Tradin Organic and its cocoa-sourcing entity Tradin Sierra Leone, collaborated with Child Fund Sierra Leone to research and address child labour in their cocoa-souring area. Additional partner IQSMA Solutions conducted the baseline research and did the monitoring throughout the project, and Child Fund worked closely together with N’domakeh Federation for implementation in and with the communities. The goal of the Integrated Community Based Approach to Combating Child Labour project was to empower communities for the increased protection of boys and girls against child labour in Sierra Leone. The project worked towards the achievement of three main objectives: I. Strengthen formal and informal community-based child protection systems - Reporting, Response and Referral Mechanisms on child labour among children 6-18 years old in Kailahun, Kenema and Kono districts by 2023. II. Strengthen livelihoods and economic capabilities of 6,000 cocoa and coffee farming families for elimination of child labour among children 6-18 years in Kailahun, Kenema and Kono districts by 2023 and; III. Document and promote greater knowledge base and establish linkages on the cascade of child protection for prevention and response to child labour within the agricultural sector. The project targeted three districts in the eastern part of Sierra Leone – Kenema, Kono, and Kailahun, nine chiefdoms from the three districts and a total of 54 communities. The project implementation lasted for a period of three years (January 2021 – December 2023). In the project partners’ effort to strengthen formal and informal community-based child protection systems, Phase A of the project focused on mapping of community based child protection mechanisms to understand the nature of child protection as may be applicable to their context. The mapping exercise created opportunity for the project to know the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities of the child protection systems used by communities. Based on the existing gaps that were identified during the mapping exercise, the project worked with structures in the targeted communities to develop community-led action plans during Phase B, which resulted in: I. Empowered communities able to monitor child abuse cases - especially child labour. II. Community groups mobilized in support of reducing/eliminating violence against children III. Community possessing skills and knowledge necessary for galvanizing community action to reduce and eliminate child labor and improve the quality of community-level education for children. As one of the main root causes of child labour in the targeted area was found to be poverty and indebtedness, Phase B of the project also focused on strengthening livelihood and economic capabilities of cocoa and coffee farming families. To contribute to eliminating child labour incidences, existing Farmer Field Schools (FFS) were targeted to form Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), resulting to the formation of 57 VSLAs in 54 communities. These efforts resulted in: I. Economic situation of farmers improved to support the wellbeing of their children through the savings they made from their earnings on weekly basis and with opportunity to take loan with minimal interest. II. Increased school access, enrollment, retention and completion rates among children living in cocoa & coffee farming communities as a result of increased economic status of caregivers/parents. Throughout the project cycle, monthly and quarterly joint monitoring exercises and joint reviews were conducted with the participation of Government Ministries, Department, and Agencies (MDAs) vis-à-vis the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture, the three District Councils and the Family Support Unit of the Sierra Leone Police. These quarterly joint monitoring and joint reviews served as the major learning curves for the project team and throughout the project cycle. These discussions were documented and shared among the project stakeholders for learning. The project is considered a great success by all involved partners and stakeholders, and will be scaled up from 2024-2028 through new funding from the European Union (EU).