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During the first half of the twentieth century, ethnic Mexican beet workers in Colorado endured a daunting array of challenges that included dismal housing, meager wages, and a family labor system that forced children as well as adults to labor relentless hours in the sugar-beet fields. In response to these conditions, Catholic reformer Thomas Mahony promoted a vision of the American economy in which marginalized populations like the beet laborers would take their rightful place as healthy consumers and effective family providers. His vision was shaped by the Catholic social justice movement of the Progressive Era, as well as by a career in agricultural consumerism. From 1910 to 1913, for example, he served as director of exhibits for the Chicago Land Show, a position that immersed him in a world that marketed farm lands as idealized consumer commodities while rendering invisible the struggles of propertyless farm workers. When Mahony began his reform career a decade later, he strove to do exactly the opposite: make beet field workers as visible as possible in his blueprint for a vigorous consumerist democracy. At the same time, however, Mahony's intense fears of radicalism overshadowed his reform impulses, reflecting profound tensions within the Catholic reform ethos that shaped him: a yearning for spiritual and social regeneration in constant battle with a dread of social upheaval. Mahony's story therefore helps to illuminate the considerable potential of twentieth-century religious reform, even as his obsessive fears highlight the perils of antiradicalism in the U.S. West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2005, an applied theatre community outreach programme was launched to address low levels of HIV/AIDS awareness among farm workers in the Cape Winelands of South Africa. In cooperation with HIV testing organizations, the Lucky , the Hero mini-musical promoted regular HIV testing, condom use and acceptance of people living with HIV until being retired in 2017. Applying principles of the health belief model to interview data collected in 2015 from former Lucky, the Hero participants, this paper examines the effectiveness of the theatre production to achieve the behavioural outcomes of (i) encouraging regular HIV testing and ongoing awareness of HIV serostatus, and (ii) reducing AIDS-related social stigma. The findings suggest that the interventions were successful in persuading participants to know their HIV status immediately following the shows, as well as potentially contributing to a reduction of community-based external social stigma. However, the interventions were unable to maintain engagement with these behavioural outcomes in the years following the performances, resulting in low adherence to regular HIV testing and inconsistent condom use. Additionally, ongoing social and structural barriers to regular HIV testing and the potential for self-imposed HIV-related stigma were highlighted during the discussions. While applied theatre can be an effective avenue for HIV awareness and prevention, the paper demonstrates the importance of creating and maintaining strong community networks to support continued engagement with health-related behavioural outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between physical activity and individual productivity among agricultural workers paid on a piece-rate basis. In the context studied, physical activity has a clear correspondence with worker effort. Agricultural workers' physical activity is directly observed from accelerometer data and is robustly associated with their daily productivity. In addition the impact of a health intervention, which provides malaria testing and treatment, on physical activity and productivity, indicates that the increased daily productivity of workers who are offered this program is explained by worker effort reallocation from low-intensity to high-intensity work within a fixed time period. This demonstrates, in settings when individual productivity is observed, that physical activity measures can help disentangle productivity effects due to effort. When productivity is unobserved, physical activity measures may proxy for individual productivity in physically demanding tasks. The challenges and limitations of physical activity measurement using accelerometers is discussed including their potential use for alternative contexts and the importance of field and data analysis protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of foreign labour on the competitiveness of Italian dairy farms relying on the theory of foreign labour in profit functions. Application of an endogenous switching regression model identifies the drivers of adoption of the immigrant workforce. A counterfactual analysis performed on unit labour costs between farms employing and non-employing immigrants suggests the essential role of foreign farmworkers on dairy farms' competitiveness, which provide a cheaper source of labour. The lower unit labour cost for immigrant workers resembles staunch support to the newly introduced 'social conditionality', for a CAP delivering also for farmworkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does improving roads affect jobs and structural transformation? A novel geocoded data set covering the universe of Ethiopian roads matched with individual data allows the relationship between improvements in road infrastructure and labor-market outcomes over the 1994–2013 period to be identified. At the district level, greater market access due to better roads correlates with the process of structural transformation in Ethiopia. Improvements in market access are related to reductions in the share of agricultural workers and increases in that of workers in the services sector, but not in manufacturing. Heterogeneity in this relationship exists across industries, gender, education level, and age cohorts. Patterns of internal migration and changes in economic opportunities can help rationalize these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is very little empirical evidence supporting the claims that family farming is a 'superior' form of organisation for agricultural production. This paper investigates the comparative output effects of family labour in several EU Member States. No positive output effects can be discerned when farms are characterised by a low level of technical efficiency. In the case of efficient farms, the incremental effects of family labour are characterised by a number of thresholds. The paper only finds limited support for the claimed positive output effects of family farming and these only materialise after a considerable family involvement is committed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Tobacco use is a leading but preventable cause of non-communicable diseases and premature death. The legislature has a key role in setting tobacco control policies. Smoking trends are decreasing thanks to the introduction of effective tobacco control policies in Turkey and these policies may have been shaped by how politicians' interpreted social problems that were prominent during the development and implementation of tobacco regulations. Aim This paper explores the long-term national relationship between tobacco consumption, tobacco control policies and the associated political discourse in Turkey, considering the varying influences through national leadership on this important public health agenda. This relationship is studied by comparing a time series analysis of tobacco consumption trends with a policy analysis of the minutes of deliberations at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT). Methods This study uses Bayesian time series analysis in order investigate whether the tobacco control policies and related activities influenced the annual per adult cigarette consumption in Turkey. We used a novel method to identify change points in tobacco trends and whether they correspond with key policy changes intended to alter usage after adjusting for the effect of other non-policy related covariates, such as the purchasing power. The policy analysis included an examination of the minutes of deliberations at the GNAT—which is the Turkish parliament