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Story Publication logo January 21, 2014

Burkina Faso: Hard Labor

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In just a quarter century, one of the world's poorest countries has transformed itself into Africa's...

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A young boy near the end of his shift at Fandjora. Image by Larry C. Price. Burkina Faso, 2013.

Burkina Faso, in West Africa, is a major producer of gold. Much of the gold comes from mines where people work in unhealthy and often dangerous conditions. Some of the workers are children as young as 3 years old. According to the U.N.'s International Labor Organization, 30 percent to 50 percent of the mine workers in western and north central Africa are younger than 18.

In this video from the Pulitzer Center, photojournalist Larry Price visits Burkina Faso to report on the working conditions.

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