Vol. 13 No. 3 (2025): Business & Management Studies: An International Journal
Articles

Invisible risks in women's labour in agriculture: Product-based assessment of seasonal and resident labour force in Turkey

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  • Evren Çağlarer
Evren Çağlarer
Assistant Professor, Kırklareli University, Faculty of Technology, Kırklareli, Türkiye

Published 2025-09-25

Keywords

  • Female Agricultural Labour, Occupational Health and Safety, Agricultural Sector, Seasonal Work, Product Processing Stage
  • Kadın Tarım İşçiliği, İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği, Tarım Sektörü, Mevsimlik İşçilik, Ürün İşleme Aşaması

How to Cite

Invisible risks in women’s labour in agriculture: Product-based assessment of seasonal and resident labour force in Turkey. (2025). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 13(3), 1217-1228. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v13i3.2617

Copyright (c) 2025 Evren Çağlarer

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Invisible risks in women’s labour in agriculture: Product-based assessment of seasonal and resident labour force in Turkey. (2025). Business & Management Studies: An International Journal, 13(3), 1217-1228. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v13i3.2617

Abstract

This study examines the working conditions and occupational health and safety (OHS) risks faced by women workers in the agricultural sector in Türkiye, with a focus on the production, harvesting, and product processing stages, and adopts a product-based approach. A systematic literature review was conducted, focusing on annual (wheat, cotton, corn, tobacco, rice) and perennial (grape, fig, tea, hazelnut, orange, almond, walnut, rose) products. It was determined that women workers are exposed to severe physical (musculoskeletal disorders), chemical (exposure to pesticides and nicotine), biological (plant sap, insect bites), and climatic (heatstroke, dehydration) risks not only during the harvest process but also during the product processing stages. In addition to challenges such as access to adequate shelter, hygiene facilities, and health services, especially during seasonal migration, gender-based risks faced by women workers (sexual harassment, discrimination, poor hygiene conditions, reproductive health problems, and social exclusion) further exacerbate their health and safety vulnerabilities. In the study, concrete policy recommendations were presented for developing product-based protective measures, improving seasonal migration conditions, expanding health screenings, and integrating women workers into the social security system.

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