Ageing in the Twenty-First Century: - HelpAge International

Workers in rural informal labour forces tend not to
retire from work, but to adjust the amount and type
of their activity. Many continue to farm. Although
evidence is limited, there are indications that farm
workforces in developing countries are ageing.
For example, an FAO study on rural ageing and farm
structure in Thailand found that the proportion of the
agricultural workforce under 40 years of age fell by
almost 20 per cent between 1985 and 2003 and the
proportion aged 60 or over doubled, although from a
low base. 218 The Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture
estimates that almost 80 per cent of the nation’s 140
million farmers are now aged 45 or older, compared
with an average age of 40 three years ago. 219 In a decade,
the average age of China’s population of working
farmers is predicted to be over 50, or even over 60. 220
In Zimbabwe, a 2012 study found that 15-20 per cent of
all farmers are older persons and that the proportion
of older smallholder farmers is increasing. Among these,
older women are the majority. The study also revealed
that there is no inherent difference in older people’s
capacities to produce food surpluses for the market and
respond innovatively to cash cropping and livestock
rearing opportunities. 221
Rural ageing has major implications for the composition
of the rural labour force, patterns of agricultural
production, land tenure, social organization within
rural communities, and socio-economic development at
large. The problem of an ageing agricultural labour force
is that challenges such as environmental degradation,
climate change and limited agricultural technology
tend to affect older farmers more than their younger,
healthier and better-educated counterparts. This is
compounded by discrimination against older rural
people in accessing credit, training, and other incomegenerating
resources.
Processes such as diffusion of new agricultural
technologies and introduction of improved seeds and
tools often bypass older farmers, as many have neither
the financial resources to buy additional inputs, nor the
skills (for example, literacy) and energy to invest in
adopting new practices. Because of gender divisions in
agricultural production that influence opportunities to
obtain credit and training, or to participate in market
exchanges, older women are particularly disadvantaged.
It follows that in countries where the agricultural
labour force is ageing, there is an urgent need to adapt
farming technologies and agricultural policies to the
capacities and needs of older farmers. 222
Living off the land in Peru.
Rural-to-urban migration of
younger adults has contributed
to an increasing proportion
of older people in rural areas
in developing regions.
Antonio Olmos/HelpAge International
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