Youth's (Un)willingness to work in agriculture sector.

Work in agriculture is a significant area of research that highlights the problem of the integration of young people in the former, in particular, in the recent period. Work in agriculture is hard and not prestigious, and young people tend to leave rural areas in the search for alternative activities in urban areas. The study addresses the problem of how the youth should be integrated into agricultural workforce by focusing on identification of the reasons behind the (un)willingness to work in agriculture. The aim of the study is to assess the reasons behind the youth's (un)willingness of work in agriculture, using Lithuania as the case study. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire designed to investigate the perception and opinions toward work in agriculture. The Binary Logistic Regression was used to identify the factors affecting the youth's opinion about (un)willingness to work in agriculture. The study analyzed 430 young people 's responses to the questionnaires survey. The BLR has revealed that youth's unwillingness to work in agriculture is mostly affected by gender, area of residence and youths' beliefs that work in agriculture does not provide any opportunities for self-realization. In summary, this paper argues that the major motivation to work in agriculture is associated with having parents who are engaged in agricultural activities, love of animals and natural environment, and the availability of specialized training. The findings have confirmed the need to attract young people to work in agriculture. Its results are necessary for the scientific community, policy makers, farmers, and practitioners exploring the possibilities for integration of the youth into the agricultural workforce.

Educational Interventions to Improve Safety and Health Literacy Among Agricultural Workers: A Systematic Review.

Health and safety education for farmers has the potential to increase the level of health, safety literacy, and thereby improve farmers' health and quality of life. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the published literature documenting different educational interventions for agricultural workers that have the improvement of health and/or safety literacy as an outcome. A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Scopus and PsycINFO databases for articles focusing on educational interventions for farmers' health and safety. From the 3357 initial hits, 36 unduplicated records met the inclusion criteria. The articles included in the review used educational interventions for farmers with the purpose of preventing farm-induced diseases and injuries, increasing the health and well-being of farmers, and promoting good manufacturing practices. The educational approaches considered varied from lectures, videos, newsletters, games, and community fairs, to involving the community in designing the intervention and training farmers to deliver the intervention to the community. Interventions that used evidence-based theories, which took into account cultural aspects and individual factors, used biomarkers as a behavior change measurement, and involved the community in the development of the intervention had the best results in terms of behavior change. The strategies of educational interventions identified in this review that produced good results have the potential to inform future researchers and policy makers in the design and implementation of public health interventions, programs and policies to improve the health of farmers and their families.

Development of a Safety Management Web Tool for Horse Stables.

Managing a horse stable involves risks, which can have serious consequences for the stable, employees, clients, visitors and horses. Existing industrial or farm production risk management tools are not directly applicable to horse stables and they need to be adapted for use by managers of different types of stables. As a part of the InnoEquine project, an innovative web tool, InnoHorse, was developed to support horse stable managers in business, safety, pasture and manure management. A literature review, empirical horse stable case studies, expert panel workshops and stakeholder interviews were carried out to support the design. The InnoHorse web tool includes a safety section containing a horse stable safety map, stable safety checklists, and examples of good practices in stable safety, horse handling and rescue planning. This new horse stable safety management tool can also help in organizing work processes in horse stables in general.

Characteristics and Costs of Disability Pensions in Finnish Agriculture Based on 5-Year Insurance Records.

The characteristics and costs of disability pensions in Finnish farmers were investigated. The data included a total of 4,088 permanent or temporary disability pensions of the self-employed Finnish farming population over a 5-year period (2008-2012), an annual rate of 1.04 new cases per 100 person-years (males 0.94/100 and females 1.24/100). These cases resulted in the loss of almost 6,800 person-years and 60.2 million Euros in pension costs in the 5-year period. Almost half of the outcomes (44.6%) were primarily related to diseases of the musculoskeletal system (MSDs). Other common outcomes were mental and behavioral disorders (17.5%), injuries (9.8%), diseases of the circulatory system (7.8%), and diseases of the nervous system (6.6%). Relative proportions of these outcomes and their costs were similar with few exceptions. Although farmers have high risk of acute traumatic injuries, they also have a high risk of chronic conditions that affect their work ability. Particularly MSDs were common primary reasons for disability pension among farmers in general and among female farmers in particular. In addition to healthy lifestyle choices, improvements in the working environment and methods to reduce heavy or repetitive manual labor should be emphasized in vocational and extension education of farmers. Modern working conditions with meaningful and varied work tasks could enhance both physical and mental well-being of farmers and thus reinforce and extend their careers.