From cocoa fields to a brighter future: Divine’s journey

AKURE (ILO News) - In a small cocoa-growing community of Ondo State where Divine lives, daily life unfolds slowly, women sorting palm fruits, men returning from the fields, children walking home from school. For Divine, these familiar scenes carry memories of hard work and lost chances, but also of resilience. Once a child labourer in the farms that surround her village, she is now beginning a new path thanks to the skills training offered through the ILO’s ACCEL Africa project financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

© ILO/Angelica

© ILO/Angelica

Divine was about nine years old when she lost her father. “After he died, everything changed,” she mentions. “My mother had to take care of us alone, so I started going with her to the cocoa and palm oil farms.”

Each day began early and ended late. From around 8 AM until sunset, she would collect cocoa pods and other crops, pack and carry them, spray pesticides, fetch water, and gather materials. “It was hard work,” she recalled. “Sometimes my back hurt, but when you don’t have another opportunity, you just let it go.”

Divine’s mother works seasonally in cocoa and palm oil production. Her younger sister, although also used to work, now goes to school, something Divine always wished for herself “After a while, I stopped asking my mother to bring me to school, because I saw that it made her worried.”

“I used to feel sad watching other children go to school,” Divine.

Her family’s difficulties began when her father fell ill. “He was sick for a long time, and all our savings went to pay hospital bills” Divine explained. “After that, there was nothing left for school.”

Change came unexpectedly when Divine overheard neighbours talking about a new opportunity. The International Labour Organization (ILO), through its ACCEL Africa project, was partnering with Kids & Teens Resource Centre, a local NGO, to provide free skills training and start-up kits for young people in cocoa-growing communities “I thought it was a good idea, at least I wouldn’t have to go to the farm” recalls Divine.

At the training centre, Divine found something she truly liked: makeup artistry. With the support of the programme, she learned new techniques and began offering beauty services in her community. “Now I can earn some money to take care of my needs,” she said with pride.

“In the future, I would like to own a shop, a big shop to sell all kind of wigs and hair accessories ... I want to have enough money to one day go back to school and sponsor my education” Divine

The intervention came through the ILO's ACCEL Africa project, funded by the Government of the Netherlands and implemented in partnership with Kids & Teens Resource Centre (K&TRC) in Ondo State. The project aimed to tackle child labour in cocoa-growing communities by providing vulnerable young people like Divine with skills training in trades such as makeup artistry, tailoring, confectioneries, shoe and bag making and other vocations – equipping them with alternatives to labour-intensive farm work. Alongside skills development, start-up kits were given to help beneficiaries launch their own small businesses, opening pathways out of exploitative labour.

In Ondo State, organizations like Kids & Teens Resource Centre alongside the ILO’s ACCEL Africa project, remain committed to expanding opportunities for young people like Divine. Plans are underway to deepen community engagement, strengthen economic empowerment for caregivers, and enhance access to decent work – addressing root causes of child labour. Through continued partnerships with government agencies and local stakeholders, efforts will focus on scaling skills training, promoting social protection coverage, and fostering sustainable livelihoods so that more children can pursue education and brighter futures free from the hardships of child labour.

Through the ILO’s ACCEL Africa project and its partners, young people like Divine are getting skills and hope.