Abstract: This study analyse the causes of child labour in crop production in Akoko South East Local Government Area, Ondo Nigeria. Specifically, it ascertained the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, ascertained major crop production actives children engages and how often they are involved and reasons for engaging children in crop production was analyzed.
A multi-stage technique was used in selecting 110 farmers from 5 communities in Akoko South East Local Government Area. Primary data were collected using a well structure questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages, mean score and likert type scale.
The findings showed that a large percentage of the farmers were above 50years, majority (75%) of the farmers were males and the farmers were moderately educated with an average household size of 6 and average annual income of 152,045 naira. The main causes of engaging children in labour was found to be as a result of poverty, inadequate of agricultural technology as well as culture that support child labour. In addition, the average age of children used on farm was 12years and they were used at most time for weeding, thinning, planting, harvesting and transportation. It was concluded that if the economic conditions of the farmers were not improved hence study recommends Improvement of farmers productivity and income level so as to increase the capacity to pay.
