Role of Child Labor in Agriculture Sector of District Mardan (Pakistan): A Multinomial Logistic Regression Analysis

Abstract

This study investigated child work in the agricultural sector of district Mardan, Pakistan. Data collected from a sample of 275 farm households, and the involvement level of their children in agriculture was quantified over three points Likert scale (Never involved, Part-time involved and Full-time involved). Data analysis revealed that 34.7 percent of children of the sampled farm households were full-time involved and 41.9 percent were part-time involved in different agricultural activities. The most frequent of them were animals grazing, fodder cutting and carrying, crops weeding, harvesting and firewood collection. Multinomial Logistic analysis revealed that a child’s age, gender(male) and school distance (more than walking distance) were found positively associated with a child’s involvement in agriculture. Household characteristics, such as head’s education, monthly income and ownership of agricultural land were important negatively affecting the determinants of child involvement in agriculture. The study recommended forceful control of child labour in agriculture and ensuring their access to free education through an increasing number of government schools in rural areas. Traditional agriculture is labour intensive, provision of interest-free formal credit for the adoption of modern technologies could reduce demand for labour.