“More than 17 million children are suffering from hunger in the U.S” (“Ending Childhood Hunger in America”). It was shocking to see the number this high. “More than 20 percent of the children live in households without consistent access to food” (“15 Percent of All Children in Illinois”). This is a massive number and shows how much poverty there is in the U.S. When they suffer like this then the results don’t turn out as well.
As per latest estimation, the total number of child labourers in Africa is around 30% of the world’s child labourers are in sub-Saharan region. Lack of proper education, extreme poverty, cultural factors etc. are facilitating child labour in Africa (ILO, 2013). More than 60% of the children in this region are involved highly dangerous work, as also known as ‘Hazardous work’. Children are being used for street trading, drug trafficking, battle, agricultural works, pornography, prostitution.
It has been estimated that overall working children between 5-15 years of age are close to 250 million throughout the world. The major industries employing child labor are glass industry, carpet weaving industry, other industrial units etc. These figures are incorrect because maximum working children are present in agriculture and household sector which are very difficult to estimate. The children working in the household sector contribute to the overall income of the particular household as it gives the liberty for other family members to work in the meanwhile. The other indicator of child labor is poverty.
Human child trafficking in Africa Humans- Not For Sale. An estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year in Africa. “Africa has the highest incidence of child labour in the world. According to the ILO, 41 per cent of all African children between the age of 5 and 14 are involved in some form of economic activity” (Child Labour Rooted in Africa’s Poverty). Human child trafficking is a global phenomenon happening right now in every country in the world, also the second fastest growing criminal industry.
Starvation in Africa Around 700,000 children younger than the age of five face starvation in Kenya alone. 1.4 million kids could die this year in three African countries, and 10.9 million are in need of humanitarian assistance in the Lake Chad Basin. In Africa right now, millions are facing famine, malnutrition, and starvation(Huber). Although some efforts are being made to help countries in Africa struggling with food insecurity because of issues like poverty, conflict, and natural disasters, starvation is still a huge problem with lasting effects that needs more attention and support. There are many causes or situations that contribute to the widespread problem of starvation in Africa.
IH Assignment – Child Labour in Cote d’Ivoire There is an estimated 150 million children around the world who are engaged in child labour, with Sub-Saharan Africa having the highest incident rates (UNICEF, 2016). These children are being forced to work in environments harmful to them physically, mentally or socially, deprived of the opportunity to attend schools. More than 58.6%, 98 million, of the children involved in child labour are working for agricultural industries and the cocoa farming industry contributes a lot to it (International Labour Organisation, 2012). In 2013 to 2014, around 1,203,473 children were working on cocoa farms during the harvest season, most coming from West African countries such as Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. (Tulane University, 2014).
Around the world there are millions of people that are trapped in child labor which is a major setback in their education, health and which forces them to spend their life in sufferings and poverty. Child labor is not confined to only one sector it is spread over several sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, mining and domestic service. Child labor is a great threat for many developing countries. Not only on social grounds, it is also not desirable from an economic point of view as it hinders and create barriers for human capital advancement in the long run. Developing countries which have high rate of population are often resource-stricken which means that any enhancement in the quality of human capital will improve the growth level of the economy.
It is alarming to note that 45% of children who under the age of 5 die from poor nutrition food which is an astounding 3.1 million every year. 66 million children who attend primary school are hungry and 23 million of these children are in the sub-continent of Africa alone. Food production rate and methods are not able to cope up with the increase in the population. The world population in 2050 is expected to increase to 9 million so the production of food need to increase about 50 percent more to maintain the food needs of the population. Farmers and good farming methods are essential and have a vital and key role in the issue of hunger since they produce about 40 percent of the food we intake today.
The mining sector in South Africa for example employs approximately 400 thousand youths with more indirect depending on the sector. However, retrenchments have caused loss of jobs in the sector. Low education levels in Africa cause some issues of low skills levels in the work force. There is skill mismatch in African youths; many African youths have gone to higher leaning institutions but lack practical skills that employers are seeking. Many employers are seeking young people with technical skills to operate machines.
The most vulnerable are the rural households that highly depend on seasonal food production and survive on diets that are deficient in a variety of micronutrients. Stunting rates are severely high in Zambia almost one in 2 children under 5 years are stunted (40%). Rural children are slightly more likely to be stunted compared to urban children. There are high stunting rates in the northern and eastern provinces (CSO, 2015). According to the Zambia Demographic and Health Survey (2013/2014) nationally, 40 percent of children under age 5 are stunted, and 17 percent are severely stunted.