Health, Safety and Environment - International Labour Organization

Introduction The global food chain and agricultural workersThe global agricultural workforce is estimated to be over 1.1 billion and comprises the largestworkforce in the world. 450 million of them (over 40%), are waged agricultural workers andtheir numbers are growing in all regions of the world. On average, 20 to 30% of the wagedworkers are women (40% in Latin America and the Caribbean). Unfortunately, child labour isalso used extensively in agriculture.Waged agricultural workers are the women and men who labour in the crop fields, orchards,glasshouses, livestock units, and primary processing facilities to produce the world’s food andfibres. They are employed on everything from small and medium-sized farms to largeindustrialised farms and plantations. They are waged workers because they do not own or rentthe land on which they work nor the tools and equipment they use and so are a group distinctfrom farmers.Such workers include the following categories: permanent agricultural workers; temporaryagricultural workers; seasonal/casual agricultural workers; migrant agricultural workers,piece-rate workers; or workers receiving some form of ‘in-kind’ payment. There are also manyindigenous agricultural workers who are part of the employed workforce. Agricultural workerswork for some kind of ‘wage’ which can include payment in kind in an employment relationship,be it with a farmer, farming or plantation company, or agricultural contractor.However, wage-dependent small farmers regularly form part of the waged workforce, workingseasonally on farms on a regular, annual basis to supplement their subsistence farm incomes.Furthermore, the number of wage-dependent small farmers is growing as small family holdingsare increasingly bought or taken over by large agricultural undertakings relying on wagedlabour.Waged agricultural workers and wage-dependent small farmers form the core of the rural poor.Their poverty can contribute to increased risks of work-related ill health due to poor diet andmalnutrition. The changing nature of agricultural employmentThe worldwide trend towards work flexibility and the pressure to reduce labour and productioncosts is changing the nature of agricultural employment in many parts of the world. Globaltrade, economic pressures and privatisation are eroding the already low levels of protection ofthis group of workers in terms of wage levels, employment security, and health, safety andenvironmental standards.Permanent employment contracts are increasingly being replaced by temporary labour onshort-term daily and seasonal contracts with lower levels of pay and poorer levels of health,safety and social protection. The employment relationship is further undermined as employersincreasingly rely on labour contractors and/or sub contractors, creating uncertainty about theemployer’s responsibilities and contributing to a disregard for labour legislation and decentwork.A most acute problem is migrant contract labour. The agricultural workforce is already based ona large number of migrant workers, whether from different regions of a country, or hired fromabroad.3 Health, Safety and EnvironmentA Series of Trade Union EducationManuals for Agricultural Workers