- Home
- Sustainability & Commitment
- Society
- Bayer CropScience Child Care Program
The management system of the Child Care Program
The management system of the Child Care Program
Incentives and sanctions are a part of the program
Bayer BioScience Pvt. Ltd. (formerly Proagro Seed Pvt. Ltd.), an Indian subsidiary of Bayer CropScience, produces cotton seed that is grown by contract farmers in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Systematic pollination of female plants with pollen from the male line makes painstaking manual labor essential in the production of hybrids.
In Indian agriculture, these operations are often carried out by children. To prevent this from happening in its supply chain in the long term, Bayer CropScience has introduced its extensive Child Care Program.
Agreements with seed producers, which are signed early on before the season starts, contain a clear “no child labor” clause.
During the season, teams make several, unannounced inspections of agricultural land, checking the age of the people working there, to monitor compliance with this undertaking. Responsibility for this lies with an organizational unit that is independent of any business activity and reports directly to the head of the Bayer CropScience India national organization. The entire monitoring program is organized on the basis of a documented management system called the Child Care Program Management System. Its main points include:
If children are discovered to be working in the fields, the farmer is given a warning and follow-up visits are arranged to ensure that no more child labor occurs. In the event of a repeat infringement, graduated sanctions ranging up to termination of the supply contract may be imposed.
Bayer CropScience has decided not to immediately terminate the contract after the first case of child labor, as this would negate the learning process and would not improve the child labor situation in the affected villages.
In the main 2010/2011 season, only oral warnings were issued.
In the main (Kharif) 2010/2011 season, an average of six field monitoring visits were conducted on each acreage. In accordance with our system of sanctions, only oral warnings were issued. No repeat cases of child labor that would have necessitated further sanctions were reported.
Bonus program, micro loans, direct market access and a continuing education program support farmers
Bayer CropScience does not just threaten offenders with penalties – it also offers the prospect of rewards. The company gives farmers who can demonstrate that they do not employ children a bonus on the standard sale price for seed produced in the current growing period.
Furthermore, Bayer CropScience also helps farmers increase their productivity. As part of the “Target 400” training program, quality of the seeds produced was raised significantly through knowledge transfer. Agricultural land can therefore be profitably managed even without child labor. Farmers are supported by a micro loan program. We are transforming post offices in rural India into service centers in cooperation with the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and India Post, thus ensuring that the farmers have direct market access for their products, cutting out middlemen so that they retain a higher proportion of the added value.
Monitoring teams make several, unannounced inspections of agricultural land, checking the age of the people working there. |  |
| |
In Indian agriculture, these operations are often carried out by children. To prevent this from happening in its supply chain in the long term, Bayer CropScience has introduced its extensive Child Care Program.
Agreements with seed producers, which are signed early on before the season starts, contain a clear “no child labor” clause.
| | |
| | Before the planting season even begins, the prospective cotton seed growers receive a letter of intent in their local language from Bayer CropScience informing them that children must not be employed. |
| | |
| | At the handover of the seed for production, the contractual parties sign a letter of undertaking in the relevant language. This contains a "no child labor" clause. It also informs the farmers about the graduated sanctions in the event of a breach of the agreement and the bonus to be paid if the contractual terms are observed. |
| | |
| | The seed production grower agreement in English defines the business relationship between the farmer and Bayer CropScience in detail. It too contains a "no child labor" clause. |
| | |
| | |
| | Each cotton seed production area will be checked six times a season by unannounced visits from the field monitoring teams. The field monitoring teams are made up of employees of the Child Care Program and operational business staff. This composition also helps to ensure mutual understanding of their work. |
| | |
| | The results of the check are immediately documented on site on a standardized form with several carbon copies. For example, the farmer will immediately receive a copy of the monitoring form, while a second copy will be archived locally in a separate file for each farmer together with the contract documentation. In addition, the results will be entered into an electronic documentation and evaluation system. |
| | |
| | Only specific documents are acceptable for age verification: a birth certificate, school certificate, voter’s ID or a ration card. In doubtful cases, the authenticity of the documents is checked at the source. |
| | |
| | If the age of a person cannot be clearly established within 4 days, the person will be listed as a “doubtful case” and counted as a case of child labor in accordance with the Bayer CropScience Child Care Management System. |
| | |
| | The documents with the monitoring results are checked by means of regular internal audits. Any results that do not match the specifications of the Child Care Program Management System are either clarified directly on site with our cotton seed growers or are recorded as “findings” in an audit report and sent via the Head of the Child Care Program to the Steering Committee of Bayer CropScience’s Child Care Program. This ensures a process of continuous improvement at the heart of the management system |
| | |
| | The Steering Committee decides upon any changes to the management system that may be necessary on the basis of the findings of the reports on the internal audits submitted by the Head of the Child Care Program. |
| | |
| | The Chairman of the Steering Committee, who is also the Country Head of Bayer CropScience in India, reports regularly on the results of the program to the Bayer AG Board of Management. |
| | |
| | In addition, Ernst & Young, India, conducts an unannounced on-site inspection of a relevant number of farms selected on a random basis once a year. During these checks, observance of the strict ban on child labor and also compliance with the monitoring regulations under the Bayer Child Care Program Management System are reviewed. |
| | |
Monitoring documents in the Bayer CropScience office in Sira in rural India in the state of Karnataka. | |
| |
Bayer CropScience has decided not to immediately terminate the contract after the first case of child labor, as this would negate the learning process and would not improve the child labor situation in the affected villages.
In the main 2010/2011 season, only oral warnings were issued.
In the main (Kharif) 2010/2011 season, an average of six field monitoring visits were conducted on each acreage. In accordance with our system of sanctions, only oral warnings were issued. No repeat cases of child labor that would have necessitated further sanctions were reported.
Bonus program, micro loans, direct market access and a continuing education program support farmers
| All suppliers make a clear undertaking in their contracts not to employ child workers. |
| |
Furthermore, Bayer CropScience also helps farmers increase their productivity. As part of the “Target 400” training program, quality of the seeds produced was raised significantly through knowledge transfer. Agricultural land can therefore be profitably managed even without child labor. Farmers are supported by a micro loan program. We are transforming post offices in rural India into service centers in cooperation with the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and India Post, thus ensuring that the farmers have direct market access for their products, cutting out middlemen so that they retain a higher proportion of the added value.
Social Media 
Social Media
