Urbanization And Child Labour

Into the nothingness of scorn and noise, Into the living sea of waking dreams, Where there is neither sense of life nor joys, But the vast shipwreck of my life’s esteems; John clare, i am Note: Images in this post are strictly for documentary and editorial purposes. Do not use in any context without a […]

May 7, 2020

Muntaka Chasant

May 7, 2020

14 Min read time

Photo above: Teenagers are engaged in hazardous child labour in Accra, Ghana.

Into the nothingness of scorn and noise, Into the living sea of waking dreams, Where there is neither sense of life nor joys, But the vast shipwreck of my life’s esteems;
John clare, i am

Note: Images in this post are strictly for documentary and editorial purposes. Do not use in any context without a license or permission.

Cities in the global south are urbanizing rapidly. And this comes with a dark side — urban poverty.

What are the implications for the millions of children in urban slums and informal settlements who are forgotten and cut-off from vital social services?

Poor children: Kwaku Frimpong (right), 12 years old, is an urban poor engaged in hazardous child labour on the fringes of Accra, Ghana's capital city. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant — Child Labourers: Kwaku Frimpong (right), 12 years old, is an urban poor engaged in hazardous child labour on the fringes of Accra, Ghana’s capital city. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

Traditionally, urban children are seen as being better off than their rural peers. For the many, that is not far-fetched. But millions of children worldwide are living in situations of extreme poverty, with UNICEF estimating in 2018 that the poorest urban children are twice as unlikely to have access to basic sanitation than urban children from wealthy households.

Due to high housing prices, a large number of households who move to urban areas often take up residence in socioeconomically deprived areas or live in hazardous informal settlements, either in the center or on the periphery of cities.

Millions of children growing up in urban slums, for instance, lack access to basic sanitation, healthcare, education, and security.

These dynamics and other factors push many urban children to fend for themselves in harsh urban environments, making them vulnerable to hazardous child labour.

That’s the story of Emmanuel Osei Yaw and the other children engaged in hazardous child labour on in this post.

Child Labour in Toxic Environments

Child labour: A 15 years old boy (Emmanuel Osei) engaged in hazardous work sifts dirt from rusty nails and other small metals before selling them at around $0.15 per kilo at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. An estimated 152 children worldwide between 5 and 17 years are in child labour. 62% of all children in hazardous child labour are boys, according to ILO statistics. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant — Child labour: A 15 years old boy (Emmanuel Osei) engaged in hazardous work sifts dirt from rusty nails and other small metals before selling them at around $0.15 per kilo at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. An estimated 152 children worldwide between 5 and 17 years are in child labour. According to ILO statistics, 62% of all children in hazardous child labour are boys. Copyright © Muntaka Chasant

Child labour image: A 15-year-old boy engaged in hazardous child labour is using his bare hands to dig into a mixture of dirt and small metals, including rusty nails. He is sifting dirt from the metals before selling them at $0.15 per kilo at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. An estimated 73 million children worldwide aged 5-17 works in dangerous conditions, according to ILO statistics. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant — Child labour image: A 15-year-old boy engaged in hazardous child labour uses his bare hands to dig into a mixture of dirt and small metals, including rusty nails. He’s sifting dirt from the metals before selling them at $0.15 per kilo at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. An estimated 73 million children worldwide aged 5-17 works are in dangerous working conditions, according to ILO statistics. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

For food, clothes, and the expectations to contribute to their household economy, Emmanuel Osei and the other children spend their waking life navigating this toxic landscape — using their bare hands to process e-waste and scrap metal.

Child labour in Africa: Osei, 15 years old, is engaged in hazardous child labour on the margins of Agbogbloshie, Ghana. He is separating nails, crown cork bottle caps, and other small metals from dirt before selling them for around $0.15 per kilo at Agbogbloshie. More than 72 million children in Africa are estimated to be in child labour, with 31.5 million, more than Ghana’s population, engaged in hazardous work. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant — Child labour in Africa: Osei, 15 years old, is engaged in hazardous child labour on the margins of Agbogbloshie, Ghana. He is separating nails, crown cork bottle caps, and other small metals from dirt before selling them for around $0.15 per kilo at Agbogbloshie. More than 72 million children in Africa are estimated to be in child labour, with around 31.5 million engaged in hazardous work. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

Living on the margins of society has taught them to endure hardship, but the toll this may be exacting on them could be deep and lifelong.

Accumulation of anthropogenic heavy metals in the soil is widespread throughout the Agbogbloshie area due to decades of informal and primitive e-waste recycling.

Scavenging for scrap metal, handpicking pieces of metals in contaminated soil, and using their bare hands to break apart e-waste expose them to toxic materials —including arsenic, cadmium, lead, nickel, mercury, and chromium.

Exposure to lead, for instance, is known to impair brain development in children — including reduced IQ and visuospatial skills.

The minimum age for hazardous work in Ghana is 18, according to Section 91 of Ghana’s Children’s Act (560).

Hazardous Child Labour at Agbogbloshie

Child labour: Living out of the mainstream on the fringes of Agbogbloshie, Osei (15 years old) and several other children spend their days cannibalizing from discarded e-waste and handpicking scrap metal from an area known for its high toxic soil pollution levels from the primitive recycling of electronics. In the photo, Osei is sifting dirt from small pieces of scrap metal before they are sold. UNICEF estimates show that roughly around 14% of children in Ghana aged 5-17 years are engaged in hazardous forms of labour. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant — Child labour: Living out of the mainstream on the fringes of Agbogbloshie, Osei (15 years old) and several other children spend their days cannibalizing from discarded e-waste and handpicking scrap metal from an area renowned for its high toxic soil pollution levels. In the photo, Osei is sifting dirt from small pieces of scrap metal before they are sold. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

Child labour: Nails and other small metals are being processed before they are weighed and sold at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant — Child labour: Nails and other small metals are being processed before they are weighed and sold at Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

Osei and some of the other children engaged in hazardous child labour run luck with some dirt, rusty nails, crown cork bottle caps, and a mixture of other small metals.

He’s separating dirt from the metals before they are weighed and sold.

Scrap metal at Agbogbloshie sold for GH₵0.80 ($0.15) per kilo in May 2020.

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