Farm work is no child’s play

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: For 10-year-old Gaggera (name changed), life has almost always been amongst the cotton fields. Not playing, mind you. But picking up cotton balls with his nimble fingers, Gaggera has been working in a farm in village Giddaluru in Andhra Pradesh ever since he was six years old. And there is no shortage of jobs for him. After all, most farmers holding cotton farms in rural villages in Andhra Pradesh hire children for picking. Unfortunate, but true.

In an attempt to tackle the issue, Monsanto, a global provider of technology-based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity, introduced an incentive for cotton farmers to eliminate child labour. “We wanted to reaffirm our commitment to our Human Rights Anti–Child Labour Program,” said Sekhar Natarajan, Lead – India Region, Monsanto. The Human Rights Program is in partnership with the United Nations International Labour Organisation, NGOs — Voluntary Organisation of Rural Development Society (VORDS), Global Research & Consultancy, and industry.

Farmer awareness campaigns, external third-party audits and an incentive/disincentive programme were introduced to educate and encourage farmers to produce hybrid cotton seed with adult labour only. Farmers employing adult labour receive an additional incentive of Rs 5,000 per acre which helps them afford adult labour and discourages the thought of employing child labour, said Mohan Rao, Human Rights Lead, Monsanto India.

In case farmers are found to violate the Human Rights Clause in their contracts, the child is immediately removed from the field, the farmer becomes ineligible for incentives, and Monsanto discontinues production with the farmer the following season. These efforts have helped farmers reduce child labour on the hybrid cotton seed production fields from 20% in 2004 to less than 1% in 2007, added Rao.

Usaldavalli Peddaiah, a farmer in Giddaluru village with a land holding of two acres has been in cotton seed production for nine years. After getting the know-how from Monsanto, his production went up to 600 packets (750 gram each) per acre at an input cost of Rs 90,000 per acre last season. His additional economic benefit was Rs 66,000 per acre. “I was appraised of child labour through Monsanto Child Care Program and decided to do away with it. And, for this I received an incentive of Rs 10,604 for my two acres. I have learnt through local authorities that this year, committees are constituted that involve government departments to inspect the cotton field for child labour incidences, where Monsanto farmers can have an edge over others. I want to benefit from it,” he said.

On June 12, World Day against Child Labour, the company’s Monsanto Fund Learning Centre was inaugurated in Nandyal in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. The residential centre will provide formal, informal and vocational education to the children here. The centre has been set up with NGOs, VORDS and Australian. The uniqueness of the learning centre is the Individual Educational Plan (IEP) designed for each child. It is aimed at allowing children to enter mainstream education. Students will also be offered vocational skills so that they have access to other income-generating opportunities. The residential facility can accommodate and teach 120 students each year.

“The Monsanto Fund Learning Center is our attempt to rehabilitate children from cotton production fields and channelise them towards their basic right to education,” said Deborah Patterson, president, Monsanto Fund. Globally, the Monsanto Fund seeks to improve peoples’ lives by bridging the gap between their needs and resources by investing in nutritional well being, environment, science education and communities.