September brought many of the world’s most pressing development challenges into the same conversation. During the United Nations General Assembly and the meetings surrounding it in New York, global leaders discussed progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, the right to development, climate action and a just transition, the growing consequences of sea-level rise, decent work, human rights and the resilience of economies and communities.
Different debates, certainly, but with an important connection between them: the challenges they seek to address do not exist independently from one another. The UN Global Compact Leaders Summit captured this idea particularly well in its call for “Shaping Global Systems for Lasting Impact.” For those of us working to address child labour in agriculture, that message has particular relevance. Nearly 138 million children remain in child labour worldwide. Around 61% of them — approximately 84 million children — are in agriculture. These figures tell us where much of the challenge is concentrated. Understanding why it persists requires us to look at the wider environment in which children and their families live and work.
Household livelihoods, access to education, decent work for adults, social protection, climate pressures, agricultural markets, working conditions and global supply chains can all influence the choices and constraints families face. Changes in one area can alter vulnerabilities elsewhere, which means that our responses need to understand those connections too.
The wider environment around child labour
The conversations taking place in New York throughout September provide several examples of why this matters.
Climate action cannot be separated from livelihoods when droughts, floods or changing weather patterns affect agricultural production and household income. The debate around sea-level rise similarly extends into food and water security, displacement, infrastructure and the economic resilience of affected communities. Discussions about the right to development raise questions about access to resources, opportunity and the ability of people to participate in and benefit from development. For children, these connections are experienced through everyday circumstances.
Consider what happens when an agricultural household experiences a severe climate shock. A drought or flood can affect production, which can reduce income and food security. Economic pressure may make school-related costs harder to meet or require family members to assume additional responsibilities. Migration or displacement can further disrupt education and access to services. The precise consequences will differ between communities, and climate shocks do not automatically lead to child labour. What the example illustrates is how a change in one part of the system can alter risks elsewhere.
Markets and supply chains create similar connections. Purchasing practices can influence the economic conditions experienced by producers. Working conditions and access to decent work affect household resilience. Social protection can determine how families cope when income suddenly disappears, while education systems influence the opportunities available to children. Looking at any one of these factors independently gives us only part of the picture.
From global debates to interconnected systems
One of the recurring ideas across September’s discussions was the need for greater coordination. The SDG Moment focused attention on accelerating progress through integrated solutions and stronger partnerships. The UN General Assembly brought governments together around global challenges that increasingly intersect. The UN Global Compact Leaders Summit approached the same question from the perspective of business, bringing human rights and decent work, climate and nature, finance, policy, procurement and supply chains into a broader conversation about systems change. For child labour prevention, these intersections are significant.
Businesses increasingly need to understand human rights risks across their value chains. Governments need policies capable of responding to economic, social and environmental pressures that interact. Development actors need interventions that recognise how changes in livelihoods, climate or migration can affect children. Communities need the capacity to identify risks and respond within their own contexts.
Human rights due diligence depends on reliable information about conditions on the ground. Sustainable livelihoods are closely connected to decent work. Climate resilience needs to account for consequences at household and community level. Supply-chain interventions need to understand the realities of agricultural production and the people whose livelihoods depend on it. This does not mean that every actor needs to solve every problem. It means understanding where each actor sits within the system, what they can influence and where collaboration becomes necessary. Agriculture makes these connections particularly visible
Agriculture brings many of these dynamics together
Most child labour in agriculture occurs in family subsistence and smallholder farming, where household livelihoods and agricultural production are closely connected. The sector is also exposed to climate variability, price volatility, informality and gaps in access to services and social protection. A company may strengthen due diligence within its supply chain. A government may improve education or social protection. A community may establish mechanisms to identify children at risk. Farmers may adopt safer working practices or strengthen the resilience of their livelihoods.
Each intervention can contribute to progress. Understanding how they reinforce one another — and where gaps remain between them — can make that progress more sustainable.
Systems change still happens locally
Global discussions about systems can easily become abstract. Children and families experience those systems through very concrete realities.
Whether a household can withstand the loss of a harvest; whether quality education is accessible; whether adults have opportunities for decent work; whether communities can recognise when a child is at risk; whether businesses understand human rights risks throughout their supply chains; and whether public policies translate into resources and capacity at local level all influence the environment in which children grow up. This is where global ambition meets local reality.
Systems change ultimately depends on institutions, businesses, governments and communities being able to translate shared objectives into decisions that improve those conditions. It also requires listening to the people closest to them. Agricultural communities have knowledge of livelihoods, production, risks and local dynamics that is essential to designing responses that work.
Turning connections into lasting impact
The latest global estimates show that progress against child labour is possible. More than 22 million fewer children were in child labour in 2024 than in 2020. They also show the scale of the work ahead.
The persistence of child labour in agriculture invites us to keep improving how we understand the challenge. We need to consider the circumstances of individual children, households and communities while also examining the markets, policies, institutions and environmental pressures that shape those circumstances. This perspective is central to our vision. Our experience working with agricultural communities has shown us the value of connecting knowledge across sectors, strengthening local capacity and bringing together actors with different responsibilities and forms of influence.
The debates that took place in New York this September approached global challenges from different starting points. Taken together, however, they reinforce an idea that matters deeply for the future of child labour prevention: lasting progress depends on understanding how economic, social and environmental systems interact, and then turning that understanding into coordinated action where children and families actually experience those systems. That is the kind of systems thinking that can turn global ambition into lasting impact.
