Nairobi - Sixty per cent of the work force on coffee plantations in Kenya's Central province are children, according to a new report by the United Nations.

The report, released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) last week, shows that agricultural work accounts for 70 per cent of child labour worldwide.

"Most working children in the world are found on farms and plantations, not in factories, sweatshops or urban areas," said Jennie Dey DePryck, chief of FAO's Rural Institutions and Participation Service, in a statement issued in Rome. Parviz Koohafkan, director of FAO's Rural Development Division, cautioned, however, that the issue is a complex one since not all the agricultural work that children do is harmful to their development and wellbeing. "When it comes to subsistence and family agriculture, children's participation in family farm activities helps them learn valuable skills, build self-esteem and contribute to the generation of household income, which has a positive impact on their own livelihoods," Koohafkan said.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) child labourers in Africa are expected to increase to more than 100 million by the year 2015 from the current 80 million because poverty continues to force children out of school. ILO also says that Africa has the highest incidence of child labour with about 41 per cent of children aged 5-14 working. Asia is second with 21 per cent followed by Latin America with 17 per cent. In Africa, Mali has the highest percentage of working children with 54.4 per cent, Burkina Faso with 51.1 per cent, Burundi 49 per cent, Uganda 45.3 per cent and Niger 45.2. Kenya ranks sixth with 41.3 per cent.