Stakeholders in agric sector have expressed need to end child labour, especially among farmers in the country. The stakeholders, who stated this during a road walk and children engagement organised to mark the World Day Against Child Labour in Ondo, said it is imperative that the practice is eradicated among cocoa farmers in the state.
The Deputy Chief of Party, Lutheran World Relief (LWR) for the Traceability and Resilience in Agriculture and Cocoa Ecosystems of Nigeria (TRACE) and Child Labour Education and Resilience (CLEAR) projects, Olawale Awoyemi, who spoke with journalists during the exercise in Akure, said it has become essential to shun child labour in the country. Awoyemi said the programme aimed to create awareness and campaign towards ending child labour in the cocoa communities of Ondo State.
According to him, child labour has been an international concern because it damages, spoils and destroys the future of children in the society.
He said: “For the 2024 World Day against child labour, Lutheran World Relief, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), supporting Traceability and Resilience in Agriculture and Cocoa Ecosystems of Nigeria (TRACE), which is the TRACE project, means to improve the productivity of the cocoa farmers by using the climate and agricultural techniques and also to promoting cocoa traceability in buyer and seller relationship.
“While we are also working on a project, which is called; Child Labour Education and Resilience (CLEAR), funded by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with these two organisations supporting Lutheran World Relief, we are committed to support the elimination of child labour and it negative impacts on the cocoa growing communities in order to ensure that farmers are no longer using under aged children and also not to exposing them to hazardous task which could have side effects on their education and negative effects on their health.
He, however, warned parents in the state to desist from exposing the under-aged children to hazardous tasks on the farm and stop engaging the children during the school hours in order for them to complete their education.
The Deji of Akure and Chairman, Council of Traditional Rulers in Ondo State, Oba Aladetoyinbo Ogunlade Aladelusi who also received the campaign team in his palace, said: “We just have to work together on how to eradicate this actions and I will tell all my chiefs that if they hear anybody hiring minors they should report it to us so that we can report to adequate authorities.”
The Ondo State Controller of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olanike Mogboruko, in her welcome address during the maiden edition of children engagement programme held at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), said there is urgent need for the enforcement of legal provisions for the elimination of child labour in Ondo State and Nigeria at large.
The Project Director of the Action against Child Labour in Agriculture in West Africa (ACLAWA), under the ILO, Agatha Kolawole, in her remarks, said the essence of the road walk and children engagement is to raise awareness about child labour, advocate for improved policies and services, and monitor progress towards a child labour-free future.
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