Daniel Pires Bitencourt, Researcher at Fundacentro, Associate Editor of the Brazilian Journal of Occupational Health (RBSO), Florianópolis, SC, Brazil.
Brazil’s agribusiness sector – including agroindustry, agricultural inputs, and services – employs approximately 28.5 million people, accounting for about 26% of the national workforce, according to the Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics, Cepea (2025). Among them are countless Brazilians who work daily under scorching sun and heat, or in heavy rain often accompanied by strong winds and lightning. They also face extreme droughts, air pollution from wildfires, exposure to pesticides, and vector-borne diseases – conditions that, according to the International Labour Organization (2024), represent the most significant health impacts of climate change.
Farming has never been easy—but now, with new climate scenarios driven by global warming, the challenges are even greater. The essay Climate Change, Decent Work and Workers’ Health in Brazil: Theoretical Considerations (Vol. 50, 2025), published in the Dossier Sustainable Development and Work of the Brazilian Journal of Occupational Health/Revista Brasileira de Saúde Ocupacional (RBSO), opens the academic debate on the issue and offers key insights for tackling the problem. The study was developed through a partnership between the Brazilian Ministry of Health and the University of Nottingham, UK, led by researchers Edgar Rodríguez-Huerta, Luís Henrique da Costa Leão, and Todd Landman.
The article opens with a broad overview of Brazil’s agricultural landscape, emphasizing the heightened vulnerability of agricultural workers—a condition shaped by historical and cultural influences. The study underscores that safeguarding the occupational health of these workers involves a wide array of protections, framing it unequivocally as “a matter of human rights.” The authors further argue that agricultural labor, within the human rights framework, is intrinsically linked to multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly highlighting its relevance to SDG 13: “Climate Action” (Levy BS and Roelofs C., 2019).
Figure 1 – Multilevel connection and interrelation between human rights, decent work and workers’ health
While it may seem self-evident, government and society often overlook the role of workers in the process. In discussions about agriculture, the impacts of climate change are frequently framed solely in terms of production, with little attention given to the health and well-being of workers. In their essay published in RBSO in March of this year, the authors highlight the challenges, limitations, and knowledge gaps surrounding agricultural labor, worker health, and the growing influence of climate change.
This groundbreaking study establishes a direct link between the health of Brazilian agricultural workers and climate change, while also proposing potential solutions to address this complex challenge. The authors emphasize that effective decision-making must encompass all stages of the process—including research, surveillance, risk assessment and management, as well as policy development and regulatory action.
One of the study’s central findings highlights the profound impact of climate change on agricultural workers, particularly those already marginalized by poverty, discrimination, gender and income inequality, and limited access to essential resources. According to the authors, these intersecting vulnerabilities contribute to conditions that resemble “slavery-like practices”—a harsh reality that, regrettably, still persists in parts of Brazil.
BITENCOURT, D.P. Climate change impacts the health of agricultural workers [online]. SciELO in Perspective | Press Releases, 2025 [viewed ]. Available from: https://pressreleases.scielo.org/en/2025/11/04/climate-change-impacts-the-health-of-agricultural-workers/
Brazil’s agribusiness sector – including agroindustry, agricultural inputs, and services – employs approximately 28.5 million people, accounting for about 26% of the national workforce, according to the Center for Advanced Studies in Applied Economics, Cepea (2025). Among them are countless Brazilians who work daily under scorching sun and heat, or in heavy rain often accompanied by strong winds and lightning. They also face extreme droughts, air pollution from wildfires, exposure to pesticides, and vector-borne diseases – conditions that, according to the International Labour Organization (2024), represent the most significant health impacts of climate change.
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