Statistics from the Global Estimates of Child Labour by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2020 indicate a worrying trend in the number of children engaging in child labour for the first time in two decades.
According to the estimates, Sub-Saharan Africa witnessed a rise in child labour from 72 million in 2016 to 92 million in 2020, with agriculture accounting for 85 per cent of all child labour in the region.
Similarly, data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that 8.5 per cent or an equivalent of 1.3 million children, are engaged in child labour, which primarily occurs in information production, particularly in the agriculture sector.
These statistics underscore the need for urgent strategic interventions to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8, specifically target 8.7, which calls for the elimination of all forms of child labour by 2025.
