Child Labour in Cottonseed Production - A Case study of Cottonseed Farms in North Gujarat (Dakshini Rajasthan Mazdoor Union, April 2008)

The Children Behind Our Cotton (Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), December 2007) Child Bondage Continues in Indian Cotton Supply Chain: More than 400,000 children in India involved in hybrid cottonseed cultivation (study by Davuluri Venkateswarlu, September 2007) Seeds of Change: Impact of Interventions by Bayer and Monsanto on the Elimination of Child Labour on Farms Producing Hybrid Cottonseed in India (study by Davuluri Venkateswarlu, June 2007) Wages of Adolescence: Annual exodus of tribal adolescents from south Rajasthan to BT cotton seed plots of north Gujarat (case study by Sudhir Katiyar, 2006) The Price of Childhood - On the link between prices paid to farmers and the use of child labour in cottonseed production in Andhra Pradesh (LIW report, October 2005) Elimination of Child Labour in Cotton Seed Farms through Social Mobilisation (MV Foundation, March 2004 to January 2005) Child Labour in Hybrid Cottonseed Production in Andhra Pradesh: Recent Developments (LIW report, October 2004) Child Labour in Hybrid Cottonseed Production in Gujarat and Karnataka (LIW report, October 2004) Combating child labour in cottonseed production: A statement on the present role of MNCs in AP (MV Foundation, October 2004) Child Labour and Trans-National Seed Companies in Hybrid Cotton Seed Production in Andhra Pradesh (LIW report, April 2003) (Übersetzung in Deutsch / German translation)

Press release EJF, Dec 5, 2007: Children Behind Our Cotton: The army of child labour supporting the world's cotton industry.

Media release Sep 25, 2007: New Report: 'Child bondage continues in Indian cotton supply chain'.

Press release Jun 8, 2007: Child labour in India in cotton seed tackled by MNC’s Bayer and Monsanto but issue is far from solved.

Press release Oct 31, 2005: Companies perpetuate child labour in India by low prices and flawed inspection.

Press release Oct 4, 2004: Multinational and Indian companies still profit from bonded child labour on cottonseed farms in India.

Press release Oct 24, 2003: Multinationals pledge to end child labour in Indian seed production.

Press release May 19, 2003: Unilever asks its Indian subsidiary HLL to discuss child labour.

Press release May 14, 2003: Unilever, Monsanto and other multinationals involved in large-scale child labour in India's cotton seed production.


News:

Bayer CropScience' response to the report "Child bondage continues in Indian cotton supply chain" of Dr. Davuluri Venkateswarlu (Bayer CropScience, Nov 25, 2007)

Monsanto response to "Child bondage continues in Indian cotton supply chain" (Business & Human Rights resource Centre, Oct 23, 2007)

Child labour in BT cotton fields (TimesNow.tv, Aug 12, 2007)

Children sold like cattle in Gujarat (TimesNow.tv, Aug 11, 2007)

Response of Monsanto (May 30, 2006) to a letter from the India Committee of the Netherlands (Feb 6, 2006) on child labour at cotton seed suppliers.

Questions Max van den Berg (PvdA) (28-11-2005) to European Commission on multinationals and slavery.

Answers to Questions of members Dutch parliament (3-11-2005) about the violation of the rights of adults and children by multinationals.

Open letter (Jan 27, 2004) German organisations to Bayer about child labour in the cottonseed industry.


