BENIN: FORCED LABOR AND CHILD LABOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF

UNCLAS COTONOU 000314 SIPDIS DOL FOR ILAB/RRIGBY AND DGARMS STATE FOR AF/W DANA BANKS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI EAID BN SUBJECT: BENIN: FORCED LABOR AND CHILD LABOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF GOODS REF: (A) Garms - Hahn Email 05/08/2008 (B) STATE 43120 ¶1. This cable responds to reftel requests for information on Forced Labor and Child Labor in the production of goods. -------------- Rocks and Mineral Goods -------------- ¶2. According to Norbert Fanou Ako, Director of the the NGO ESAM, "Enfants Solidaires d'Afrique et du Monde", Solidarity with the Children of Africa and the World, children are used to mine gold in Perma, a small village located in Northwestern Benin. These children come from Benin as well as from countries neighboring Benin including, Burkina Faso and Togo. ¶3. According to Francois d'Assise Tokpo of the GRAPAD NGO, "Groupe de Recherche et d'Action pour le Developpement Humain", or Research and Action Group for Human Development, children, including those under 10, in the Dassa-Zoume and Savalou regions of Benin, help their parents crush granite in granite quarries. The granite is intended for local consumption, especially for road and building construction. -------------- Agricultural, Fishing, and Food Products -------------- ¶4. According to Ako, children living in lakeside areas often engage in fishing with their parents. Their catches are sold locally. Children are not involved in sea fishing as this activity requires endurance. ¶5. According to Tokpo, children are employed in rice plantations to chase birds from the fields in Dogbo and Deve, in southwestern Benin. Children from Benin as well as from neighboring countries including Burkina Faso and Togo work on cotton plantations in the departments of Colline (central Benin) and Alibori (northwestern Benin). However, child labor is mostly linked to subsistence farming in family plantations. The products are sold in local markets and include cassava, tomato, yam, maize. Beninese children are also involved in small-scale animal husbandry including the raising of poultry and rabbits. In northern Benin, children of the Fulani ethnic group take care of cattle, goats, and sheep. Additionally, children are used in the production of food products for immediate consumption across Benin. BOUSTANI