Muguka farmers in Embu have been urged to stop child labour.
Embu politician Gitonga Mukunji said children working in muguka fields tend to drop out of school and engage in substance abuse.
He said most muguka farms are situated near rivers and parents ask their children to water the fields.
While speaking to the press, Mukunji said children in those areas perform poorly in school since they have no time to do their homework.
"Parents ask their children to go water muguka immediately after school and very early in the morning before they go to school. How do you expect a child subjected to such torture to excel in education?" Mukunji said.
The politician said children deployed in farms see no value in education as they are made to believe that all money comes from muguka farming.
He said there is a need for the government and other relevant authorities to start sensitization programs on child labour.
He asked police and children's officers to be on the look out and bring to book parents found using their school children in muguka fields.
"It is not wrong sending your children to do light duties to make them responsible adults but subjecting them to work meant for grown ups is wrong and there is a law that prohibits child labour," he said.
"While watering muguka from the river, some children might be tempted to swim. This has happened and we have had cases of drowning. Others are even tempted to taste the pesticides and end up with complications."