Kisii: The International Labour Organization (ILO) has intensified its efforts to combat child labour in the coffee sector by training boards of management from nine coffee cooperative societies in the Kisii region. This training focused on cooperative governance, leadership, and child labour prevention.
According to Kenya News Agency, the training is a part of the Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Africa (ACCEL Africa) project. It was facilitated by cooperative officers and trainers from Kisii who had completed an ILO-supported Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop earlier this year in March. During a session held at a Kisii hotel, Duncan Chando, the National Project Officer for the ACCEL Project, explained that the five-day training equipped cooperative boards with essential skills in governance, accountability, and transparency, while integrating child labour prevention into cooperative operations and policies.
Chando highlighted the importance of strengthening cooperatives, noting that they improve incomes, promote decent working conditions, and embed accountability at the community level. He emphasized that strong cooperatives are vital for building transparent, responsible, and child-labour-free supply chains.
The project integrated internationally recognized ILO tools such as Think.COOP, Start.COOP, and My.COOP to enhance cooperative governance and improve economic resilience for smallholder producers. Chando noted that the trained facilitators would disseminate the knowledge and tools to cooperative leadership structures across the county to fortify governance systems.
The Kisii County Government’s continued partnership with ILO was commended by Chando, who stated that it had contributed significantly to promoting decent work and achieving child-labor-free coffee and tea supply chains. Bernard Ochieng, Kisii County Deputy Director for Cooperatives, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the importance of transferring knowledge across the county to embed child labour prevention in policies and management practices.
Participants in the training welcomed the initiative, recognizing that effective cooperative leadership is crucial for improving farmer livelihoods and protecting children in coffee-growing communities. Stephen Obure, Chairperson of Nyambunde Farmers’ Cooperative Society, emphasized the role of cooperative leaders in safeguarding children and supporting farming families. Emelda Kausi, Chairlady of Nyamarambe Farmers’ Cooperative Society, described the training as an eye-opener, noting the various forms of child labour in the coffee sector and the utility of ILO tools in integrating child labour prevention into cooperative policies and leadership practices.
This initiative aligns with Kenya’s national commitments to eliminate child labour and uphold fundamental principles and rights at work, supporting global efforts toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8. Notably, data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates that 8.5 percent, or 1.3 million children, are engaged in child labour, primarily in informal production sectors such as agriculture.
