Stop Child Labor    Cotton Campaign

Cotton Campaign

Child labor in the cotton industry has been reported in a wide range of countries including Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Benin and Egypt. ILRF has focused most closely on cotton farming in India and Uzbekistan.

Child labor in the production of cottonseed in India, particularly in the state of Andhra Pradesh, has been extremely widespread. Children, especially girls, are employed by farmers in order to cut costs as they are paid well below the minimum wage and the wages paid to adult workers. The child workers are often in a state of debt bondage since their employers pay an advance to the children’s parents and then they must work to meet the amount paid. The children generally work at least nine hours a day, but during the winter, they often work up to 12 hours a day. Pesticides used during production cause health problems for the children and they report experiencing headaches, weakness, disorientation, convulsions and respiratory problems and the long-term effects of exposure to toxic chemicals has not been measured. Migrant child laborers, who often come from farms where their parents do not own sufficient land to earn a living income, are especially at risk for labor abuses. Multinational corporations like Monsanto and Bayer are major purchasers of cottonseeds from this region. While the companies have started to take action to address the concerns of workers and civil society, there is still much more work to be done to end child labor in the industry.

Uzbekistan is the world’s second largest exporter of cotton and up to one third of the country’s workforce labors on cotton farms. While the cotton industry is very profitable for a few large landowners and political elites, the vast majority of cotton farmers live in dire poverty. Independent union representation is almost nonexistent for workers. Thousands of children as young as seven work in the cotton fields instead of attending school in order to meet government-imposed cotton production quotas. Even children who are enrolled in rural schools are often dispatched to work in the fields when their schools are closed down during harvest time by government officials. Some children are conscripted to work in remote areas where they are forced to stay in dormitories while they pick cotton. Children are even compelled to apply toxic pesticides in parts of Uzbekistan without appropriate protective gear.

ILRF continues to demand an end to child labor in the cotton industry globally.

• About ILRF
• What You Can Do
• Publications & Resources
• News
• Contact
• ILRF Blog

• Copyright © International Labor Rights Forum, 2008
• Sitemap
• Terms of Use
• Privacy
• Site Credits