and unicameral Turkish legislature—1 year before and 1 year after the break years associated with an increase or decrease in tobacco consumption. Results and recommendations Tobacco consumption increased with the encouragement of tobacco production and the entrance of multinational companies in the country in 1976 and 1993, respectively. The National Tobacco Law of 1996 and comprehensive amendments in 2008, including smoke-free public places and tax increases, appear to have helped reduce tobacco consumption in Turkey. The focus of Parliamentary discussions throughout this period changed, becoming less supportive of tobacco over time. However, throughout the period there remained discussions focussing on concerns around the implications for the economy and the privatization agenda, national agriculture and the welfare of farmers. Effective control appears to require certain political ingredients to be implemented: politicians who are well informed on tobacco control measures and understand the range of issues surrounding the policies (not only those directly health-related); and supportive public health information in the community. Evidence-based public health policy should be introduced to the politicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, thousands of workers and volunteers cleaned the shoreline across four coastal states of the Gulf of Mexico. For the GuLF STUDY, we developed quantitative estimates of oil-related chemical exposures [total petroleum hydrocarbons (THC), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and n -hexane (BTEX-H)] from personal measurements on workers performing various spill clean-up operations on land. These operations included decontamination of vessels, equipment, booms, and personnel; handling of oily booms; hazardous waste management; beach, marsh, and jetty clean-up; aerial missions; wildlife rescue and rehabilitation; and administrative support activities. Exposure estimates were developed for unique groups of workers by (i) activity, (ii) state, and (iii) time period. Estimates of the arithmetic means (AMs) for THC ranged from 0.04 to 3.67 ppm. BTEX-H estimates were substantially lower than THC (in the parts per billion range). Both THC and BTEX-H estimates were substantially lower than their respective occupational exposure limits. The work group, 'Fueled engines' consistently was one of the higher exposed groups to THC and BTEX-H. Notable differences in the AM exposures were observed by activity, time and, to a lesser degree, by state. These exposure estimates were used to develop job-exposure matrices for the GuLF STUDY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women make essential contributions to agriculture in developing countries, where they constitute approximately 43 percent of the agricultural labor force. However, female farmers typically have lower output per unit of land and are much less likely to be active in commercial farming than their male counterparts. These gender differences in land productivity and participation between male and female farmers are due to gender differences in access to inputs, resources, and services. In this paper, we review the evidence on productivity differences and access to resources. We discuss some of the reasons for these differences, such as differences in property rights, education, control over resources (e.g., land), access to inputs and services (e.g., fertilizer, extension, and credit), and social norms. Although women are less active in commercial farming and are largely excluded from contract farming, they often provide the bulk of wage labor in the nontraditional export sector. In general, gender gaps do not appear to fall systematically with growth, and they appear to rise with GDP per capita and with greater access to resources and inputs. Active policies that support women's access and participation, not just greater overall access, are essential if these gaps are to be closed. The gains in terms of greater productivity of land and overall production are likely to be large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Categories currently used to describe displaced people, such as ‘internally displaced person’, ‘refugee’ and ‘development-induced displaced person’, are increasingly recognized as problematic; more in-depth research is needed on the complexity of displacement experiences and responses. This paper, arising out of an anthropological study of internally displaced Zimbabwean farm workers, seeks to provide more empirical data on the everyday lives of internally displaced people. Displaced Zimbabwean farm workers offer a complex insight into the different kinds of representations that have been applied to them both before and after displacement and the ways in which they have managed these representations. The often simplistic representations of farm workers have been a significant causal factor in their displacement since February 2000. Farm workers are still viewed, especially in nationalistic discourses, as ‘foreigners’ who do not deserve the same rights and entitlements as other citizens of Zimbabwe. They have also been portrayed as supporting the interests of their white bosses and the opposition party in opposing the land invasions, have thus often been the main targets of violence and have largely been ignored as recipients of land. This paper shows how, through local responses to displacement, displaced workers are able to counter the discourses of the powerful by subverting global, national and local representations, using local agency to create their own practical discourse of displacement. It also shows the importance of anthropology in highlighting an alternative and locally grounded discourse, arising out of the interplay of agency and dependency on the part of the actors involved. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper we derive supply and demand equations for labour in the UK agricultural sector. Using a cointegrating vector autoregression framework, identifying restrictions from theory are imposed, and the long-run labour supply and demand relationships are estimated. We find a significant elasticity of substitution between labour and the other factors of production. The minimum wage has had a significant negative impact on the level of labour demanded. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examines recall bias in farm labor through a randomized survey experiment in Ghana, comparing farm labor estimates from an end-of-season recall survey with data collected weekly throughout the agricultural season. Recall households report 10 percent more farm labor per person-plot, which can be explained by recall households' underreporting of "marginal" plots and household workers. This "selective" omission by recall households, denoted as listing bias, alters the composition of plots and workers across treatment arms and inflates average farm labor hours per person-plot in the recall group. Since listing bias, in this setting, dominates other forms of recall bias at higher levels of aggregation (i.e. when farm labor per person-plot is summed at the plot, person, or household level), farm labor productivity is overestimated for recall households. Consistent with the notion that recall bias is linked to the cognitive burden of reporting on past events, there is no recall bias among more educated households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Task-based worker exposure assessments are used in regulatory product approval for pesticides. Some agricultural workers may be exposed to pesticide residues predominantly via transfer to the hands during plant tending or crop harvesting. They may use thin ‘splash-resistant single-use’ (SRSU) gloves or cotton gloves as good industry practice, for example, to protect a delicate crop from bruising, rather than specifically for chemical protection. These ‘non-personal protective equipment (PPE)' gloves may or may not have been tested for chemical resistance, but can nevertheless give limited protection from chemicals. This paper reports experiments to assess the protection factors (PFs) of ‘non-PPE’ gloves against chemicals, to better inform the regulatory exposure assessments. One type of lightweight cotton and three