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29 
J. mt. area res., Vol. 2, 2017 

   

         Journal of Mountain Area Research 
            

 

 
ASSESSMENT OF FARMERS’ KNOWLEDGE REGARDING CHILD LABOR IN 

AGRICULTURE: A CASE STUDY OF COTTON GROWERS IN DISTRICT 

BAHAWALPUR 
 

M. Zeeshan*, U. Tariq, A. H.  Makhdoom, A. Imran, L. A. Khan and Nawabudin 

 

Sustainable Agriculture Program, World Wide Fund for Nature – Pakistan (WWF-Pakistan)

 

 

ABSTRACT 

 The work which affects the education, dignity and health of a child is known as child labor. 

It exists in agriculture sector of Pakistan mostly in the form of hazardous work. The main objective 

of the study was to investigate the degree of knowledge of cotton growers on child labor issue 

with special reference to Decent Work of International Labor Organization (ILO). The study was 

conducted in Bahawalpur district where Decent Work has been implemented by World Wide 

Fund for Nature (WWF)-Pakistan since 2013 as a part of its Sustainable Agriculture Program. Three 

categories of farmers were identified among a total of 388 selected cotton growers i.e. Farmers 

having high level of awareness, farmers having basic level of awareness and farmers having no 

awareness of child labor. Farmers were also categorized into three groups on the basis of their 

land holding i.e. (Category ‘a’) 1-7 acres, (b) >7-20 acres and (c) >20-50 acres. The data was 

analyzed through descriptive statistical method. Among category ‘a’ 7.5%, 88.7% and 3.7% of 

the farmers had advance, basic and no awareness, respectively. Among category ‘b’ 7.2%, 

88.5% and4.2% farmers had advance, basic and no awareness, respectively. Among category 

‘c’ 5.8%, 90.2% and 3.9% farmers had advance, basic and no awareness, respectively. Since 

there was a large proportion of those farmers who have only basic level of awareness on child 

labor among all the three land holding categories, therefore, there is a need to educate farmers 

on preventing child labor at their farms to promote sustainable cotton. 

 

KEYWORDS: Child labor, cotton farming, hazardous work, education, pesticide hazards 

 

*Corresponding author: (Email: zeeshanqureshi1986@gmail.com) 

 

1. INTRODUCTION 

According to International Labor 

Organization (ILO) “child labor is any activity 

other than play or study, paid or unpaid which is 

performed by child of the age of 15 or 14 in 

some countries” [1]. Rana [2] defines child labor 

as “The participation of school age children (5-

15 years) in the labor force i.e. work for wage or 

in house hold enterprises to earn a living for 

themselves or to support household income. 

“Child labor, is, generally speaking, work that 

harms them or exploits them in some way 

(physically, mentally, morally or by blocking 

access to education and normal health 

growth)” [3]. 

 

ILO reported under the International 

Program on Elimination of Child labor that about 

300 million children between the age 5-17 are 

engaged in some kind of child labor worldwide 

i.e. more than 200 million are laborers and 125 

million are involved in hazardous work [4]. One 

of the most dangerous sections involving child 

labor and under regulated economic sector 

worldwide for all workers is in agriculture; about 

Vol. 2, 2017 

http://journal.kiu.edu.pk/index.php/JMAR 

Full length article 



 

 

 

Zeeshan et al., J. mt. area res. 02 (2017) 29-36 

 

30 
J. mt. area res., Vol. 2, 2017 

70% of child labor happened in agriculture 

sector i.e. children of 5-14 years. Child labour in 

agriculture sector creates many problems; 

some of them are mentioned below [5]:  

i. Muscle injuries due to carrying heavy 

loads 

ii. Poisoning, allergy and other health 

problems due to exposure to pesticides 

and pesticides application as well. 

iii. Injuries from handling heavy machinery  

Globally Pakistan stands at 3rd position in 

the world about occurrence of child labor [6]. 

According to report of International 

Programme on the Elimination of Child labor, 

scenario about child labor in agriculture 

sector of Pakistan showed that about 90% 

children working in crops performing different 

tasks, and about 84% of children are directly 

or indirectly involved in cotton sector although 

these children were dropped out or not 

attended school that fall directly under school 

[7]. The main objective of the study was to 

assess the knowledge of cotton growers 

because prevalence of child labor is highest 

in cotton farming amongst all agricultural 

crops. The present study provided deep 

insight of current scenario of child labor in 

main cotton growing belt of Pakistan (District 

Bahawalpur).  