In the media:

Child labour stain on Bt cotton (ExpressBuzz.com, Nov 5, 2009)
Life's cheap in the Bt cotton fields of Gujarat (The Times of India, Aug 28, 2009)
Child labour: That garden stone, handmade carpet or embroidered T shirt you just bought was probably made by Child Labor (Forbes.com, Feb 25, 2008)
Child labour: Govt to expand list of hazardous jobs, amend law (The Indian Express, Jan 8, 2008)
'YSR govt spawning child labour' (The Times of India, Dec 11, 2007)
Gujarat Farmers Seek Time to End Child Labour / Crack the Whip to Ban Child Labour in Cotton Seed Farming (Infocus, Dec 2007)
Child slavery thriving in Indian cotton industry (OneWorld South Asia, Oct 26, 2007)
Over 4-Lakh Children Work As Bonded Labour In India - A Survey Report (TopNews.in, Oct 2, 2007)
Over 4 lakh children work in cotton seed farms (The Hindu, Oct 1, 2007)
India's cotton fields: Over 4 lakh child labourers (Rediff.com, Sep 29, 2007)
'Over 4 lakh kids in India are bonded labourers' (Times of India/Press Trust of India/India Express/ZeeNews.com/The Hindu, Sep 29, 2007)
Child labour on the rise in cottonfields (Business Standard, Sep 28, 2007)
Four lakh children slogging in cotton fields: report (Hindustan Times, Sep 27, 2007)
Childhood lost in Bt cotton farms (Ahmedabad Newsline, Aug 29, 2007)
GALU gears up to stop child labour on Bt cotton farms in North Gujarat (Ahmedabad Newsline, Jun 21, 2007)
Disha on route to root-out child labour (Fibre2Fashion.com, Jun 21, 2007)
India's lost children (IndUS Business Journal, Mar 2, 2006)
Bt cotton seed farms spring up in border villages (The Hindu, Feb 2, 2006)
Bt cotton seed firms at the receiving end (Financial Express, Jan 11, 2006)
Proagro penalises 11 cottonseed growers for employing child labour (Business Standard, Jan 5, 2006)
Child Labor (Unbroken People, Jan 2006)
Proagro to provide lower interest credits to farmers (Business Standard, Dec 30, 2005)
Bonded for life (NewIndPress, Dec 23, 2005)
European Commission cottons on child labour (The Times of India, Dec 4, 2005)
Child labour rampant in AP cotton farms, report (Financial Express, Nov 25, 2005)
MNC seed cos chalk out action plan for child labour (Business Standard, Nov 17, 2005)
India: Cotone, prezzi bassi e lavoro minorile (Unimondo.org, Nov 10, 2005)
Low cottonseed procurement price spawns child labour (Business Standard, Nov 9, 2005)
"Glückliche Ernte" für Bayer-Profite (Die Tageszeitung, Oct 25, 2005)
Withering cotton kids (Mumbai Mirror, Sep 11, 2005)
Children of the farms (Mumbai Mirror, Sep 10, 2005)
Food multinationals threaten fight against poverty (ActionAid, Jan 25, 2005)
Lavoro minorile? Un vero affare (www.barcellonapg.it, Dec 1, 2004)
MNCs continue exploitation of children (Indiatogether.org, Nov 2004)
200.000 bambini indiani tra i semi di cotone (www.piccolopopolo.org, Oct 13, 2004)
MNCs Reap Profits from Child Labor in India's Cottonseed Farms (OneWorld, Oct 8, 2004)
Cotton multinationals slow to address child exploitation (Ethical Corporation, Oct 7, 2004)
RSC.- Monsanto, Bayer y Unilever, acusadas de permitir el trabajo infantil en sus filiales en India (Labolsa.com, Oct 7, 2004)
US companies, Monsanto and Emergent Genetics, still profit from bonded child labor on cottonseed farms in India (Laborrights.org, Oct 4, 2004)
Cotton farms continue to employ children: survey (The Hindu, Oct 4, 2004)
Kinder sind gut für den Profit (www.telepolis.de, Aug 24, 2004)
Probe demanded into child labour in seed farm (The Hindu, Jun 30, 2004)
Pesticide exposure claims another child labourer's life (The Hindu, Jun 29, 2004)
Syngenta opens up to independent scrutiny (The Financial Times, May 12, 2004)
