"What!? I thought only pigs and farm animals are forced to produce our worth of weight in dirty, full-packed factories. Look these people slaving - they don’t seem to have eaten much - with picking, sorting and packing food for the rich. Lots of children as well. I am sure they would be happier and healthier with own land to grow some food and play on."

While the agriculture workforce as a whole is shrinking, as more and more small farmers leave the land, the number of waged agriculture workers is growing in most of the regions of the worlds. The new jobs are usually in export-oriented production like vegetable growing and packing. Agriculture workers do not own the land on which they work, nor the tools and equipment they use, and are often poorly paid, earning well below industrial workers. Millions of these workers live below the poverty line; they often cannot afford to buy sufficient food and their employment is often temporary. Besides, agriculture is ranked as one of the three most hazardous industries (along with mining and construction) with for example dangerous machinery, livestock-transmitted diseases, and exposure to toxic pesticides.

Of the estimated 246 million children around the world who go to work, over 170 million (70%) are employed in agriculture, often working 10 hours per day and earning less than one dollar per day. Employers prefer women agricultural workers, seeing them as unskilled workers who will accept low wages and increased workloads without complaining and who rarely join unions or organise for their rights.

Anyway, trade unions are not very appreciated in the food and agriculture sector. Unions don’t receive much political support and the people who want to join them are often threatened or fired. This is true for the farm worker, to the factory worker, to the person filling the shelves in the supermarket. Often the workforce is made up of temporary and young employees, which makes it hard for workers to organise themselves and to fight for better wages and working conditions.

Sources:
'Agriculture Workers and their Contribution to Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development', joint report between FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organisation), ILO (International Labour Organisation) and IUF (International Union of Food Association)
'Cheap but not so cheerful', www.guardian.co.uk/supermarkets/story