types of 0.1 mm SRSU gloves 25 cm long (latex, nitrile, and vinyl) that might be used as ‘non-PPE’ gloves and one type of 0.4 mm PPE nitrile gauntlet 33 cm long were worn by 36 volunteers in greenhouses at four nurseries, handling plants sprayed with transferable but non-permeating strontium acetate in four consecutive 1-h sessions, including one session in which no gloves were worn. Dislodgeable foliar residues were measured by rinsing leaves in bags. Each subject carried out their task such as weeding or trimming, for their four sessions on their set of plants. Handwashes followed each session, and the washings were sampled and analysed for strontium. Unprotected hand contamination was taken to be the within-subject ‘challenge’ in the absence of gloves. It ranged from 166 to 4091 μg equivalent of strontium acetate on the hands and increased with increasing foliar residues. Geometric mean PFs were 60 (95% CI 38-87, n = 22) for PPE gauntlets, 32 (25-41, n = 65) for SRSU gloves and 5.3 (3.5-8, n = 21) for lightweight cotton. The PFs offered by the waterproof gloves (gauntlets and SRSU) increased with challenge, but for the absorbent cotton gloves it decreased. The measurement of protection is restricted by the limit of quantification (LOQ) such that protection must apparently increase with challenge, nevertheless the above trends remained even after removal of data

This paper studied the sustainability of China's New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NCMS) by evaluating the satisfaction rate of its participants--the farmers. The study related the overall satisfaction of the farmers to their satisfaction with the four different aspects of the program. It also identified which personal and program attributes affect the farmers' satisfaction rate. Survey data of 1278 households from 66 counties in Shandong Province of China were collected in 2011 using a multi-stage stratified cluster-sampling method. To overcome the nepotistic barriers in rural China, field surveys in each township were conducted by university students from the same place. Data were analyzed using multiple regressions and structural equation modeling method. The results showed that 86% of the farmers were either satisfied or very satisfied with the NCMS and 82% indicated their intention to continue participating in the program. Aside from its financial benefits, both the publicity and reimbursement procedure of the program were found to be significant factors in influencing the satisfaction of the farmers. Majority of the participants held positive opinions toward the NCMS, contradicting the negative assessments made by many previous studies. Given the high proportion of farmers willing to continue with the program, it is likely to be sustainable in the near future. Greater publicity and education efforts should be made to make the farmers better informed about the program, and measures should be taken to improve its reimbursement procedure and the setting of the premium level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, a curious but little-known agricultural system based on imported African slaves thrived in the Northern and Central Arabian Peninsula. Born of a unique set of biological, environmental, cultural, and economic conditions, this slave system employed African labor mainly in the date palm plantations of the wadis, or floodwater channels, of the Hijaz and Najd regions of Arabia. This paper will seek to expand our knowledge of this neglected agricultural system by synthesizing traditional documentary sources employed by historians with new findings from the medical sciences, especially studies of genetic adaptations to malaria. Overall, this study will suggest that wadi slavery in Arabia, like slavery in the 16th-19th century Atlantic world, had a strong biological basis. As in the Atlantic world, African slaves, who frequently possessed genetic and acquired immunity to malaria, were used as proxy farmers to exploit landscapes that were unhealthy to the ruling elites. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

China's hukou system imposes two main barriers to population movements. Agricultural workers get land to cultivate but are unable to trade it in a frictionless market. Social transfers (education, health, etc.) are conditional on holding a local hukou. We show that the land policy leads to over-employment in agriculture and it is the more important barrier to industrialization. Effective land tenure guarantees and a competitive rental market would correct this inefficiency. The local restrictions on social transfers also act as disincentives to migration with bigger impact on urban migrations than to job moves to rural enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comment discusses several aspects of the recent paper by Blanc et al. (2008), focussing on the link between the theoretical and empirical models. It argues that there is an inconsistency between the two models in the way households are segmented into different labour regimes. The econometric approach is also queried. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Agricultural workers frequently experience potentially hazardous exposure to non-ionizing radiation from both solar and artificial sources, and measurement of this exposure can be expensive and impractical for large populations. This project develops and evaluates a vegetative radiative transfer model (VRTM) to predict irradiance in a grow room of an indoor cannabis farm. The model uses morphological characteristics of the crop, manufacturer provided lamp emissions data, and dimensional measurements of the grow room and cannabis hedgerows to predict irradiance. A linear regression comparing model predictions with the measurements taken by a visible light spectroradiometer had slopes within 23% of unity and R 2 values above 0.88 for visible (400–700 nm), blue (400–500 nm), green (500–600 nm), and red (600–700 nm) wavelength bands. The excellent agreement between the model and the measured irradiance in the cannabis farm grow room supports the potential of using VRTMs to predict irradiance and worker exposure in agricultural settings. Because there is no mechanistic difference between visible and other non-ionizing wavelengths of radiation in regards to mechanisms of radiative transfer, the model developed herein for visible wavelengths of radiation should be generalizable to other radiation bands including infrared and ultraviolet radiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context There is a lack of data on pesticide exposure levels during spraying with a knapsack, while it could have important implications for their users' health. Methods We assessed levels and determinants of exposure in 24 male private landscapers/gardeners and municipal workers in France in 2011. Actual dermal exposure to glyphosate was assessed with cotton undergarments and gloves, and a cotton coverall changed between mixing and spraying to assess the contribution of each phase and body area to overall contamination. A field monitor observed the whole workshift and filled in a standardized observation grid. Results The median actual contamination was 5,256 µg for the body, and 4,620 µg for hands. Spraying was more exposing than mixing/loading for all body parts except hands, which contributed to nearly 90% of body exposure during mixing/loading, and 30% during spraying, followed by back (14%). In the most exposed quartile, levels were close to some observations in agriculture. Conclusion Our study provides new data on pesticide exposure levels of knapsack sprayer users; it should lead to a reinforced prevention, in order to make exposures as low as possible and lessen the risk of chronic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Smartphones are increasingly used to collect real-time information on time-varying exposures. We developed and deployed an application (app) to evaluate the feasibility of using smartphones to collect real-time information on intermittent agricultural activities and to characterize agricultural task variability in a longitudinal study of farmers. Methods We recruited 19 male farmers, aged 50–60 years, to report their farming activities on 24 randomly selected days over 