We design, implement, and supervise sustainability projects
covering 60,000+ farmers in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and
Cameroon
Cocoanect will integrate into ETG as of April 1st 2020 with
sustainability projects managed by the Beyond Beans
Foundation

30. T h e o r i g i n o f t h e V S L A -
C H I L D p r o j e c t
The problem of child labour in the
cocoa sector has been well-known for
almost 20 years
Existing initiatives to tackle child labour
in the cocoa supply chain are focused
on monitoring and short-term, direct
remediation
Our aim: develop a bottom-up,
community driven approach that
addresses root causes of child labour,
based on the VSLA+GALS method

31. V S L A - C H I L D p r o j e c t : t h e b a s i c s
Period: 2019-2023
Location: Ghana
Co-funding: RVO FBK
Fonds Bestrijding Kinderarbeid
(Fund Against Child Labour)
Partners:
Kokoo Pa farmer cooperative
Participatory Development Associates (PDA)
Child Rights International (CRI)
Industry support from Mars and Ferrero

32. V S L A - C H I L D : t h e m e t h o d
Component How it works Benefits
VSLA
Village Savings & Loans
Associations
• Groups of 15-30 people meet weekly
• Members save and earn interest
• Access to small loans for investing in
business or for emergencies
• Income diversification,
reduced dependency on
cocoa
• Improved income
GALS
Gender Action and
Learning System
• Participatory & visual tools
• Group- and household development plans
• Financial capacity building
• Promoting gender equality and shared
decision making
• Women empowerment
• More household investments
in child wellbeing (nutrition,
schooling)
CHILD
Child-Household
Intervention for Learning
& Development
• Sensitization on what child labour is and
why it is harmful
• Promoting remediation activities
• Awareness of what child
labour is and why it is
harmful
• Improved child wellbeing
VSLA + GALS + CHILD  VLSA+CHILD
Root causes addressed: poverty & cultural norms and habits
Overall impact: Reduced child labour occurrence & Improved child-wellbeing

33. H o w t h e C H I L D c o m p o n e n t i s
i n t e g r a t e d i n t o V S L A - G A L S
Activity / intervention of VSLA-GALS How CHILD is incorporated
VSLA group level
GALS sensitization
Example: Gender Balance Tree
Child labour sensitization
Facilitation guide with flashcards
Group Development Plans Child labour focus, e.g. transport to school
Social funds
Link to child labour issues identified in Group
Development Plan
Household level
Household Development Plans
Financial literacy, shared decision
making & business development
Individual coaching
How to invest household income in child
wellbeing

34. V S L A - C H I L D : i n t e r v e n t i o n s
100 VSLA-CHILD groups, 2500-3000
households
Additional coaching for 750 households on
their Household Development Plans
Monitoring of child & forced labour
occurrence among 1500 households
1000 treatment (=VSLA member), 500 control
Using our own data collection tool based on
best practices in the sector, national &
international definitions of child and forced
labour

35. V S L A - C H I L D : r e s u l t s s o f a r & n e x t
s t e p s
Results so far:
VSLA-CHILD:
Community entry
39 VSLA groups formed
CHILD module developed
Child labour monitoring:
Survey tool developed
“Control” surveys completed
Next steps:
Formation of remaining VSLA groups
VSLA-GALS-CHILD champions training (ToT)
Coaching on Household Development Plans
… all depending on COVID-19 developments…

36. Thank you -
Questions and
feedback are
welcome!

37. Q&A AND DISCUSSION
Ask the speakers anything!
 You can raise your hand (by clicking on the ‘hand’ button next to your name) and we will unmute you so you
can ask your question OR
 You can write your question in the chat box + the name of the speaker your question is directed to 37

38. Gender in Coffee & Cocoa initiative: Next steps
• Aim to continue our
community of
practice
• Broaden the scope of
coffee & cocoa
initiative to
• Tea
• Asia
How?
• Prepare for a regional
conference in Asia (2021)
• Continuation of this
initiative through
collaborations and
additional funding. This
includes the exchange and
documentation of practices
across commodities and
regions and capacity
development.
4/17/2020 38
What?

39. Gender in Coffee & Cocoa initiative: Next steps
How can you stay involved?
• Fill in small survey, which will pop up at the end of this
webinar
• Added value of webinars so far, including ‘digital digests’
• Suggestions for improvement of webinars and DDs
• Possible cases on gender in coffee, cocoa and tea
• Regional stakeholders, programs, projects and cases in Asia
• Ideas for collaboration and funding opportunities
• Contact details
• The recordings and our digital digests will be put online next
week!
• Be safe and be well!
4/17/2020 39

40. THANK YOU
If you have any questions about the Cocoa and Coffee Initiative
or this webinar series, please email Andrea Vos at A.Vos@kit.nl
You can find recording of this webinar and more information about
the Gender in Cocoa and Coffee Initiative here:
https://www.kit.nl/project/gender-in-coffee-and-cocoa-initiative/