Lionel Pankwa

Measuring child labor in cocoa production in Cote d'Ivoire Lionel Pankwa

This document is essentially concerned with the determination of a clear methodology for measuring child labour and the determinants of this phenomenon in Côte d'Ivoire. The Ivorian legislation and the texts in force have enabled us to allocate a status to the child according to whether he or she is engaged in dangerous work, the worst forms of child labour or light work. It appears that this phenomenon is not simply due to poverty but to several other factors. The weakness of the education system, tradition, competitiveness constraints, underdeveloped production techniques, financial constraints due to the imperfect capital market, the structure of the labour market and the inadequacy of legislation are the main reasons for child labour in Côte d'Ivoire. Additional measures should therefore be taken to reduce the extent of this phenomenon.