Children’s work in the livestock sector: Herding and beyond

Pull factors can also stem from within the
household; livestock and land ownership are both
productive household assets that can increase the
household demand for child labour (Cockburn,
1999). Woldehanna et al. (2006) attribute this to
the fact that credit and labour constraints, even
amongst wealthier cattle- and landowners, make
it difficult for farmers to hire additional labour.
Being cattle-rich does not necessarily mean that
households can easily sell their cattle to have
access to needed cash and the accumulation of
cattle can be of high cultural value. In addition,
hired labour can be perceived as an imperfect
substitute for flexible family (child) labour. One
reason for this is that some households do not trust
non-family members to take care of their herds and
are wary of the threat of theft.
Supply factors
The main push factors contributing to the supply
of child labour generally include poverty (poor
and marginalized families), the need to pay off
debt with an employer (especially in situations
of bonded labour), absence of parents/carers,
migratory developments, 8 vulnerability to shocks,
urbanization, inadequate education systems (lack
of access to schools, poor quality of schooling,
lack of safety in schools, irrelevant and unattractive
school curricula, inflexibility in the school system
etc.) and belief systems about the value of children
working and of schooling. Informal education
valued by the community as providing practical
skills and teaching a way of life to their children can,
in some situations, contain elements of child labour,
but be perceived by parents and the community
as normal. Further factors that can allow for child
labour to occur include a lack of understanding of
the distinction between acceptable work by children
and child labour, and insufficient or ineffective
legislative provisions concerning child labour.
Often there is no clear link between formal
education and a future livelihood: children might
complete formal education but still have little
access to employment opportunities. In situations
where there is a long school-to-work transition, or
where (low quality) education is believed to hold
little advantage over employment and its immediate
returns to the household, work may be chosen over
schooling. Beliefs of parents and children about the
usefulness of education can fall short when they do
not have full labour market information, and they
might believe that a lack of schooling does no harm.
Furthermore, families often consider children’s
involvement in livestock activities as essential to
the socialization process and to teaching livelihood
skills to children (Clanet, 2002; ILO-MOFALI,
2009; IER, 2012). Parents with a higher level of
educational attainment are more likely to send their
children to school.
The incidence of human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (AIDS) directly affect children, as those
without parents are at risk of having to work for their
immediate survival. Orphanhood makes children
particularly vulnerable to (bonded) child labour and
trafficking. 9
Poverty
Child labour can be explained mainly in terms
of structural poverty. Poor families often rely on
the roles performed by children in order to meet
immediate needs for survival (Ansell, 2005).
Particularly in times of income fluctuation or
shortfall, child labour may occur to broaden
income sources and increase the household
income (Ravinder, 2006). Possession of livestock
can either mitigate the impact of negative shocks
on children’s labour and schooling or increase
the likelihood that children will be withdrawn from
school in order to work, depending on the herd size
and value (Dillon, 2008). 10 Once children are out
of school to work, the transition back to education
is difficult, especially when unassisted. This points
to a need for bridging education programmes to
8 For example, when parents migrate in search of employment, making it difficult for children to attend school, and children are involved in
the labour taken up temporarily by parents at sights.
9 Child trafficking is described by ILO-IPEC as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt (either by force or not) of
children (under 18) by a third person for exploitative (ILO Convention No. 182) purposes. Trafficking is distinguished from other slavelike
practices by its movement component. The use of threat, force, other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, the abuse of power
or of a position of vulnerability are often indicators of child trafficking (ILO-IPEC, 2010).
10 The principle findings of the study undertaken in northern Mali were that greater herd value made it more likely that children would
be in school, while greater herd size made it less likely. Livestock value mitigated the effects of large production shocks, increasing the
likelihood that a child would stay in school. However, in the case of health shocks to men, higher livestock value increased the likelihood
that children would be withdrawn from school in order to substitute men’s labour. As tasks are gendered, the effects of a parent’s illness
on children’s activities vary, and assets requiring work (such as livestock) may mitigate or increase the negative effects of shocks.
17