全球粮食安全与营养论坛 (FSN论坛)

该成员提交的意见和建议涉及：

    • Ms Ariane Genthon has participated via the AI-based application. She is kindly sharing her submission with other participants.

      "question": "Have you had the chance to review any materials related to SOFA 2023? Considering that SOFA 2024 aims to delve into the application of true cost accounting (TCA) through case studies, with the aim of advancing agrifood systems toward sustainability, do you have any recommendations to enrich the upcoming report?",

              "answer": "I would recommend to strengthen investigation into the labour costs with the aim of advancing agrifood systems. Agricultural economies continue to rely on numerous and low-skilled workforce, poorly remunerated. Labour rights in the agrifood economies are often not met with severe decent work deficits such as child labour which have a hidden cost (missed opportunity to invest in human capital and thus in capacity to adapt and innovate, missed opportunity to invest in health since child labour in agrifood systems often means long-term but invisible consequences on health, i.e. through carrying heavy weight, exposure to hazardous pesticides, working under-water etc.). Labour rights represent an important component of the sustainability of agrifood systems and a significant aspect in order to transform agrifood systems which would deserve greater attention.""question": "For the purpose of contributing to the content of SOFA 2024, are you aware of any relevant studies assessing hidden costs or benefits within agrifood systems? If so, could you please provide the title of the study, the author(s) and hyperlink(s) to any relevant documentation. "

      "question": "For the purpose of contributing to the content of SOFA 2024, are you aware of any relevant studies assessing hidden costs or benefits within agrifood systems? If so, could you please provide the title of the study, the author(s) and hyperlink(s) to any relevant documentation. ",

              "answer": "No, but I can refer to two studies related to my above comment: ending child labour, forced labour and human trafficking in global supply chains (OECD, IOM, ILO, UNICEF - 2019) and investing in every child: an economic study on the costs and benefits of eliminating child labour (ILO - 2002)."

      "question": "Can you provide a brief overview of the study, including a description of the agrifood system(s) or component(s) that were the focus of the assessment?",

              "answer": "In the first publication, agriculture is covered throughout - in the second publication, data on agriculture are found throughout as well."

      "question": "Could you describe the specific hidden costs and benefits associated with the agrifood system(s) or component(s) assessed? ",

              "answer": "While the elimination of child labour is a global goal, if we apply a pure economic approach, the benefits of child labour consists in a contribution of children to the households' income and a reduction of labour costs for production in agrifood systems. The costs could be summarized as opportunity cost of investment in human capital and in health for those children. Hidden costs of child labour use are increasing with the multiplication of certification and traceability systems and due diligence legislations banning child labour from import. In other words, child labour can lead to market exclusion."

      "question": "What specific benefits are there to eliminating child labor in the agrifood system(s) or component(s) assessed?",

              "answer": "The benefits of eliminating child labour in agrifood systems would be manifold: (a) increase in human capital and skilled workforce able to adapt, innovate and transform in agrifood systems (b) increase in health outcomes for children when reaching legal age to enter the world of work becoming productive members of their communities (c) increase in access for actors, in particular poor farmers/producers, in the agrifood systems to access premium price, certification and in general markets affording a fairer distribution of value."

      "question": "Why was the assessment necessary to uncover and address these hidden costs?",

              "answer": "It was necessary because child labour is sometimes seen by economists as follows: if children or their parents choose child labour over its alternatives, it must be the case that the net economic value (benefits minus costs) is positive. But this assumption is driven by an inability to assess hidden costs of child labour. Another assumption amongst economists is that if child labour derives only from a failure in economic development, and that child labour will disappear when the conditions of economic growth are met. This assumption is also debatable as child labour itself can be considered as a hindrance to economic growth (see benefits above). Another aspect is that with the growing number of legislation or soft law instruments adopted to ban child labour in commercialized product, the ability to investigate, identify and track child labour- in agrifood systems will become key."

              "question": "Could you please tell us when the assessment took place and which years were considered in the analysis? ",

              "answer": "Please refer to the titles provided."

              "question": "Can you provide a concise description of the methodology employed to uncover hidden costs and benefits?",

              "answer": "ILO 2002 study (which remains a reference): \"study attempts to calculate the economic costs and benefits of the elimination of child labour, with specific results for the various forms of child\nlabour, different sectors of society and different national and regional entities. In a general sense, the project considers the elimination of child labour\nas an investment and calculates its economic return. In doing so, it suggests\nthe commitment of resources necessary to achieve this elimination, and it\nindicates how the costs and benefits accrue to different stakeholders.\"\n"

              "question": "Was the assessment complemented by additional methodologies, such as quantitative or qualitative policy or scenario analysis? Did these supplementary methods deliver interesting results? ",

              "answer": "No additional methodology in my understanding "

              "question": "Please describe the data used in the assessment, including their source and nature. Additionally, if there were challenges related to the data availability, kindly elaborate on those challenges.",

