The girls often work extended hours, suffer harsh physical and psychological treatment, and are sometimes sexually abused. The situations reviewed are not necessarily the only such cases. In certain regions facts about child labor have been documented for years, and thus more information is available to report. Although this report brings together much of the available information on child labor in commercial agriculture and forced or bonded child labor, further research is often needed to thoroughly document individual cases mentioned in the report as well as patterns and trends of child labor exploitation throughout the world. In some instances, problems of access are a major barrier to research.
More children work in agriculture than any other economic sector.
Large numbers of children may be found toiling in the fields and fisheries from daybreak until dusk. Many of these children work for commercial farms and plantations or fishing operations. Plantations, which produce commodities exclusively for export, employ 20 million persons, or 2 percent of the persons working in the agricultural sector in developing countries. Children make up an estimated 7 to 12 percent of the work force on plantations. Among the products produced by children are cocoa, coffee, coconuts, cotton, fruit and vegetables, jasmine, palm oil, rubber, sisal, sugar cane, tea, tobacco, and vanilla.