Bayer; Mitigating root causes of child labour

Bayer is a German multinational life science company with global headquarter 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 they focus on delivering innovations in healthcare and agriculture.

Bayer is guided in fulfilling this vision through its corporate purpose, “Science for a better life”. Bayer’s vision and purpose indicate that the company strives to create societal good within their core business. During the last two decades, Bayer has experienced incidents of child labour in their 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 program called the Child Care Program (CCP). Established in 2007, the Program 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 Program, Bayer has made several advancements within the area of child labour, where they have managed to influence their value chain in India positively by addressing and acting on the issues related to child labour.