GBARNGA — In the traffic of Gbarnga, small hands dart between motorcycles and honking cars, balancing trays of water, plantain chips, and sugarcane. The vendors are not adults. They are children, some as young as five, whose childhoods are being traded for survival.
Experts warn that this growing army of child street vendors is more than a symptom of poverty; it is a crisis fueled by corruption, economic collapse, and in some cases, trafficking.
Childhood for Sale
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From dawn to dusk, children aged 5 to 17 line Gbarnga's avenues, calling out to passersby with the urgency of survival. Many are barefoot, shabbily dressed, and exposed to the dangers of speeding vehicles, harassment, and even abduction. Their school uniforms hang unworn at home.
"Selling on the street has become their classroom, and survival their only subject," said Aaron Juakollie, executive director of the Foundation for International Dignity (FIND).
Juakollie blames the crisis on systemic corruption and rising costs of living. "Children are selling because their parents cannot afford basic necessities. Poverty is the product of rampant corruption. Unless unemployment and corruption are addressed, this situation will never end."
Poverty or Parental Neglect?
Not all experts agree that corruption tells the whole story. Veteran educator Dr. George L. Sieh believes parental irresponsibility is equally to blame.
"Parents who cannot sustain their children should not have them," Sieh said bluntly. "Too many parents are abdicating their duty, forcing kids to fend for the family. The result is children exposed to drugs, crime, and a lifetime of lost opportunity."
Trafficking in Plain Sight
The situation is complicated by trafficking under the guise of "help." Community advocates say some children are taken from rural families with promises of education in the city, only to end up selling goods on the street for relatives.
Primary school teacher Isaac Gortor, a child rights advocate in Gbarnga, said, "Many of these children were brought from rural areas under false promises. Instead of going to school, they are sent to sell in the streets. It is modern exploitation."
The Women and Children Protection Section of the Liberia National Police reported that in 2024, at least 31 children in Bong County fled relatives over alleged forced labor and street vending.
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A Legal and Moral Crisis
Bong County Attorney Jonathan Flomo called the situation a violation of children's rights and urged the government to act. "Street vending by minors is endangerment. The law is clear, parents or guardians who knowingly put children in harm's way commit a first-degree misdemeanor."
Liberia's Criminal Procedure Law, Chapter 16.4, states that any parent or guardian who endangers the welfare of a child under 18 violates their legal duty of care. Yet the law, like so many others, remains rarely enforced.
A Nation's Future at Risk
The World Bank estimates nearly one million Liberians live in extreme poverty, while 2.5 million face absolute poverty. For many households, every pair of working hands matters, even if they are small. But experts warn that the short-term survival strategy is mortgaging the nation's future.
"Children should be in classrooms, not dodging cars with trays of sugarcane," Juakollie said. "If government does not act decisively, through jobs, education reform, and tackling corruption, these children will inherit nothing but hardship."
