Women's occupational health working in small-scale agriculture in South Africa

Abstract

In developing economies women’s contributions are in agriculture. Trends indicate that women’s participation in small-scale agriculture is increasing. On the Makhatini Flats in northern KwaZulu-Natal intensive small-scale farming takes place with > 4 000 women involved. A cross-sectional study on the Irrigation Scheme and Drylands areas of the Makhatini Flats described and compared occupational activities, crop production, pesticide use and adverse health outcomes among women working in small-scale agriculture. In total 376 women from the Irrigation Scheme and 535 from the Drylands were interviewed. A largely illiterate population (44%) Dryland women were significantly more likely to conduct all agricultural activities than women working on the Irrigation Scheme (p