Case Study of Street Hawking Children in Ifo Local Government, Ogun State
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Exploitation of Children in the Informal Sector: Case Study of Street Hawking Children in Ifo Local Government, Ogun State A Research Paper presented by: Salisu Iyabode Shukurat Nigeria in partial fulfilment of the requirements for obtaining the degree of MASTERS OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Specialization: Poverty Studies and Policy Analysis POV Members of the Examining Committee: Prof. Dr. Karin Arts Dr. Andrew Fischer The Hague, The Netherlands December 2012 ii Contents List of Tables v List of Maps v List of Appendices v List of Acronyms vi Abstract vii Acknowledgements viii Chapter 1 : Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction and Background to the Problem of Street Hawking in Ifo Local Government of Ogun State 1 1.2 Research Focus Area 2 1.3 Statement Of The Specific Research Problem, research Questions and Objectives 5 1.4 Methodology 6 Chapter 2 : Determinants of street Hawking Children 9 2.1 Poverty as one of the Determinants of Street Hawking by Children 9 2.2 Intergeneration Transfer, Fertility and Child Work 11 2.3 Other Determinants 13 2.4 Child’s Right and Street Hawking 14 2.5 Debates that affect street hawking children 14 2.6 Implication of Child Work on the Future Development of Children and a Nation 16 Chapter 3 : Normative Framework 18 3.1 Introduction 18 3.2 Challenges For Nigeria’s Laws on Children’s Rights 19 3.3 The Question of Rights 20 Chapter 4 : Views of Households and Street Hawking Children 23 4.1 Introduction 23 4.2 Parental Socioeconomic Condition and Decision on Street Hawking Children 23 4.3 The Hawking Children’s Condition 26 4.4 The Views of Street Hawking Children on How to Improve their Situation 27 4.5 Local Ngo Effort to Assist Children from Low Income Household 27 4.6 Final Observation 28 iii Chapter 5 : Conclusions and Recommendations 30 References 33 Appendices 37 iv List of Tables Table 1 The Households Characteristics 25 Table 2 The Children’s Characteristics 37 List of Maps Map 1.1 Nigeria and surroundings 3 Map 1.2 Map Of Ogun State 4 List of Figures Figure 1 Children Hawking on the Street 25 List of Appendices Appendix 1 Sample table Appendix 2 Interview Guide v List of Acronyms ACRWC Africa Charter on the Right and Welfare of the Children CRA Child Right Act FMWA Federal Ministry of Women Affairs ILO International Labour Organization NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations NPC National Population Commission UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund vi Abstract An attempt to explain the prevalence of street hawking children in rural areas in Nigeria by using Ifo Local Government of Ogun State as a case study, this research is keen to explore the prevalence, determinant and implication of street hawking on development of a child and make recommendation on how to enhance the working condition for children to combine work and schooling. The study is to draw the attention of policy maker on street hawking by chil- dren and possible policy intervention that can support these children positive- ly. The study will be focusing on group of school age children between the ag- es of six to eighteen. Methods: This study made use of random sampling to select five different household and purposive sampling was used to pick street hawking children that are below the age of eighteen and one community leader that tells more about the prevalence of economic working children in Ifo local government of Ogun state. Findings: the finding shows that children engage in street hawking due to the poverty level of their parents in order to finance their education and to boost the household income. These children faces a lot of challenges; some of which are long walking distance that leads to leg pains, carrying of heavy wares on their head and walk all day that results to neck pain, some are expose to en- vironmental hazard, to mention but a few. Relevance to Development Studies This paper is of significant value due to the exploitation of working chil- dren. One need to be concerned about the present and future development of children that work because a child that work rather than schooling or acquire the necessary skill that will make them self-dependent as adult stand the chance to live in poverty as an adult. This study will serve as an awareness of the risk involve in street hawking by children and inform policy maker who can im- plement policy that will reduce the high incidence of street hawking in Ifo Lo- cal Government of Ogun State. Keywords Children, Child labour, Child Rights, Fertility, Households, Poverty, Street Hawking. vii Acknowledgements My sincere thanks go to Almighty God who have always been with me and made my dream to become a reality. Profound gratitude also goes to my lovely husband Mr Mustapha Abolore who has given me the opportunity to participate in this programme. Am not forgetting my son, whom I left when he needed me most. I say thanks you both. My special thanks go to my parents Mr and Mrs Salisu for their moral and spiritual support. May the Great God grant you long life to reap the fruit of your labour. I am highly indebted to the children and their families I met while con- ducting fieldwork in Ifo local government and all other interviewees for their stories. I wish to thank these children and their families for supporting me in my research. This acknowledges will be very much incomplete without expressing my sincere thanks to the government of Netherlands (NFP) for granting me the scholarship and international opportunity to studied in Netherlands. Am not forgetting my supervisor Karin Arts for giving me all the needed and necessary guidance and for being patient enough in scrutinizing this project. Also, my special thanks go to my convener and my second reader for his special academ- ic support during the course of studies in the institute. Additional, I will like to acknowledge International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University for equipping me with critical, analytical reason- ing and providing enabling learning environment throughout my course of studies. A special thanks to my course mates and discussants, Dinnia, Iffat, Winda, Mynt and Merry for their contribution and cooperation from the beginning to the end of my master programme, I have benefitted from comments and sug- gestions through the seminar discussion. Wishing you all the very best in your future endeavours. Lastly, I will like to acknowledge good friends like Agnes, Al-Hassan, Basit, Eneze and a friend like Sister Eugenia. A friend in need is a friend in- deed. viii Chapter 1 : Introduction 1.1 Introduction and Background to the Problem of Street Hawking in Ifo Local Government of Ogun State In an attempt to explain the prevalence of street hawking children in rural areas in Nigeria with Ifo Local Government of Ogun State as a case example, this research is keen to explore the prevalence and determinants of street hawking and implication on the development of a child. The study seeks to draw the attention of relevant policy makers to problems associated with street hawking by children and thereby to contribute to creating a basis for possible policy in- tervention in support of these children. The study focuses on the group of school age children between the ages of six to fifteen. Street hawking is a form of selling goods along the road from one place to the other (Umar 2009). It also extend to be an act of canvassing for sale items carried by a hawker along the street , from house to house or in the public space (Ikechebebu et al 2008: 114). Street hawking is a veritable means of so- cialization in the western part of Nigeria and it is widely practiced despite the attendant moral and physical dangers for children (Ebigbo 2003:103). In Nige- ria, street hawking is done mostly by female children. Children hawk different items, ranging from food to different types of non-edible items. Some children have a particular spot where they stay to sell their wares. Some move from place to place along the street, while others go from door to door in residential area (Grootaert and Kanbur 1995:4). Child hawkers sell tray of goods on their head by moving from one street to the other. The hawker that sell similar goods walk different directions while those that sell goods that complement each other like food and drinks walk in the same direction. The youngest among these hawker are followed by an adult child who also sell different things in order to teach the younger ones how to calculate or protect the child against any occurrence. These child hawkers shout on top of their voices to announce what they are selling in the community so as to attract the attention of intending buyer of their arrival. Street hawking is rampant among children in Ifo Local Government, Ogun State, Nigeria as was observed personally by the researcher. According to the local community leader, street hawking has been in existence there for a very long time. As the major occupation is farming and trading, during the time of trade by barter, when a farmer’s harvests crop, he takes from the har- vested crops for food consumption. The remaining has to be traded within the neighbourhood by the wives and children, so that they will get the money needed to purchase some other things needed in the household. Due to struc- tural change (discovery of cruel oil), currently many people are moving out of the agricultural sector and migrating to the city for a decent job.