6 months using the Life in a Day app. Eligibility criteria include personal use of an iOS or Android smartphone and >4 h of farming activities at least two days per week. We developed a study-specific database of 350 farming tasks that were provided in the app; 152 were linked to questions that were asked when the activity ended. We report eligibility, study compliance, number of activities, duration of activities by day and task, and responses to the follow-up questions. Results Of the 143 farmers we reached out to for this study, 16 were not reached by phone or refused to answer eligibility questions, 69 were ineligible (limited smartphone use and/or farming time), 58 met study criteria, and 19 agreed to participate. Refusals were mostly related to uneasiness with the app and/or time commitment (32 of 39). Participation declined gradually over time, with 11 farmers reporting activities through the 24-week study period. We obtained data on 279 days (median 554 min/day; median 18 days per farmer) and 1,321 activities (median 61 min/activity; median 3 activities per day per farmer). The activities were predominantly related to animals (36%), transportation (12%), and equipment (10%). Planting crops and yard work had the longest median durations; short-duration tasks included fueling trucks, collecting/storing eggs, and tree work. Time period-specific variability was observed; for example, crop-related activities were reported for an average of 204 min/day during planting but only 28 min/day during pre-planting and 110 min/day during the growing period. We obtained additional information for 485 (37%) activities; the most frequently asked questions were related to "feed animals" (231 activities) and "operate fuel-powered vehicle (transportation)" (120 activities). Conclusions Our study demonstrated feasibility and good compliance in collecting longitudinal activity data over 6 months using smartphones in a relatively homogeneous population of farmers. We captured most of the farming day and observed substantial heterogeneity in activities, highlighting the need for individual activity data when characterizing exposure in farmers. We also identified several areas for improvement. In addition, future evaluations should include more diverse populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Agriculture is one of the most hazardous occupations in the USA. Especially, tractor rollover incidents are the leading cause of farming-related injuries or deaths. This study examines the effect of a VR intervention (Virtual Reality Intervention for Safety Education; VRISE) on behavioral intentions for occupational safety and identifies a psychological mechanism that shows how the immersive technology works. Methods VRISE was developed by a multidisciplinary team of agricultural educators, computer scientists and communication specialists. It was designed to provide a virtual environment where users practice tractor operation and try to avoid several rollover hazards. The participants (291 high school students) were recruited at the 2019 National Future Farmers Association Convention & Expo and randomly assigned to one of three conditions: two different types of control groups (Control1: No treatment group and Control2: 2D Screen group) and the treatment group. Results Findings show that, through the immersive VR experience, the VR intervention enhanced perceived threat of tractor-related accidents which in turn, led to improved behavioral intentions for tractor safety. Conclusions Findings shed light on the effectiveness of a VR intervention to improve public health outcomes, especially in occupational safety education, where unsafe practices often result in injury and fatality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Farmers may be exposed to glucans (a cell component of molds) through a variety of tasks. The magnitude of exposure depends on each farmer's activities and their duration. We developed a task-specific algorithm to estimate glucan exposure that combines measurements of (1→3)-β-D-glucan with questionnaire responses from farmers in the Biomarkers of Exposure and Effect in Agriculture (BEEA) study. Methods To develop the algorithm, we first derived task-based geometric means (GMs) of glucan exposure for farming tasks using inhalable personal air sampling data from a prior air monitoring study in a subset of 32 BEEA farmers. Next, these task-specific GMs were multiplied by subject-reported activity frequencies for three time windows (the past 30 days, past 7 days, and past 1 day) to obtain subject-, task-, and time window-specific glucan scores. These were summed together to obtain a total glucan score for each subject and time window. We examined the within- and between-task correlation in glucan scores for different time frames. Additionally, we assessed the algorithm for the 'past 1 day' time window using full-shift concentrations from the 32 farmers who participated in air monitoring the day prior to an interview using multilevel statistical models to compare the measured glucan concentration with algorithm glucan scores. Results We focused on the five highest exposed tasks: poultry confinement (300 ng/m3), swine confinement (300 ng/m3), clean grain bins (200 ng/m3), grind feed (100 ng/m3), and stored seed or grain (50 ng/m3); the remaining tasks were <50 ng/m3 and had similar concentrations to each other. Overall, 67% of the participants reported at least one of these tasks. The most prevalent task was stored seed or grain (64%). The highest median glucan scores were observed for poultry confinement and swine confinement ; these tasks were reported by 2% and 8% of the participants, respectively. The correlation between scores for the same task but different time windows was high for swine confinement and poultry confinement , but low for clean grain bins. Task-specific scores had low correlation with other tasks. Prior day glucan concentration was associated with the total glucan 'past 1 day' score and with swine confinement and clean grain bin task scores. Conclusions This study provides insight into the variability and key sources of glucan exposure in a US farming population. It also provides a framework for better glucan exposure assessment in epidemiologic studies and is a crucial starting point for evaluating health risks associated with glucans in future epidemiologic evaluations of this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dislodgeable foliar residue (DFR) is the amount of pesticide that exists on foliage after the pesticide has dried and which could dislodge to the skin or clothes of workers and is a key parameter for non-dietary risk assessments required to demonstrate safe use for pesticide registration. DFR data in the literature are described as insufficiently reliable, limited, and encompasses considerable statistical uncertainties. The purpose of this article is to describe a newly developed laboratory method for the quantification of DFR with an illustrative example. The laboratory method reflected available field DFR methodology but involved controlled application of droplets to leaves and validation of the wash-off process used to remove the residue from the leaf surface before the analytical quantification. A very high level of accuracy (99.7–102.1%) and precision (±1.5%) was achieved. Residue data generated from the illustrated application of the method showed a robust normal distribution, unlike field studies. The method is deemed to be controllable, cost-efficient, and time-saving, taking hours rather than days. This enables the generation of more data to allow extrapolation between the generated data by investigating multiple factors that may influence DFR. An improved understanding of DFR could save time, money, and resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on short history of seasonal agricultural work by way of background, before examining the Seasonal Workers Pilot (SWP) and the key findings of the government's own evaluation in horticulture. It mentions Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) evolved into a mechanism for addressing seasonal labour shortages in agriculture by providing workers with ‘work cards' allowing them to work for up to six months.