 

2. METHODOLOGY 

The research was conducted with the 

registered farmers of WWF-Pakistan in the year 

2014 at district Bahawalpur, Pakistan. The 

farmers were categories in three groups 

according to their land holding .i.e. category ‘a’ 

(1-7 acres), category ‘b’ (7-20 acres) and 

category ‘c’ (20-50) acres. A total of 388 farmers 

were assessed about their knowledge regarding 

child labor. For this purpose a survey, using 10 

different pictorial tools elaborating different 

forms of child labor in cotton farming was 

conducted which are 

 Spraying Pesticides 

 Carrying Cotton Loads 

 Children working with dangerous tools 

 Children tackling animals for agriculture 

utility 

 Hard field work 

 Seed Treatment 

 General good practice 

 Importance of Education for children 

 Weeding 

 Children working Around Machines 

The farmers of three categories were asked 

whether they have knowledge about the child 

labor or not, and then evaluate the level of 

awareness which was categorize as 

1. Advance level: 

Farmers having good knowledge and 

adopting procedure 

2. Basic level: 

Farmers having knowledge about the 

practices 

3. Low level: 

Farmers having no or low level of 

awareness 

A scale is given in table 1 to categorize the 

level of the farmers based on the pictorial form. 

 

2.1 Statistical Analysis  

The data was analyzed through descriptive 

method to find out the percentages. 

 

 

 

 

 

 



31 
J. mt. area res., Vol. 2, 2017 

Table 1: Evaluation Scale. 

Evaluation Scale 

Sr. No. Pictogram Advance Basic Low 

1 Spraying Pesticide Spraying 

pesticide is 

hazardous 

Giving wrong 

reasons. 

Work is acceptable 

2 Carrying cotton load Carrying load is 

hazardous. 

According to 

farmer work is 

hazardous but 

reason provided is 

wrong child is 

working too hard. 

Farmer does not identify it as 

hazardous task 

3 Children working with 

dangerous tools 

Farmer identify 

that working with 

sharp tools as 

hazardous. 

Farmer give reason 

that the sharp tools 

may not be 

hazardous and 

that they may be 

under some 

conditions. 

Farmer does not think that it is 

hazardous. 

4 Children tackling 

animals for agriculture 

utility 

Farmer Answer 

that it is 

dangerous for 

children. 

Farmer give the 

reason that the 

child is handling 

animal in wrong 

way. 

Farmer does not think that it is 

hazardous. 

5 Hard Field work Farmer 

emphasizing the 

need to limit 

intensity of work 

for children. 

Farmer give wrong 

reason for this. 

Farmer does not think that it is 

hazardous. 

6 Seed Treatment Farmer identify it 

as hazardous task 

because it is of 

inappropriate to 

handle by 

children. 

Farmer identify this 

as hazardous task 

but does not 

reason properly as 

the child is 

handling 

pesticides. 

Farmer does not think that it is 

hazardous. 

7 General Good 

Practices 

Farmer does not 

identify any task 

as hazardous and 

identifies the 

Identifies the 

importance of 

supervision. 

Farmer incorrectly identify the 

working of children as 

hazardous. 



 

 

 

Zeeshan et al., J. mt. area res. 02 (2017) 29-36 

 

32 
J. mt. area res., Vol. 2, 2017 

importance of 

the supervision. 

8 Importance of 

Education for children 

Farmer identifies it 

as good practice 

that children are 

not working 

during school 

hours. 

Farm just identify it 

as the good 

practice. 

Farmer disagrees and take is 

as the wrong to attend the 

school whither there is work 

on farm. 

9 Weeding Bending during 

work could 

damage his 

back. 

work is too hard for 

the child 

Task is not hazardous. 

10 Children working 

Around Machines 

 

Working with and 

around the 

machines is 

hazardous for 

children. 

According to 

farmers work is 

hazardous but 

giving wrong 

reason 

Farmer does not think that 

machines are hazardous for 

children. 

 

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 

The present research revealed the following 

results: 

 

Table 2: Farmers’ knowledge regarding Child Labor 

for “Spraying Pesticide”. 

Spraying Pesticides 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance 

level of  

awareness 

(%age) 

Basic Level 

of  

Awareness 

(%age) 

Low Level of 

Awareness 

(%age) 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

18.2 77.9 3.8 

2 ‘Category 

b’(7-20) 

15.0 81.9 3.0 

3 ‘Category 

c’(20-50) 

24.3 72.9 2.7 

 

Table 2 shows the data collected for the 

knowledge of farmer regarding the children 

dealing with spraying pesticides. The results 

reveal that 18.2%, 77.9% and 3.8% of total famers 

of ‘category a’ having advance, basic and low 

level of knowledge respectively. Whereas 15.0%, 

81.9% and 3.0% of total famers of ‘category b’ 

having advance, basic and low level of 

knowledge respectively while 18.0%, 54.0% and 

2.7% of total famers of ‘category c’ having 

advance, basic and low level of knowledge 

respectively. 

