The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has revealed a troubling trend inglobal estimates of child labour where it has increased for the firsttime in 20 years from 152 million in 2016 to 160 million in 2020.According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), 8.5 per centof Kenya's children (1.3 million) are in child labour especially inthe agricultural sector.It is for this reason that Kisii County has unveiled a Child labourcommittee to spearhead activities geared towards ending child labour incritical value chains in the Coffee and tea sectors in the area.This move is in line with ILO strategy dubbed Accelerating action forelimination of child labour in supply chains in Africa (ACCEL Africa).Speaking during the first committee meeting in Kisii town, KisiiSouth Deputy County Commissioner Ms Grace Ouma said the team willassist in designing interventions and implement the project.Ms. Ouma noted that the multispectral committee will be inidentified areas like Meru, Kir inyaga, and Kericho counties wherechild labour has been found to be rampant in the tea and coffeeindustries.County Child labour Committee (CCLC) is defined as a committeecomprising of stakeholders who can contribute towards elimination ofchild labour in the devolved unit through a robust work plan.The main objective of the CCLC is to facilitate and implement theprocess of elimination of child labour at the county level and itscore functions are coordination, planning, resource mobilization andimplementation of projects on child labour elimination in the devolvedunit.According to ACCEL- Africa project secretary who is also the CountyLabour officer, Charles Muniko, the ILO project is in its secondphase which also targets Uganda and Malawi.Muniko explained that the project will enable Kenya to build an extensivenetwork of participating countries in active engagement towards endingviolence against children during the second phase of the project whichwill be launched in April this year and culminate in the year 2028.Muniko noted that the Kenya tea industry with an export value of Sh.143 billion in 2019 and which supports 5 million people directly andindirectly needed to be jealously guarded from going against theinternational laws which could lead to diminishing gains.He expressed optimism that the committee members drawn from stateand non-state entities will pull their efforts towards eliminating thevice in the tea sector in which at least 650,000 small-scale farmersdepended, and the coffee sector which he termed as a major export forKenya.'Tea and Coffee from Kenya are included in the U.S. Department ofLabour list of goods produced with child labour, and we must reversethe trend fast especially now that Kenya is the world's leading exporterof tea and third largest producer, after China and India,' Munikoimplored.Other agricultural goods listed in the USDOL's list from various partsof the world include Sugarcane, cotton, tobacco, rice, cattle andfish.In the manufacturing sector, bricks, garments, textiles, footwear andcarpets top the list while under mining or quarry industry goods,gold, coal and diamonds are included.'We will also look into ways of incorporating soapstone mining in ouractivities to ensure the industry is adhering to set regulations sothat it is not enlisted among those defaulting,' Muniko announced.Mr Eric Ongeri, the County Chief Executive Committee Member forYouth, Sports, Culture, Arts and Special Services said the Countygovernment was ready to work with all stakeholders for the benefit ofthe youth in the region.Ongeri also cited other vices against children including drug abuse,defilement, teenage pregnancy and FGM saying the county governmentwill not relent in engaging stakeholders to stamp out the menace.ACCEL Africa project's goal is to accelerate the elimination of childlabour in Africa through targeted actions in selected supply chainsthrough innovative approach by strengthening the existing systemsthat are geared towards eliminating the root causes.The project's first phase was done in 2019-2023 and proved successfulin Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda inthe cocoa, gold, cotton, tea, and coffee supply chains.Kenya is therefore poised to extremely benefit from successfulpractices established during the first phase of the project's work onspecifically coffee and tea supply chains in Uganda and Malawi.Source: Kenya News Agency