A GNA feature by Yussif Ibrahim
Kumasi, Dec. 16, GNA – Ghana remains an important player in the global economy as a producer of the finest cocoa in the world – accounting for about 20 per cent cocoa produced in the world.
The commodity contributes to the country’s foreign exchange earnings, second only to its mineral exports.
Child labour
Notwithstanding the importance of cocoa to the country’s economic growth, it has over the years been grappling with child labour issues in cocoa production despite interventions by the government, domestic and international organisations to combat it.
Some progress may have been made in the fight against child labour in cocoa production, but it requires an integrated approach to address the perennial challenge.
This is exactly what the implementation of the Making Advances to Eliminate Child Labour in More Areas with Sustainable Integrated Efforts (MATE MASIE) project seeks to achieve.
Significance?
The goal is to improve the capacity of cocoa cooperatives to monitor child labour activities, build linkages and cooperation with law enforcement authorities, and enhance the provision of social services to households with children at risk.
Winrock International is implementing the MATE MASIE project with funding from the United States Department of Labour (USDOL) in four dist1ricts-Adansi South, Atwima Mponua, Atwima Nwabiagya, and Offinso
It is working through four Cocoa Cooperatives, including Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union (KKFU), Hiawu Besease Cooperative Cocoa Farmers (HBCC) (KKFU), Offinso Fine Flavor Cocoa Cooperative (OFFCOP) and Kookoo Pa Farmers Association (KPFA), to implement interventions towards combating child labour in the participating communities.
Various interventions aimed at reducing the risk of using children in the cocoa supply chain for work beyond their strength as well as exposing children to hazardous activities, have been implemented in the communities since December 2020 when the project commenced.
The interventions have been targeting the cooperatives, households, schools and children in the participating communities as part of efforts to address the issues from all fronts.
They include the provision of farm inputs and implements including tricycles to the cooperatives to serve members, support households with children at risk of child labour, and the provision of teaching and learning materials to schools to facilitate effective academic work.
The idea is to build the capacity of the cooperatives and by extension parents to undertake their farming activities devoid of involving their children to concentrate on their education.
After almost four years of implementation, a joint team of representatives from the National Steering Committee on Child Labour (NSCCL) and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR), have embarked on a weeklong working visit to the Ashanti Region to assess the impact of the project.
The national team made up of chairpersons of some of the sub-committees of the NSCCL and representatives from the MELR, joined officials of Wnirock International led by Mr. Fidelis Yapel, Project Director of MATE MASIE to visit eight of the participating communities.
The monitoring exercise by the team formed part of the mandate of the MELR to oversee child labour related projects in Ghana, and the goal was to enable the team to ascertain if the project is achieving its set objectives.
It also afforded the team the opportunity to determine if the implementation of the project is adhering to the guidelines and priority areas outlined in the Ghana Accelerated Action Plan Against Child Labour (GAAPACL) as focus areas for implementing interventions.
Expectations
The expectation was that the national team would also gather information on lessons learnt, best practices and workable strategies to share with other projects and stakeholders and feed into the government’s policy planning on eliminating challenges of child labour in Ghana in a more effective and sustainable way.
To be able to cover all the eight communities, the team were divided into two with each teacher visiting two districts simultaneously.
Among the communities visited during the exercise were Amoawi, Sewua, Kyebi, Hiawu Bisease, Odumase/Ghetto, Ahomahoma, Owusukrom, and Afipaye.
Members of the national team led the discussions with the various stakeholders at the community level to ascertain how the MATE MASIE project was impacting their lives
They engaged stakeholders on the progress so far, the benefits for farmers and children as well as their concerns as they collated feedback on the implementation of the project.
The interactions centred on how farm inputs and implements received under the project were benefiting members of the cooperatives, accountability on revenues mobilised, and the elimination of child labour in their farming activities.
Feedback?
Feedback in all the communities visited was one of appreciation to Winrock International and its partners for the interventions which, they said, were enhancing their farming activities devoid of child labour.
They admitted that the project had increased their understanding of child labour issues and were taking steps as cooperatives to sensitise non-members to the effects of the menace on the development and growth of their children.
The introduction of the Village Savings and Loans (VSLAs), according to them, had brought them financial relief by providing them access to soft loans, which hitherto was not the case.
“We used to take loans from purchasing clerks whenever we were in dire need of money, but now we can take loans from the VSLA at our own convenience,” Yaa Manu, a farmer from Hiawu Bisease, stated.
Others spoke about how tricycles procured for the cooperatives by Winrock International had reduced the engagement of their children in their farming activities because they could use the tricycles at highly subsidised prices.
They pledged their commitment to consolidate the gains and build on the structures inherited from the project to improve their livelihoods.
The exercise was climaxed with a stakeholders’ meeting organised by Winrock International which provided a common platform for integration of perspectives and contributions from relevant stakeholders to promote effective and sustainable project implementation.
It was attended by representatives from District and Municipal Child Protection Committees of the participating communities, the Cooperatives, members of the National Monitoring Team, and officials of Winrock International.
Mr. Richard Ayittey, a Representative of Ghana Education Service (GES) on the NSCCL, said the impact of the project was evident in all the communities visited by the team, especially the livelihood empowerment programmes which are alleviating poverty – a driving force behind child labour.
“Our interaction with the community members also revealed that they are also doing their best to make good use of the interventions and by so doing, they are able to send their children to school,” he observed.
“We are not saying that children are not supposed to work at all, but there is certain work that a child is not supposed to do,” he stated and stressed the need for children of school-going age to be in school.
Madam Bernice Botwe, Chairperson, Resource Mobilistaion of NSCCL, said she saw a sense of ownership by community members who demonstrated their understanding and involvement in the project during the team’s engagement with stakeholders.
“They have their ledgers and books of records to show, and I was much more impressed with the stakeholder engagement because it wasn’t the project officers on the field that delivered the report, it was the community people and the fact that the people demonstrated ownership is positive,” she stated.
She praised Winrock International and its partners for the impact they have made in participating communities through the numerous tailor-measured interventions under the MATE MASIE project.
GNA