Table 3: Farmers’ knowledge regarding Child labor 

for “Carrying Cotton Loads”. 

Carrying Cotton Loads 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance 

level of  

awareness 

(%age) 

Basic Level of  

Awareness 

(%age) 

Low Level 

of 

Awareness 

(%age) 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

4.9 91.7 3.3 

2 ‘Category 

b’(7-20) 

6.0 91.7 2.2 

3 ‘Category 

c’(20-50) 

5.4 89.1 5.4 



 

 
 

Zeeshan et al., J. mt. area res. 02 (2017) 29-36 

 

33 
J. mt. area res., Vol. 2, 2017 

 

Table 3 shows the data collected for the 

knowledge of farmer regarding the children in 

carrying cotton loads. The results indicate that 

4.9%, 91.7% and 3.3% of total famers of 

‘category a’ having advance, basic and low 

level of knowledge respectively. Whereas 6.0%, 

91.7% and 2.2% of total famers of ‘category b’ 

having advance, basic and low level of 

knowledge respectively while 5.4%, 89.1% and 

5.4% of total famers of ‘category c’ having 

advance, basic and low level of knowledge 

respectively. 

 

Table 4: Farmers’ knowledge regarding “children 

working with dangerous tools”. 

Dangerous tools 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance 

level of  

awareness 

(%age) 

Basic Level 

of  

Awareness 

(%age) 

Low 

Level of 

Awaren

ess 

(%age) 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

4.9 89.5 5.5 

2 ‘Category 

b’(7-20) 

7.5 87.9 4.5 

3 ‘Category 

c’(20-50) 

1.3 97.2 1.3 

 

Table 4 shows the data collected for the 

knowledge of farmer regarding the children 

working with dangerous tools. The results 

indicate that 4.9%, 89.5% and 5.5% of total 

famers of ‘category a’ having advance, basic 

and low level of knowledge of respectively. 

Whereas 7.5%, 87.9% and 4.5% of total famers of 

‘category b’ having advance, basic and low 

level of knowledge respectively, while 1.3%, 

97.2% and 1.3% of total famers of ‘category c’ 

having advance, basic and low level of 

knowledge respectively. 

 

Table 5: Farmers’ knowledge regarding “Children 

tackling animals for agriculture utility”. 

Tackling animals for agriculture utility 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance 

level of  

awareness 

(%age) 

Basic Level 

of  

Awareness 

(%age) 

Low Level 

of 

Awarene

ss 

(%age) 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

3.3 91.7 4.9 

2 ‘Category 

b’(7-20) 

5.2 90.2 4.5 

3 ‘Category 

c’(20-50) 

2.7 95.9 1.3 

 

Table 5 shows the data collected for the 

knowledge of farmer regarding children 

tackling animals for agriculture utility. The results 

indicate that 3.3%, 91.7% and 4.9% of total 

famers of ‘category a’ having advance, basic 

and low level of knowledge of respectively. 

Whereas 5.2%, 90.2% and 4.5% of total famers of 

‘category b’ having advance, basic and low 

level of knowledge respectively, while 2.7%, 

95.9% and 1.3% of total famers of ‘category c’ 

having advance, basic and low level of 

knowledge respectively. 

 

Table 6: Farmers’ knowledge regarding Child labor 

for working with “Hard field work”. 

Hard field work 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance 

level of  

awareness 

(%age) 

Basic Level 

of  

Awareness 

(%age) 

Low 

Level of 

Awarene

ss 

(%age) 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

3.3 95.5 1.1 

2 ‘Category 

b’(7-20) 

4.5 91.7 3.7 



 

 

 

Zeeshan et al., J. mt. area res. 02 (2017) 29-36 

 

34 
J. mt. area res., Vol. 2, 2017 

3 ‘Category 

c’(20-50) 

1.3 97.2 1.3 

 

Table 6 shows the data collected for the 

knowledge of farmer regarding the children 

dealing with hard field work. The results reveal 

that 3.3%, 95.5% and 1.1% of total famers of 

‘category a’ having advance, basic and low 

level of knowledge respectively. Whereas 4.5%, 

91.7% and 3.7% of total famers of ‘category b’ 

having advance, basic and low level of 

knowledge respectively, while 1.3%, 97.2% and 

1.3% of total famers of ‘category c’ having 

advance, basic and low level of knowledge 

respectively. 