Seeds of Child Labor (IndiaNest.com, May 9, 2004)
Dutch Union to Meet HLL Brass (Financial Express, Apr 21, 2004)
Bambini sfruttati per i semi di cotone (Unimondo / La Stampa Web, Jan 3, 2004)
MNCs get together against child labour (The Pioneer, Nov 22, nov 2003)
Indian Activists Welcome MNC Pledge to Ban Child Labor (Yahoo! News, Oct 25, 2003)
No children on the farm (Indiatogether.org, Oct 2003)
Seed group pledges to end child labour in India by March 2004: Monsanto (Business and Corporate Ethics, Sep 24, 2003)
Monsanto, Syngenta, ProAgro agree measures to tackle child labour in India (Business and Corporate Ethics, Sep 23, 2003)
Kinderarbeit im indischen Baumwoll-Anbau: Bayer, Monsanto und Unilever in der Kritik (LabourNet Germany, Aug 28, 2003)
Interview: Syngenta vows to eradicate child labour in Indian seed operations (Human Rights, Jul 31, 2003)
Bayer: Absichten besser als Wirklichkeit (Die Tageszeitung, Jul 31, 2003)
Kinderarbeit für Wucherzinsen (Die Tageszeitung, Jul 31, 2003)
Syngenta questioned on "no child labour" label (AFX Global Ethics Monitor, Jun 17, 2003)
Syngenta to urge Monsanto, Unilever, others to set up child labour monitor (AFX Global Ethics Monitor, Jun 17, 2003)
En Inde, Monsanto et Unilever emploient de la main-d'oeuvre infantile (Transnationale.org, Jun 11, 2003)
Hind Lever accused of using child labour: Company says not responsible for third-party sourcing (Business Standard, Jun 6, 2003)
Girls fettered: bonded labour on AP farms (Deccan Herald, May 17, 2003)
Girls in India Labor to Fill MNC Coffers, Says Report (OneWorld South Asia, May 16, 2003)
Wykorzystywane dzieci z Indiach (Pomagamy, May 16, 2003)
Monsanto, Unilever use child labour in India (IndiaResource.org, May 14, 2003)
Unilever and child labour (Expatica.com, May 9, 2003)
Unilever, Monsanto, others linked to child labour in India's cotton industry (Global Ethics Monitor, May 7, 2003)
Unilever denies child labour link (BBCNews.com, May 6, 2003)
Unilever to discuss child labour (BBC World Service, May 6, 2003)
Unilever to work on child labor practice (Newsday.com, May 5, 2003)
Unilever, Watchdog Groups To Discuss Indian Child Labor (Morningstar.com, May 5, 2003)
'Unilever medeverantwoordelijk voor kinderarbeid' (Planet.nl, 3 mei 2003)


Further information:

"Think Locally, Act Globally?" (Mar 2007, Julia Brümmer)
Master thesis. An actor-oriented case study on the transnational cooperation of NGOs on BAYER and child labour in Andhra Pradesh, India.

"100% Cotton - Made In India"
TV documentation about poisonings with Bayer's pesticides in India.
(more info >>>>)

"Seeds of Burden"
A documentary film that primarily addresses the working conditions of young girls employed in a fast growing cotton seed industry. It touches upon the farmers' bias in employing young female workers, and briefly, the work done by NGO's like the M.V.Foundation and the AP Mahila Samatha Society to solve the problem. (more info >>>>)

"Seeds of Bondage: Female child bonded labour in hybrid cottonseed production in Andhra Pradesh" (2001, Davuluri Venkateswarlu)
This study gives a vivid account of how children are virtually trapped in a never ending cycle of debt and exploitation and are forced to work on long-term contract basis with low wages. During the summer season when availability of work becomes very scarce in the region, seed producers approach families and extend loans to them on the promise that they send their young daughters to work in the cotton fields during the next season. Parents are thus forced to send their daughters for work in the cotton fields as per the agreement settled in the earlier season.

India Committee of the Netherlands -