Integrating nutrition communication in agricultural intervention programs aimed at increased food availability and accessibility in resource-poor areas is crucial. To enhance the sustainability and scalability of nutrition communication, the present study piloted the approach of 'nutrition integrated agricultural extension' and tested nutrition-related outcomes with two types of nutrition messages (specific vs. sensitive) and two delivery channels (public sector vs. private sector). The study intervention comprised (i) vegetable seed kit distribution, (ii) ongoing agricultural extension activities by public or private sectors and (iii) nutrition communication with two different messages. The intervention was tested with three treatment arms and reached 454 farmers (>65% female) in rural Kakamega County, Western Kenya. Pre-/post-surveys measured outcome variables focused on farmers' nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and practices in vegetable production and consumption, and household dietary diversity score. Results showed that all treatments increased nutrition knowledge (p  < 0.05). Nutrition-specific communication was more effective than nutrition-sensitive communication. Nutrition communication through either the public or the private agricultural sector was both effective. Before the study intervention, many participants believed that vegetable consumption was beneficial and wanted to increase intake. After the intervention, the number of participants who felt eating more vegetables was challenging decreased slightly. Nutrition communication was found to be especially important in conveying recommended food amounts and promoting increased vegetable consumption. Seasonality affected on-farm crop diversity and vegetable consumption results in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to describe the nature, magnitude, causes, and economic impact, and also to evaluate risk estimates of agricultural incidents occurring during 2012–2013 in Madhya Pradesh, India. The study was carried out in 360 villages in 9 districts of Madhya Pradesh namely Datia, Shivpuri, Balaghat, Barwani, Indore, Jhabua, Narshigpur, Satna, and Bhopal. A total of 92 793 agricultural workers participated in a survey of agricultural incidents. Of 21 agricultural incidents, 14% were fatal and 86% non-fatal in nature. The agricultural incident rates were 0.23/1000 agricultural worker per year and 0.2/1000 agricultural machines per year. The annual monetary loss due to deaths in agricultural incidents in Madhya Pradesh was estimated to be Rs. 16 935.4 lakhs. The economic loss due to agricultural incidents is more severe that resulted in significant loss to the workers due to absence from work. Hence, it is important to map down the cause and taking preventive measures to reduce the losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background First severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections on Danish mink farms were reported in June 2020 and thereupon spread geographically. We provide population-level evidence on excess human incidence rates in Danish municipalities affected by disease outbreaks on mink farms and evaluate the effectiveness of two non-pharmaceutical interventions, i.e. culling of infected mink and local lockdowns. Methods We use information on SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks on mink farms in 94 Danish municipalities together with data on human SARS-CoV-2 cases and tested persons in Weeks 24–51 of 2020. Difference-in-difference estimation and panel event studies for weekly human incidence rates are applied to (i) identify epidemiological trends of human SARS-CoV-2 infections associated with disease outbreaks on mink farms, and (ii) quantify the mitigating effects from the two non-pharmaceutical interventions. Results SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks on mink farms in a municipality associate with an increase in weekly human incidence rates by about 75%; spatial spillover effects to neighbouring municipalities are also observed. Local lockdowns reduce human incidence rates, while culling of mink appears to be more effective in combination with a lockdown. The temporal lag between an outbreak on a mink farm and a significant increase in human incidence rates is estimated to be 1–3 weeks; lockdowns and culling of mink neutralize this effect 4–8 weeks after the initial outbreak. Conclusions SARS-CoV-2 infections among farmed mink in Denmark significantly link to local human infection trends. Strict animal and human disease surveillance in regions with mink farming should be pursued internationally to mitigate future epidemic developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Farmworkers are at risk of excess exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) during their work activities, especially if they work in geographical areas with high ambient solar UVR levels such as in South Africa. Excess exposure to solar UVR may lead to several negative health effects such as certain cataracts and skin cancer. This study evaluated personal solar UVR exposure of a group of farmworkers to determine if they were at risk of health-related problems due to excess solar UVR exposure. Methods Polysulphone film (PSF) badges were placed on the shoulder, arm, and top of the head of outdoor and indoor farmworkers on a macadamia nut and avocado farm in the Limpopo province for the duration of their daily work shift to evaluate their total daily solar UVR exposure. Sixteen days were assessed for each of the three, high solar UVR seasons, i.e. autumn, spring, and summer. Results During autumn, farmworkers' arms received the highest solar UVR exposures (geometric mean (GM) = 7.8 SED, where 1 standard erythemal dose (SED) = 100 J/m2, 95% CI 6.1–9.8 SED) while the highest exposures were on the top of the head during spring (GM = 11.6 SED, 95% CI 7.3–17.4 SED) and summer (GM = 13.9, 95% CI 10.4–17.9 SED). Statistically significant differences in solar UVR exposure were found between the body sites during spring and summer but not autumn. Conclusions The relatively high daily solar UVR exposure levels of farmworkers suggest this occupational group is at risk of excess solar UVR exposure and preventive measures with awareness information to safeguard health is necessary for employers and employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To examine whether long-term exposure to agricultural work is associated with dementia prevalence and the rate of cognitive change in older adulthood. Method We employed data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998–2014). Multiple logistic regression was used to determine whether a longest-held job in the agricultural sector was associated with differences in dementia prevalence. We examined if hearing impairment, depression, and physical health indicators mediated the relationship between agricultural work and cognitive functioning. Subgroup analyses were done by age, retirement status, job tenure, and cognitive domain. We employed growth curve models to investigate implications of agricultural work