 

Table 7: Farmers’ knowledge regarding Child labor in 

“Seed Treatment”. 

Seed Treatment 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance 

level of  

awareness 

(%age) 

Basic Level 

of  

Awareness 

(%age) 

Low Level 

of 

Awareness 

(%age) 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

8.8 85.6 5.5 

2 ‘Category 

b’ (7-20) 

6.0 83.4 10.5 

3 ‘Category 

c’ (20-50) 

5.4 83.7 10.8 

 

The table 7 shows the data collected for the 

knowledge of farmer regarding the children 

doing seed treatment. The results reveal that 

8.8%, 85.6% and 5.5% of total famers of 

‘category a’ having advance, basic and low 

level of knowledge respectively. Whereas 6.0%, 

83.4% and 10.5% of total famers of ‘category b’ 

having advance, basic and low level of 

knowledge respectively, while 5.4%, 83.7% and 

10.8% of total famers of ‘category c’ having 

advance, basic and low level of knowledge 

respectively. 

 

Table 8: Farmers’ knowledge regarding Child labor in 

“General good practice”. 

General good practice 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance level 

of  awareness 

(%age) 

Basic 

Level of  

Awareness 

(%age) 

Low Level 

of 

Awareness 

(%age) 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

10.4 85.0 4.4 

2 ‘Category 

b’ (7-20) 

6.0 89.4 4.5 

3 ‘Category 

c’ (20-50) 

2.7 89.1 8.1 

 

Table 8 shows the data collected for the 

knowledge of farmer regarding the child labor 

in General good practice. The results reveal that 

10.49%, 85.08% and 4.41% of total famers of 

‘category a’ having advance, basic and low 

level of knowledge respectively. Whereas 6.01%, 

89.47% and 4.51% of total famers of ‘category b’ 

having advance, basic and low level of 

knowledge respectively, while 2.7%, 89.18% and 

8.10% of total famers of ‘category c’ having 

advance, basic and low level of knowledge 

respectively. 

 

Table 9: Farmers’ knowledge regarding importance 

of “Education” for children. 

Importance of “Education” for children 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance 

level of  

awareness 

(%age) 

Basic Level 

of  

Awareness 

(%age) 

Low Level 

of 

Awareness 

(%age) 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

8.2 91.7 0.0 

2 ‘Category 

b’(7-20) 

8.2 91.7 0.0 



 

 
 

Zeeshan et al., J. mt. area res. 02 (2017) 29-36 

 

35 
J. mt. area res., Vol. 2, 2017 

3 ‘Category 

c’(20-50) 

4.0 95.9 0.0 

 

The table 9 shows the data collected for the 

knowledge of farmer regarding importance of 

education of children. The results reveal that 

8.2%, 91.7% and 0.0% of total famers of 

‘category a’ having advance, basic and low 

level of knowledge respectively. Whereas 8.2%, 

91.7% and 0.0% of total famers of ‘category b’ 

having advance, basic and low level of 

knowledge respectively, while 4.0%, 95.9% and 

0.0% of total famers of ‘category c’ having 

advance, basic and low level of knowledge 

respectively. 

 

Table 10: Farmers’ knowledge regarding child labor 

in “Weeding”. 

Weeding 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance level 

of  awareness 

(%age) 

Basic Level 

of  

Awareness 

(%age) 

Low Level 

of 

Awareness 

(%age) 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

4.4 92.8 2.7 

2 ‘Category 

b’(7-20) 

6.0 88.7 5.2 

3 ‘Category 

c’(20-50) 

5.4 93.2 1.3 

 

Table 10 shows the data collected for the 

knowledge of farmer regarding child labor in 

weeding. The results reveal that 4.41%, 92.81% 

and 2.76% of total famers of ‘category a’ having 

advance, basic and low level of knowledge 

respectively. Whereas 6.01%, 88.72% and 5.26% 

of total famers of ‘category b’ having advance, 

basic and low level of knowledge respectively, 

while 5.40%, 93.24% and 1.35% of total famers of 

‘category c’ having advance, basic and low 

level of knowledge respectively. 

 

Table 11: Farmers’ knowledge regarding “Children 

working Around Machines”. 

