Before fruits, vegetables and other produce reach grocery store shelves, several sets of hands have touched the food that ends up on our kitchen tables. Essential to food production but invisible to consumers, farmworkers are primary contributors to the safe, efficient and reliable delivery of our fruits and vegetables.
They take care of our livestock in our absence and make sure we continue having healthy offspring of our cattle, goats and sheep, amongst others. For many farms and growing operations, farmworkers are the people who are most intimately involved with the growing, picking, preparing and sorting of produce.
Unfortunately, the workers who have the most direct connection with the produce and meat we eat are often considered the lowest on the food chain hierarchy. Their social positioning, political and legal treatment, working conditions and wages reflect this reality.
Despite efforts by bodies representing them and government to improve their living conditions, workers in the agriculture sector are yet to reap the full benefits of their hard toil under the unforgiving Namibian sun.
Working towards a more equitable food system means supporting farmworkers in securing equitable compensation, better working conditions and appreciating their work. This work will require cooperation from and dialogue with farmers – farmers who may also struggle with the social, political and economic realities of the food system.
While the connections between labour, prices, immigration policy and human rights in our farming system are complex, there are several ways in which you, as a farmer, can champion farmworkers’ needs.
Many farmworkers and labourers in Namibia are migrants, undocumented or both. Start by recognising that such farm workers need to have all the needed documents so that they do not only get into trouble with the law and also restore their pride and identity.
The world has witnessed great changes in agriculture, particularly in the last 40 years. Today, in many parts of the world, agriculture is becoming increasingly mechanised with the wide use of fertilisers and pesticides.
Change in agricultural work practices, while improving agricultural production, may bring with it a risk of adverse health effects. Animal diseases are also an important environmental problem associated with livestock in agriculture. They are generally transmitted by direct contact with infected animals or through contaminated food, water, soil or animal excretions.
Most workers are not aware of the proper hygienic and sanitary measures to prevent or control the transmission of these diseases. Exposure of workers to airborne dust in confined areas where animals are raised has been associated with respiratory disease, especially in the poultry processing industry.
There is also epidemiological evidence of a higher incidence of respiratory symptoms (e.g. chest tightness and cough) and impairment of respiratory function in animal breeders in confined conditions.
Also, research suggests that noise levels in pig breeding operations can reach 90 or 98 dB at the beginning of feeding and 100 to 118 dB during veterinary intervention.
Exposure of workers to these noise levels may lead to temporary or permanent hearing loss. The bottom line – take care of your workers and they will take care of your farming business. As most of us are part-time farmers who entrust the running of operations in our absence to workers, we ought to do more to show our appreciation. Remember, happy workers = happy life.
- tjatindi@gmail.com