Bayer: Mitigating root causes
of child labour

Bayer is a German multinational life science company with global headquarters in Leverkusen.

The company is comprised of three divisions – Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health and Crop Science. All three divisions operate globally and engage with numerous subcontractors. The company has a vision expressed by the phrase, “Health for all, hunger for none,” as it focuses on delivering innovations in healthcare and agriculture.

Bayer is guided in fulfilling this vision through its corporate purpose, “Science for a better life,” and strives to create societal good within its core business.

During the last two decades, Bayer has experienced occurrences of child labour in its indirect supply chain; mainly in India among suppliers of seed.

In an effort to address these serious incidences, Bayer went beyond policy and initiated its own action programme, entitled the Child Care Programme (CCP). Established in 2007, the Programme is comprehensive, consisting of structured measures to address and act on child labour, including supporting children who are victims of child labour.

Since the implementation of its Child Care Programme, Bayer has made several advancements within the area of child labour, where it has managed to positively influence its value chain in India by addressing and acting on the issues related to child labour.

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