Children working Around Machines 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance 

level of  

awareness 

(%age) 

Basic Level 

of  

Awareness 

(%age) 

Low Level 

of 

Awareness 

(%age) 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

8.2 86.1 5.5 

2 ‘Category 

b’(7-20) 

7.5 88.7 3.7 

3 ‘Category 

c’(20-50) 

5.4 87.8 6.7 

 

Table 11 shows the data collected for the 

knowledge of farmer regarding children 

working around machines. The results reveal 

that 8.2%, 86.1% and 5.5% of total famers of 

‘category a’ having advance, basic and low 

level of knowledge respectively. Whereas 7.5%, 

88.7% and 3.7% of total famers of ‘category b’ 

having advance, basic and low level of 

knowledge respectively, while 5.4%, 87.8% and 

6.7% of total famers of ‘category c’ having 

advance, basic and low level of knowledge 

respectively. 

 

Table 12: Cumulative data about Farmers’ 

knowledge regarding Child labor in Cotton farming. 

Cumulative Data 

Sr. 

No. 

Land 

holding 

(acres) 

Advance 

level of  

awareness 

%age 

Basic Level 

of  

Awareness 

%age 

Low Level 

of 

Awareness 

%age 

1 ‘Category 

a’ (1-7) 

7.5 88.7 3.7 

2 ‘Category 

b’ (7-20) 

7.2 88.5 4.2 

3 ‘Category 

c’ (20-50) 

5.8 90.2 3.9 



 

 

 

Zeeshan et al., J. mt. area res. 02 (2017) 29-36 

 

36 
J. mt. area res., Vol. 2, 2017 

 

Table 12 shows the cumulative data 

farmer’s knowledge regarding child labor in 

cotton farming. The data reveal that among 

the category ‘a’ 7.5%, 88.7% and 3.7% of the 

farmers had advance, basic and low level of 

awareness, respectively. Among category ‘b’ 

7.2%, 88.5% and 4.2% farmers had advance, 

basic and low level of awareness, 

respectively. Among category ‘c’ 5.8%, 90.2% 

and 3.9% farmers had advance, basic and low 

level of awareness, respectively. Since the 

large proportion of farmers having only the 

basic level of awareness on child labor. The 

research reveals that very small proportion of 

farmers are having advance and low level of 

knowledge. But the farmers with advance 

level of knowledge are those farmers small in 

number or percentages who are adopting 

good practices about child labor elimination 

or eradication. Whereas, for the farmers with 

low level of knowledge of good practices in 

this regard question arises about adopting 

good practices. The possible reason behind 

the current scenario could be lack of interest 

in education and poverty as reported by 

Ameen et al. [8]. 

4. CONCLUSION 

 There is a deep concern to educate 

farmers efficiently; the main focus must be on 

those farmers who fall under the category of 

low level of knowledge. The task could be 

done through spreading decent work of ILO 

working in country like Pakistan where there is 

immense occurrence of child labor in 

agriculture sector. 

References 

 [1] A. K. Malik, N. A. Bhutto, D. Shaikh, E. Akhter, F. 

Butt, Another Real Fact about Child Labor: A 

Comparative Study between Districts of Two 

Provinces of Pakistan. Proceedings of 2nd 

International Conference on Business 

Management. 

[2] E. Rana, Gender Analysis of Children‘s Activities 

in Pakistan, Pak. Dev. Rev. 47 (2008) 169-195.  

[3] A. K Kiani, A Significant Impact of Child Labor 

on Pakistan’s Economy. 8th International 

Conference on Making Innovation Work for 

Society: Linking, Leveraging and Learning, 

November 1-3, (2010). 

[4] Hagemann, F. Y. Diallo, A. Etienne, F. Mehran, 

IPEC: Global Child Labour Trends 2000 to 2004. 

ILO, Statistical Information and Monitoring 

Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC), 

Geneva, (2006). 

[5] ILO, “ILO Statement on Child Labor in 

Agriculture at the 494th Meeting of the 

Standing Committee of the International 

Cotton Advisory Committee”, Washington DC, 

(2008). 

[6] A. Hussain, Slaves to Inaction. The News 

International.  Print. 2 February 2014. 

[7] The effect of work on children’s health: report 

of research on ten occupational sectors in 

Pakistan / international Labor Office, 

International Programme on the Elimination of 

Child Labor (IPEC).Geneva: ILO, 2013. 

[8] Ameen, F. A. Sajjad, A. H. Makhdum, A. Imran, 

M. Asif, S. Akbar, Decent Work Trends and Work 

Life Quality among Rural Communities of District 

Jhang, Pakistan, Acad. Res. Int. 6 (2015) 214-221. 

 

 

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