on age trajectories of cognitive functioning. Results Longest-held job in agriculture, fishing, and forestry (AFF) was associated with 46% greater odds of having dementia. The relationship between AFF exposure and cognitive functioning was not mediated by hearing impairment, depression, or physical health indicators. Results were stronger among younger and retired older adults as well as those with extensive job tenure. AFF exposure was associated with lower scores in working memory and attention and processing speed. Growth curve models indicated that while agricultural work exposure was associated with lower initial levels of cognitive functioning, over time, the pattern reversed with individuals in non-AFF jobs, showing more accelerated cognitive decline. Discussion Consistent with European studies, results from the United States also demonstrate a higher prevalence of dementia among agricultural workers. The cognitive reserve framework may explain the seemingly paradoxical result on age patterning of cognitive performance across older adults with different work histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On a wintery day in 1916, African American workers on the Mulberry Plantation outside Charleston, South Carolina, used a peculiar, hand-carved wooden shovel with a paddle-like blade to clear ditches around rice fields. This article explores the origins and proliferation of that shovel, from the fulcrum shovel of West African rice farmers, to the long-handled scoops that enslaved rice workers used in the Lowcountry in the 1840s and 1850s, to the artifacts kept in museums in South Carolina today. While many questions about the evolution of the wooden shovel remain to be answered, this exploratory essay uses a wide array of sources to examine the transmission of a vital piece of material culture from the subsistence farms of West Africa to the massive rice labor camps of the South Carolina Lowcountry. As the article demonstrates in this journey through the archives, the historiography, museums, and even the old rice fields of Mulberry, the shovel fills a gap: from ditching to sowing, harvesting, and processing, historians now have evidence of West African origins of every stage of rice's life cycle in the Lowcountry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Written employment contracts may improve the conditions of agricultural workers in developing countries, but farmers as employers often prefer less formal oral arrangements. We evaluate whether farmers' preferences, which are deeply rooted in traditional norms, can be influenced through a group awareness campaign. In a randomised experiment in Côte d'Ivoire, we show that such a campaign increases farmers' preferences for written contracts and for contract features involving social benefits for workers. The campaign also increases farmers' likelihood to initiate concrete steps towards signing a contract with their workers. We conclude that group-based interventions can change farmers' traditional views about employment relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is caused by a variety of antigens and low-molecular-weight chemicals, often through occupational exposure. Making a diagnosis of HP and identifying a cause are challenging. Cryptogenic cases are frequently reported, and missing or incomplete exposure histories can cause misclassification. Aims To provide an evidence-based compendium of sources of exposure and causes of HP for the clinician, through systematic review of medical literature. Methods Articles related to HP causative agents and occupational exposure were searched from the databases OVID Medline (1946 to October 2020) and EMBASE (1974 to October 2020). Abstracts and full texts of articles were screened by two reviewers. Data on causative antigens, occupational source of exposure and any associated eponymous name were extracted and grouped according to source of exposure. Results A total of 1790 articles were identified, from which 305 articles met the inclusion criteria. An additional 22 articles were identified from citation lists of the selected review articles. Sources of exposure identified for HP were sorted into 14 categories of work (agricultural, plant matter processing, wood, animal-related, foodstuff, food processing, metal processing, polymers, other manufacturing, chemicals, aerosolized water, service, waste and sewage and wind instruments). Conclusions This work is a comprehensive list of occupational causative agents and exposures causing HP. Cases are grouped by source of exposure, allowing an immediately accessible compendium of causes for use during occupational exposure assessment, which could also form the basis for a clinical questionnaire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alteration of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis hormones has been associated with a range of chronic metabolic and cardiovascular health conditions. This study evaluated whether type of farming (organic versus conventional) or the number of self-reported days of spraying pesticides in the past 8 months was associated with diurnal cortisol levels. Salivary cortisol levels were measured four times a day (waking, 30 min after waking, 6 h after waking and bedtime) longitudinally, 8 months apart during three rounds of data collection. Pesticide using (conventional) and organic farmers were recruited to participate. Pesticide use in the previous 8 months was determined as the number of spray days for each type of pesticide used (herbicide, insecticide, fungicide) from self-reported questionnaires. Estimates of cortisol levels at four time points, the cortisol awakening response (CAR), and the diurnal cortisol slope (DCS) were estimated with a longitudinal mixed model that accounted for the non-linearity of cortisol levels across the day. Conventional farmers had significantly lower cortisol levels at waking than organic farmers (3.39 versus 3.86 ng ml−1), 30 min after waking (5.87 versus 6.96 ng ml−1), 6 h after waking (1.62 versus 1.88 ng ml−1), and lower diurnal cortisol slope (−2.26 versus −2.51 ng ml−1). Farmers who frequently applied herbicides (90th percentile of the number of spray days in the past 8 months) had significantly lower waking, 30 min after waking, 6 h after waking, bedtime and diurnal cortisol slopes compared with those with no spray days of herbicide in the past 8 months (organic and some of the conventional farmers). Those who frequently applied insecticides in the past 8 months had significantly lower bedtime levels and diurnal cortisol slopes, compared with those with no spray days of insecticide in the past 8 months. There were no significant differences in cortisol hormones between those who frequently applied fungicides and those who did not spray fungicides. Repeated pesticide use appears to be disrupting the HPA axis and depressing the normal diurnal cortisol rhythm among conventional Thai farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the standard approach to estimate systemic exposure of workers after contact with dried pesticide residues on crops during re-entry