HOW KNOWLEDGE AFFECTS USE: THE CASE OF USE OF CHILDREN IN FARM LABOUR BY RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Agricultural child labour is perceived to be a threat to agricultural and agribusiness development as well as household livelihoods. But it is not clear whether rural farm households are knowledgeable on child labour matters and its dangerous effects, or whether their knowledge influences child farm labour use. This study was conducted to find how knowledge of child labour influences rural households’ use of child farm labour. The study was conducted among arable crop farming households in Ogun State, southwest Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 131 rural households. Results revealed child mean age of 11 years, with households averaging about 29 hours of child farm labour use in a week. About 52 per cent, 44.3 per cent and 3.8 per cent of households had low, average and high knowledge of child labour, respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that households with low knowledge had significantly the largest mean hours of child farm labour use and households with high knowledge had the least mean hours. Post hoc test showed that households with low knowledge used 5.4 hours more of child farm labour compared to those with average knowledge, and 10 hours more of child labour relative to households with high knowledge. The study concluded that creation of knowledge of child labour among rural households would be a profitable endeavour in the holistic approach towards ending child labour.