With child labour still a global challenge, the Food and Agricultural Organisation(FAO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development have launched a Geographic Information System (GIS)-based approach to enhance child labour monitoring.
There is an estimated 160 million children engaged in labour worldwide, 70 percent of whom work in agriculturewith the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) reporting an increase in child labour from 14 percent in 2016/17 to 39.5 percent (6.2 million children) in 2021, excluding household chores.
Despite existing national policies and action plans, the lack of detailed, accessible data continues to hinder targeted interventions to address child labour effectively.
However, according to officials from FAO, Geographic Information System (GIS)-based approach named DIGICHILD Index will enhance child labour monitoring by identifying communities most at risk of child labour in agriculture.
The DIGICHILD Index assesses child labour risk using indicators such as poverty, food insecurity, school accessibility, and climate-related factors.
These indicators are based on FAO’s framework on ending child labour in agriculture and insights from the FAO -Wageningen University (WUR) 2023 Design Paper, Digitalization and Child Labour in Agriculture.
Analyzing these factors, the Index generates detailed maps enabling policymakers to take informed and proactive measures.
From May 2024 to February 2025, FAO implemented a pilot phase of the DIGICHILD Index in Uganda, adopting a participatory approach to ensure local ownership and effectiveness.
Three national consultations were conducted to refine the Index's methodology, risk indicators, and potential applications.
The process culminated in a validation workshop on 25 February 2025, where national stakeholders reviewed the advanced prototype and discussed governance strategies for its sustainability.
During the consultations, stakeholders recommended prioritizing maps for key agricultural commodities where child labour is prevalent.
As a result, the pilot phase focused on coffee, sugarcane, and livestock sectors with available georeferenced data. Additional commodities, such as fisheries, were identified for future inclusion as data sources are secured.
Piloted in Uganda and Honduras, the DIGICHILD Index is designed to provide decision-makers with cost-effective, high-resolution, and time-efficient data.
“By offering broader territorial coverage and predictive capabilities, it enables governments to develop targeted and timely policies to combat child labour in agrifood systems,” said FAO Representative in Uganda, Dr Antonio Querido.
Beyond policy, the Index supports private sector efforts to enhance transparency in supply chains, ensuring compliance with due diligence requirements.
Its predictive capacity also shifts efforts from reactive responses to proactive prevention, helping to address child labour before it occurs. The Index will contribute to national surveys on child labour and labour markets, guiding data collection priorities.
Bernard Amuriat, Assistant Commissioner for Labour Inspectorate at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, emphasized the importance of data-driven strategies in addressing child labour.
“Despite numerous policy interventions and the adoption of the National Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour, this initiative will strengthen prevention and protection efforts through data-driven and survivor-informed policy responses,” he said.
The FAO Representative in Uganda, Dr. Antonio Querido, highlighted the importance of collaboration in ensuring the initiative's long-term success.
“Establishing a multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral governance mechanism is key for the real-time update and long-term success of DIGICHILD. Its impact depends on the collective expertise of all stakeholders engaged in the validation workshop,” he noted.