Young Plantation Workers Sort Through Coffee Beans As Their Mothers Carry Newly Filled Bags Of Coffee

A young girl picks coffee rather than going to school. Families dependent on money generated by coffee pull their children, particularly girls, out of school because they cannot afford school fees. Nearly 2 million Kenyan children work in the coffee and tea sectors. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is also a contributing factor to child labor, as increasing numbers of children are becoming orphaned and are forced to work to support themselves and their younger siblings. In Kenya alone, over one million children have been orphaned due to AIDS.