              "answer": "Because the full complement of data required for such an analysis is\nnot available at the global level, we opted for a two-stage process. In the first\nstage, eight countries were selected for their representativeness of different\nregions and levels of development, and for the availability of data on child\nlabour: Nepal, Philippines, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal, Brazil and\nUkraine. Teams in each country tried to fill in the data gaps through uncovering sources of information not known or utilized internationally, as\nwell as through surveys of knowledgeable informants and direct estimation.\nBased on this, they implemented country-level studies of costs and benefits.\nA second set of countries, while not intensively studied, offered more detailed information as a result of hosting household surveys. Many of these\nsurveys were assisted by IPEC in conjunction with its SIMPOC programme\nor the World Bank as part of its LSMS (Living Standards Measurement\nSurvey) programme; others were developed by national statistical offices.\nThus, between these two types of data sources, we had between 8 and 28 observations on all variables measurable by survey methods. (Details for each variable can be found in Annex 2.) For the remainder of the countries we relied on publicly available data, most commonly from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI) data set. As described more fully in Annex 2, the largely complete WDI and related data were used to extrapolate from the first two sets of countries (those studied in conjunction with this project and those with household surveys) to the third."

              "question": "Could you please highlight the key findings of this assessment? Were there any effective practices or methods that you found particularly valuable?",

              "answer": "The executive summary highlights what would be the benefits compared to the costs of eliminating child labour and this remains a striking statement."

              "question": "Did the assessment provide information relevant to policymakers or other stakeholders? For example, did it identify possible policy entry points to transform agrifood systems? If not, why?",

              "answer": "Yes in the chapter 9, implications for policy and research are outlined and could offer policy entry points for agrifood systems."

              "question": "Drawing upon your experience, can you identify key factors that can facilitate or hinder the success of future similar assessments for transforming agrifood systems across different contexts?",

              "answer": "Focusing on one structured value chain may facilitate the success of an assessment of child labour as a hidden costs in agrifood systems."

              "question": "What are the key factors that can hinder the success of future similar assessments for transforming agrifood systems across different contexts?",

              "answer": "No access to recent data in the target country/ies on child labour would represent a significant challenge"

              "question": "Were there any significant challenges encountered during the assessment process? Can you identify strategies or approaches to overcome these challenges?",

              "answer": "I was not involved in these processes."

              "question": "Do you have any other information or comments on the use of true cost accounting assessments to uncover the hidden costs and benefits of agrifood systems that haven't been covered during this interview?",

              "answer": "No further comment - I (and ESP) remain available for potential in-depth exchange on this."

              "question": "How would you rate your overall experience with the interview conducted by the AI chatbot?",

              "answer": "Somewhat positive"

            "feedback2": {

              "question": "How natural did the conversation with the AI chatbot feel?",

              "answer": "Somewhat natural"

            "feedback3": {

              "question": "If you were to participate in a future study involving a qualitative interview conducted through a AI Chatbot, would you prefer texting with the same AI Chatbot or an actual human interviewer?",

              "answer": "Slightly prefer human interviewer"

    • I would like to contribute to the question related to inclusive and equitable growth and more especially in relation to child labour elimination in family-based agriculture in the region. The league of Arab States in partnership with FAO and ILO has released in 2019 a qualitative and quantitative analysis of child labour in Arab States (http://www.fao.org/3/ca3190en/ca3190en) which encompasses several country studies about child labour and small-scale farming/agriculture.

      Child labour elimination is part of the fundamental rights at work pillar of the decent work agenda and is clearly defined as work that is interfering with the child's education, not appropriate to the child's age (too difficult, to long hours etc.) and detrimental to his/her health and development. Many tasks that children undertake in agriculture are NOT considered child labour. However, child labour in family based agriculture is still widespread with 70% of all child labour as unpaid family work and 71% of all child labour in the large sector of agriculture. It is certainly a consequence of poverty but also a driver of poverty. Unfortunately child labour does not lead to skills development and employability. Child labour also contributes to youth unemployment by replacing potential paid and skilled workers with cheap or free unskilled labour.

      Here are some selected solutions that could reduce the exposure of children to hazards, diminish the need for children to contribute to the production and contribute to an inclusive transfromation of agriculture:

      - Promote sustainable farming practices, such as integrated pest management, or  some farming practices promoted through conservation agriculture and agro-ecology have the potential to reduce child labour by decreasing labour requirements, reducing pesticide us and improving incomes of farmers. that insists on the human health aspects and the specific physical vulnerabilities of children (their bodies and minds are still developing and strenuous tasks and exposure to chemicals will have more detrimental and irreversible impacts on their health)

      - Promote labour saving practices, innovation, mechanization that will help reduce the need of workforce, increase the production, and will ease the burden of family farmers; labour-saving technologies (e.g. specialized tools for planting and weeding) or techniques (e.g. mulching) can save farmers’ time and energy, reducing the amount and type of work undertaken by children. Small-scale processing technologies (e.g. peanut shellers) also have the potential to reduce the work burden and free children’s time to attend school. Combining approaches, while also raising awareness in the community about what is child labour, and why it would benefit the community and small farms to send children to school and instead of work, can increase productivity of small-scale agriculture and create opportunities to move up the value chain or diversify income-generating activities.

      For more strategies to end chidl labour in agriculture and on why family farming and agriculture would benefit from child labour elimination, see FAO Framework on Ending Child Labour in Agriculture.(http://www.fao.org/3/ca9502en/CA9502EN.pdf)