FarmCo South Africa
Occupational risks, health and well-being of wine grape farm workers in the Western Cape
Study aim
This study looks at the occupational hazards faced by agriworkers on wine grape farms in the Western Cape, South Africa. The results will help improve safety, health, and well-being for agriworkers. Ultimately, the study will benefit the broader South African wine farming communities by helping create safer working conditions and supporting the long-term health and well-being of their workforce.
Why is this important?
Agricultural workers are the world’s largest workforce. All over the world, farming is also one of the occupations with the most work-related injuries, accidents and other health risks. Climate change is now adding to these challenges, with rising temperatures and extreme weather increasing the risk of heat-related illnesses. In addition, agriworkers might also deal with long and physically demanding working hours, financial instability, and exposures to biological and chemical hazards. All these factors together highlight the need to better understand the most significant health risks to effectively support and protect the well-being of agriworkers.
Study procedure
This study will be realised through two subsequent designs:
Expert interviews: From October to December 2024, we will conduct (online or face-to-face) interviews with a broad range of interested stakeholders. Participants will rate listed hazards based on their relevance to the local context. These ratings will help customize the subsequent agriworker survey tool.
Agriworker survey: In 2025, trained research assistants will administer a questionnaire to 1000 agriworkers in the Western Cape, specifically in the Stellenbosch region. The interview will last about 60 minutes and will gather information on socio-demographic details, perceived occupational hazards, and health and well-being outcomes, including physical, mental, and economic aspects.
We believe that only a long-term presence in the study area can achieve the greatest local impact, maximizing benefits for the farming community. Therefore, following the initial expert interviews and agriworker survey in 2024/25, we are planning a four-year follow-up study. The design of this follow-up study will be informed by the findings from both the expert interviews and the agriworker survey.
Occupational hazard categories of interest for the expert interviews and the agriworker survey.
Who can participate in the study?
For the expert interviews, we are currently seeking local stakeholders to participate in our (online) interviews. Each interview will last about 60 minutes. We are interested in speaking with health experts, farm owners, farm associations, certification agencies, and audit and environmental experts, among others. If you are interested in participating, please contact us. Contact details can be found below.
For the agriworker survey, the study population will comprise 1000 people (permanently or seasonally) working on a farm producing wine grapes around Stellenbosch. We want to collaborate with 40 farms. Workers must complete a consent form before participating in the study.
Project Management
Study Team
Contact
Frequently Asked Questions
We want to have a real impact on the farmworkers' health. Therefore, we will closely collaborate with local stakeholders including local farms, and finally communicate our findings on health and well-being to government representatives and occupational health experts. Additionally, we aim to publish one or two scientific papers and present our study's outcomes at national and international conferences. All data is anonymized and combined before publication, making it impossible to track or identify individual survey participants (see “data security” below).
This project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Starting grant project. We confirm there is no conflict of interest, and the study is free from external influences, including intellectual, financial, or proprietary agendas. This commitment ensures the independence and reliability of our research.
The FarmCo SouthAfrica study is realised by the University of Cape Town, in collaboration with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). The latter is an associated research institute of the University of Basel, Switzerland
Throughout the study, we will collect personal information and health data. The research team is dedicated to securely storing your personal and research information. We assure you that your personal data will be treated with the utmost confidentiality. All data is anonymised and combined before publication, making it impossible to track or identify individual survey participants.
This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Northwestern and Central Switzerland. It has also been approved by the Departmental Review Committee (DRC) in the School of Public Health and is waiting for the approval of the University of Cape Town.