Child labour or child work? Children and tobacco production in Gbefi, Volta Region
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Date
2018-06
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Publisher
Ghana Social Science Journal
Abstract
Child labour has attracted global attention in recent times but remains an
important but controversial issue. This is because conceptually, where to
draw the distinction between child labour and child work is still debated
within the academic community based on apparent differences among
International conventions, developmental strategies, policies, social
norms and backgrounds. For a developing nation like Ghana, the
participation of children in agricultural production is culturally accepted
but their involvement affects their educational attainment, and also
constitutes child labour according to ILO conventions. The paper assesses
the involvement of children in tobacco production in the Gbefi community
of the Kpando Municipal Assembly through a qualitative in-depth
interview with forty (40) children and ten (10) household heads. Six key
informants (an official of the Social Welfare Department, the assembly
member of the town, the secretary to the Community Child Protection
Committee, two headmasters and a teacher) were also interviewed. The
paper argues that, increased involvement of children in tobacco production
was a means by which smallholder farmers have generally relied on family
labour to perform some of their activities. In this way, engaging in tobacco
production helps children, especially, orphans and those whose parents are
incapable of taking care of them to acquire money, farming skills and
enable them cater for themselves despite its negative effects on their
educational attainment and moral lives. The study recommends policies
and programmes that would provide job opportunities and viable income
generating activities for the local people to ensure a gradual shift from tobacco production to other economically viable activities provided by the
state.
Description
Ghana Social Science Journal, 15(1), 147-176
Keywords
Child Labour, Child Work, Tobacco Production, Gbefi, Children Involvement