activities relies on using the highest identified dermal absorption value for aqueous spray dilutions. However, recent dermal absorption studies with dried residues and their respective in-use dilutions have shown that this is likely to significantly overestimate their dermal penetration potential and, thus, predicted systemic exposure. The choice of appropriate dose levels for these dermal absorption studies has not been defined. Moreover, actual skin loading during re-entry tasks may differ significantly from that achieved by applying a fixed volume of an aqueous dilution, which is the standard practice in generic dermal absorption studies. To address this, we propose an approach to dose setting for dried residue studies within the current European risk assessment framework. Skin loading for studies can be calculated from the existing exposure algorithms and by taking appropriate body surface areas into account. Thus, skin loading in studies will vary depending on the exact nature and duration of the task and the region of the body exposed, reflecting actual exposure scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Certain pesticides have been associated with adverse health outcomes including cancer and reproductive harms. However, little is known about the prevalence of occupational pesticide exposure among agricultural workers in Canada. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence and likelihood of occupational exposure to pesticides in Canada's agricultural industry, using three commonly used, potentially carcinogenic pesticides [chlorothalonil, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), and glyphosate] as an example. Methods Estimates were calculated using the Canadian Census of Population and the Census of Agriculture. The number of workers and the proportion of farms applying 'herbicides' or 'fungicides' by farm type was estimated using survey data from the Census of Agriculture. These values were multiplied to yield the potential number of workers at risk of exposure. Likelihood of exposure (i.e. exposed, probably exposed, and possibly exposed) was then qualitatively assigned using information on crop type, primary expected tasks, crop production practices, and residue transfer data. Additional agricultural workers who are at risk of exposure but not captured by the Census of Agriculture were identified using the 2016 Census of Population. Results An estimated range of 37 700–55 800 workers (11–13% of agricultural workers) were exposed to glyphosate in Canada while 30 800–43 600 workers (9–11%) and 9000–14 100 (2.9–3.2%) were exposed to 2,4-D and chlorothalonil, respectively. Approximately 70–75% of workers at risk of exposure were considered probably or possibly exposed to any of the pesticides. Glyphosate exposure was most common among workers in oilseed (29% of oilseed farm workers exposed) and dry pea/bean farms (28%), along with those providing support activities for farms (31%). 2,4-D exposure was most common in corn (28%), other grain (28%), and soybean farms (27%), while chlorothalonil exposure was more likely among greenhouse, nursery, and floriculture workers (42%), workers on farms (28%, for occupations not captured by the Census of Agriculture, specifically), and those providing support activities for farms (20%). Regional variations broadly reflected differences in farm types by province. Conclusions This study estimated the prevalence of occupational exposure to three pesticides in Canada. Seasonal and temporary agricultural workers, which were captured by the Census of Agriculture, contributed to many additionally exposed workers. A large percent of the workers who were considered at risk of exposure were considered probably or possibly exposed, indicating a need for enhanced data collection and availability on pesticide use data in Canada. The study's methods can be applied to estimate workers' exposures to other pesticides within the agricultural industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing Oregon agricultural atlases from 1878 to 1958, I show that, despite these texts' projection of impartial authority, they function to extend a discourse of natural bounty in which agricultural abundance is linked to inherent characteristics of the land, hiding the role of racialized and disenfranchised laborers in production. Using a combination of Agricultural Census data, historical and contemporary records from farmers and agricultural extension services, and GIS software, I demonstrate a method for reconstructing historical and contemporary agricultural labor landscapes, filling in—at least partially—the spatial absence of farmworkers. Using maps I have produced for a limited set of crops as a case study, alongside worker testimonies and ethnographic accounts, I argue that this sort of counter-mapping of the agricultural landscape can form the basis for an alternative spatial narrative of changing landscapes, replacing the depopulated and bountiful nature of conventional agricultural atlases with maps that reveal the agricultural landscape from a worker's perspective that centers the hidden the toil and suffering entailed in the creation of Oregon's agricultural bounty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the case of Syrian refugees as seasonal migrant workers in Turkey and critically discusses the working and living conditions fostering their relative vulnerability compared to other workers. Syrian refugees are subject to discriminatory practices in terms of lower wages, longer working hours and improper sheltering conditions. This article explores how unequal power relations between ethnically different groups of workers in the agricultural sector are (re)constructed and the consequences of the emergence of Syrian refugees as a novel class. The essential aim of this study is to unravel the process and practice of ethnically hierarchized agricultural labour market after the entrance of refugees. To that effect, the empirical data was gathered through the ethnographic fieldwork (based on semi-structured interviews and participant observation) carried out in Manisa in August of 2013 and 2014 and in Adana-Mersin in September 2013 and February 2015. This study looks into the ways in which actors on farms (workers, labour intermediaries, land owners, village dwellers and state representatives) have responded to the current situation with regard to three controversial subjects: migrant employment, legal framework and the politics on Syrian refugees. It is argued that externalization of labour force realizes through creating new layers, which necessitates the construction of new ethnic categories such as Syrian refugees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the U.S. government agency the Farm Security Administration (FSA) during the 1940s, particularly focusing upon varying and sometimes opposing goals for civil rights and socioeconomic reform for U.S. farm laborers. According to the article, the FSA was created as part of the New Deal programs proposed and managed by the administration of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt.

