CONTRIBUTIONS OF CHILDREN'S INVOLVEMENTS IN FARMING ACTIVITIES TO THE HOUSEHOLD WELL-BEING IN SELECTED AGRICULTURAL ZONES IN OYO STATE

Abstract

Agriculture is characterized by high levels of child labor, as noted by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Therefore, this study examined contributions of children's involvements in farming activities to the household well-being in selected Agricultural Zones in Oyo State, Nigeria. The study was conducted in Oyo State. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select 128 respondents from cocoa farming households in the study area. The research instrument was validated and tested for reliability. Data were collected based on the set objectives in the research instruments. The tools for data analysis were both descriptive
(frequencies, percentages and mean) and inferential statistics ((Pearson Product Moment Correlation PPMC) were used for the study. The findings revealed that majority of respondents were in their middle age, with 43.7% aged over 60 years with 66.4% of respondents being male, 60.2% married with 54.7% of respondents having between 1-5 children involved in cocoa farming and 25.2 years being mean year of experience. More than the average (63.8%) of the respondents were on the high level of involvement in the households' wellbeing of cocoa farmers while around 36.2% of the respondents had a low level of
involvement. PPMC revealed a positive and significant relationship was observed between the number of children involved in cocoa farming (r = 0.277, p= 0.002) and years spent in cocoa production (r = 0.208, p = 0.018). Most of the cocoa farmers' children that engaged in farming activities have high contribution to the
household well-being. Therefore, cocoa farmers should encourage their children to involve actively and efficiently as part of farm labour force in other to enhance their contribution to the household well-being.