"Going to Kompienga": a study on child labour migration and trafficking in Burkina Faso's south-eastern cotton sector

Child trafficking or a valuable educational experience for young boys?: experience from Burkina Faso

By: de Lange, A
Published by: Foundation for International Research on Working Children (IREWOC), 2006
Via: Eldis

In Burkina Faso, boys migrate willingly from northern rural areas to work in the expanding cotton-growing farms of the south-east, where they are commonly exploited. However, given that boys often reflect positively on their experience, should this be considered child trafficking?
Through interviews with migrating children and their parents, as well as with farmers who employ them, this report investigates the complex reasons for the occurrence and persistence of child labour migration in Burkina Faso, and reflects on the problematic definition of trafficking in this context. Throughout the report, existing anti-trafficking policies are briefly described and assessed by their impact on the actors under study. Though the report finds that boys are very often exploited by farmers and in some cases suffer abuse, many findings of the report raise questions, both about the characterisation of these practices as trafficking, and the strategies developed to prevent them. Contrary to the assumptions of much literature and policy on child labour and trafficking, the study finds that a large majority of the boys leave their villages out of their own free will and without the consent of their parents. Further, though their departure is largely motivated by individual, material wants, rather than household needs – especially the desire to obtain a bicycle – children themselves also see certain benefits in being away from home to work, including a sense of adventure, the autonomy and independence it gives them, as well as the socialising or educative value they attribute to the experience. These findings imply that efforts to address child migration practices, such as sensitization and livelihood alternatives, should not only be aimed at parents, but also at the minors themselves. Moreover, the benefits that children and parents recognise, besides the financial gains, should also be considered. In particular, given the view that migration prepares boys for farming, training in agriculture (cash crop-growing or husbandry) may prove a more effective preventive measure than the usual strategies of formal education or vocational training.

(http://www.childlabour.net/docs/albertinedelange_trafficking_burkina_FINAL_19-09.pdf)