This article examines the impact of the Legal Arizona Workers Act (LAWA) on the farm occupation decisions of family labour in agricultural households. This question is studied at the individual level using the difference-in-differences model with the American Community Survey data from 2000 to 2010. We find that LAWA has significantly increased the probability of farm family labourers choosing agricultural occupations by 3–5.5 per cent and the impact is 11 per cent for non-Hispanic farms. This study suggests that stringent immigration laws could change the patterns of family labour use among US farm households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asset fixity of inputs is tested under state-contingent production uncertainty. We construct a general dynamic dual model for U.S. agriculture that allows tests for full variability and strict fixity to be performed for each input as well as tests for functional form. We estimate the model using a generalised Box–Cox functional form. Most test results are robust to functional form, but test results of fixity are sensitive for two of four inputs. The generalised Leontief is found to be significantly preferred to the translog and normalised quadratic functional forms for the dynamic model. With this functional form, family labour exhibits strict fixity, while land, capital and hired labour exhibit quasi-fixity. The estimated adjustment rates for the three quasi-fixed inputs are 15, 27 and 47 per cent. Production uncertainty has limited impacts on aggregate investment decisions for quasi-fixed inputs. The insignificant elasticity between state-contingent outputs suggests that an ex post analysis conditional on the realised states of nature is appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether year-to-year variation in crop yields affects the nutrition, health, and survival of subsistence-farming populations is relevant to the understanding of the potential impacts of climate change. However, the empirical evidence is limited. We examined the associations of child survival with interannual variation in food crop yield and middle-upper arm circumference (MUAC) in a subsistence-farming population of rural Burkina Faso. The study was of 44, 616 children aged <5 years included in the Nouna Health and Demographic Surveillance System, 1992-2012, whose survival was analyzed in relation to the food crop yield in the year of birth (which ranged from 65% to 120% of the period average) and, for a subset of 16, 698 children, to MUAC, using shared-frailty Cox proportional hazards models. Survival was appreciably worse in children born in years with low yield (full-adjustment hazard ratio = 1.11 (95% confidence interval: 1.02, 1.20) for a 90th- to 10th-centile decrease in annual crop yield) and in children with small MUAC (hazard ratio = 2.72 (95% confidence interval: 2.15, 3.44) for a 90th- to 10th-centile decrease in MUAC). These results suggest an adverse impact of variations in crop yields, which could increase under climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Agricultural workers tend to have high exposures to organic dusts which may induce or exacerbate respiratory disorders. Studies investigating the effect of work tasks and farm characteristics on organic dust exposures among farm workers suggest that handling of animal feed is an important exposure determinant; however, the effect of the animal feeding system has not been explored in any detail. Objectives: To measure the exposure of Irish dairy farmers to inhalable dust, endotoxin, and total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) during parlour work and to explore whether levels of exposure to these agents depend on the applied feeding system in the farms. Methods: Thirty-eight personal exposure measurements were collected from farmers across seven dairy farms. The farms used manual, loft, or semi-automated feeding systems. Information on worker tasks and farm characteristics was collected during the surveys. Associations between exposure concentrations and feeding systems, worker tasks, and other farm characteristics were explored in linear mixed-effect regression models with farmer identity treated as a random effect. Results: Exposure concentrations were variable and had a geometric mean (GM; geometric standard deviation) of 1.5 mg m-3 (1.8) for inhalable dust and 128 EU m-3 (2.5) for endotoxin. More than 50% of the exposure measurements for endotoxin, and organic dust exceeded recommended health-based occupational exposure limits. Endotoxin levels were somewhat lower in farms using semi-automatic feeding systems when compared to those using manual feeding systems but in multivariate regression analysis associations were not statistically significant (β = -0.54, P = 0.4). Performance of activities related to handling and spreading of hay or straw was the strongest determinant for both inhalable dust and endotoxin exposure (β = 0.78, P < 0.001; β = 0.72, P = 0.02, respectively). The level of dust exposure increased also as a consequence of a lower outdoor temperature, and higher ratio of distributed feed per cow (P = 0.01). Stationary measurements of TVOC and CO2 concentrations inside the dairy parlours had a GM of 180 ppb (1.9) and 589 ppb (1.3), respectively. The use of cow teat disinfectants and building ventilation were both strong predictors of TVOC concentrations within parlours. Conclusions: Dairy farm workers can be exposed to high and variable levels of inhalable dust and endotoxin and may be at risk of respiratory disease. Results from this study suggest that exposure control strategies for organic dusts and TVOCs exposures should consider building ventilation and work tasks such as spreading of bedding material, using spray disinfectants and animal feeding. Until effective permanent engineering controls are established farm workers should be encouraged to wear respiratory protective equipment during these tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brexit will have profound implications for health and health policy yet, while much attention has focused on health professionals, medicines and health protection, the risk of food insecurity, and thus health, has received less attention. We identify five major threats to the availability and affordability of food supplies. These are a lack of regulatory alignment restricting ability to import foods from the EU and beyond, a shortage of agricultural labour in the UK, increased prices of imported foods due to tariffs, damage to supply chains, for example, due to customs delays and loss of interoperability of transportation, and damage to agricultural production and food flows in Ireland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Women's Land Army (WLA), formed in 1917, has featured prominently in recent academic and popular account of First World War Britain. This interest reflects the attention the WLA drew from politicians, government reporters and contemporary commentators during and immediately after the war itself. Yet, the WLA, which at its peak had 16,000 women working on the land, was just one strand of wartime female agricultural labour, an auxiliary to the thousands of village women who worked throughout the war. Whilst the WLA received numerous plaudits for their participation, village women were 'left out in the cold', as one correspondent to The Times put it, in recognition of their wartime service. This article will place the rural woman worker back to centre stage. It will revisit the often-contradictory wartime estimates of the number of women working in agriculture in England and Wales before moving on to examine how regional farming structures and seasonal demands for labour shaped the use of women workers. It will show that even at the very local level, here utilizing records from the Bedfordshire Women's War Agricultural Committee, demand and supply issues produced a fractured pattern. It will show that concentrating exclusively on the WLA leads to a distorted picture of women's work on the land during the First World War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The purposes of this study were (i) to examine the relationship between reported hearing protector use and social desirability bias, and (ii) to compare results of the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability instrument when administered using two different methods (i.e. online and by telephone). Methods: A shortened version of the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability instrument, as well as a self-administered instrument measuring use of hearing protectors, was administered to 497 participants in a study of hearing protector use. The relationship between hearing protector use and social desirability bias was examined using regression analysis. The results of two methods of administration of the Marlowe-Crowne social desirability instrument were compared using t-tests and regression analysis. Results: Reliability (using Cronbach's alpha) for the shortened seven-item scale for this sample was 0.58. There was no evidence of a relationship between reported hearing protector use and social desirability reporting bias, as measured by the shortened Marlowe-Crowne. The difference in results by method of administration (i.e. online, telephone) was very small. Conclusions: This is the first published study to measure social desirability bias in reporting of hearing protector use among farmers. Findings of this study do not support the presence of social desirability bias in farmers' reporting of hearing protector use, lending support for the validity of self-report in hearing protector use in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]