With Argentina gearing up to host the IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour, on 14th and 16th November in Buenos Aires, the country’s government insists that the issue remains a priority. However, a number of associations have denounced a critical situation on the ground. In the agricultural sector, and most strikingly in plantations of mate (a herb that is infused and widely consumed in the country), many children are put to work. The situation has been the subject of a recent petition and is soon to be targeted by a nationwide campaign.
Far from the capital, around 1,000 km north of Buenos Aires in the Misiones province of the country – located between borders with Brazil and Paraguay -, 90% of Argentina’s mate is produced. Argentina is also where 60% of the world’s mate is consumed. The herb is infused with hot water and drank from a calabash gourd; it is found in all Argentine households and consumed on a daily basis. The government has also signalled its desire to increase the levels of mate’s exportation, which poses the q
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