Kenyan co-operatives have joined a national push to address child labour in the tea and coffee value chain, as part of a wider effort by the country’s government and development agencies to eradicate the practice.
A joint 2025 report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Unicef found that sub-Saharan Africa continues to account for nearly two thirds of all child labour, and that the practice even became more widespread between 2012 and 2016. Founded in 2023, the Accel Africa Project is an ILO initiative backed by the Dutch government which aims to “accelerate the elimination of child labour in Africa”.
Now in its second phase, Accel says it is adopting a systems-based approach to the root causes of child labour, such as poverty, low income, informality, and limited institutional capacity within agricultural value chains across the region.
With co-operatives playing a major role in Kenya’s tea and coffee sector, Accel is looking to strengthen co-ops as key actors in eliminating child labour. In March 2026, Accel conducted a 14-day training of trainers’ (ToT) course with 52 members of county co-operative departments, the Co-operative University of Kenya, Solidaridad, and co-operative unions across four Kenyan counties.
The training focused on practical skills in governance, management and inclusive development, as well as concrete action plans to implement training of farmers and other co-op stakeholders at a grassroots level.
Related: ILO works with co-ops to tackle child labour in Lebanon
“Before this training, we focused mainly on production and marketing,” said Dorine Chepkemoi, a co-operative officer from Kericho County. “Now we understand how cooperative governance links directly to child labour prevention. We can support farmers not just to earn more, but to protect their children.”
Inclusion is also a key priority for the scheme, especially of women and youth in leadership and decision-making of co-operatives.
Doreen Makena, a delegate from Meru County, said: “When incomes are low, families sometimes rely on children to help on farms. But when co-operatives are well managed and farmers earn better returns, children can stay in school.”
The ILO says it has positioned the training programme as a way of cascading knowledge through the tea and coffee supply chain.
“By strengthening co-operative systems and building the capacity of local service providers, the ILO and its partners are advancing a sustainable, systems-based approach to eliminating child labour in Kenya’s tea and coffee sectors,” said the ILO.
“Co-operatives play a transformative role in this effort by promoting child-labour-free practices, improving household incomes, raising awareness, supporting youth employment, and facilitating access to social protection.”
The organisation also highlighted co-operative development tools like Think.coop to help integrate child labour prevention into co-operative systems and operations.
