CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background

The workplace can sometimes be hazardous to your health or even fatal. “An occupational hazard” is any situation at work that poses a risk to employee health[1]. Occupational hazards occurrence is one of the major determinants of agricultural workers job performance, which can result in intentions to quit, absenteeism, low commitment, and productivity in the workplace[2]. When talking about occupational safety and health, the word “agriculture” refers to a broad range of activities, including cultivation, growth, harvest, and primary processes relating to agricultural and animal products as well as livestock breeding, including both aquaculture and agroforestry[3]. Farming is one of the occupations in agriculture where work-related hazards are highly prevalent globally [1]. Over the last 25 years, farming has seen significant changes, while technological innovations have led to higher production rates, they have also brought about new health and safety problems. Compared to other industries, agriculture is well known for its wide range of hazardous activities and, as such, requires special attention towards occupational health and safety to improve workers’ performance. Of all occupational groups, agricultural workers suffer the broadest and most prolonged exposure to injury and disease [2].

Regardless of their attitude, knowledge, skills, experience, and competence when the work environment is hazardous or unsafe to discharge responsibilities, the essentiality of farm workers in achieving maximum farm yields and targets becomes threatened [2, 3]. It is a fit worker that can be productive, and it is only a safe worker that can be comfortable at work to discharge his/her responsibilities. Poor working conditions, such as long hours, ergonomic strains, chemical exposures, poorly designed tools, and a wide range of physical and mental risks, have left farmers vulnerable to occupational hazards that prompt illness, harm, and loss of life [2]. In 2018, the US saw a minimum of 23.4 deaths per 100,000 farm worker s while at least two million youths were exposed to farm hazards. According to research, farming in Australia in 2021, was considered the most dangerous job in the nation, with an eight-fold higher death rate than other industries [4].

Agriculture is the mainstay in Cameroon’s economy, with about 70% of the economically active population engaging into it. This also accounts for about 80% of the primary’s sector contribution to the country’s GDP [5]. Farming is a vital economic sector in Cameroon especially since an estimated 45% of Cameroon’s gross domestic product (GDP) depends on it [6]. Farming in particular is characterised by low levels of technology, high workloads, and primitive hand tools such as hoes, cutlasses, and ploughs [7].

Multifaceted, occupational hazards in farming cover exposure to chemicals, bodily harm, ergonomic issues, zoonotic diseases, and psychosocial strain. Acute and chronic medical issues, low productivity, and a decline in quality of life might be experienced by farmers as a result of lengthy exposure to environmental dangers. With insufficient resources and inappropriate safety measures, the risk associated with farming is heightened. Farmers are exposed to numerous safety, health, environmental, biological, and respiratory hazards. These include hazard communication of chemicals, noise, musculoskeletal injuries, heat, animal-acquired infections and related hazards, hazardous equipment and machinery, ladders and falls, pesticides and other chemicals, respiratory distress, unsanitary conditions, vehicle hazards, and youth in agriculture. Farmworkers are also exposed to natural and man-made disasters such as landslides, tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, floods, explosions or fires, animal handling incidents, grain entrapments, severe dust storms, lightning strikes, earthquakes, floods, chemical releases, or spills [8].

Through farming, vital support for rural economies and global food security is provided. Farmers are a crucial segment of the agriculture workforce in places like Anyajua, which is a rural setting in Cameroon. Far too many risks exist for farmers in this locality, including exposure to health risks as part of their daily work as they use chemicals to spray their crops, use local farming tools, work in very dangerous hilly environments with no protection, and tend to navigate on very bad roads to their farms and to the markets to sell their crops. Critical to designing interventions that truly make a difference is knowledge of the nature of these hazards and how farmers respond to them; thus, the goal of this study was to identifying various occupational hazards, assessing the farmers level of preparedness in handling hazards, their response strategies, knowledge of occupational hazards, and the challenges they face in handling hazards when they occur.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

About 350,000 deaths occur globally due to fatal occupational injuries [9]. The agricultural sector employs an estimated 1.3 billion workers worldwide, which is about half of the world’s labour force with 60% in developing countries, of which 170,000 agricultural workers lost their lives each year. In terms of fatalities, injuries, and work-related ill-health, it is one of the three most hazardous sectors of activity (along with construction and mining) [7,8,9]. This means that workers in agriculture run twice the risk of dying on the job compared with workers in other sectors. Furthermore, there is widespread underreporting of deaths, injuries, and occupational diseases in the agricultural sector, meaning that the real picture of the occupational hazards among farm workers is likely to be worse than official statistics, especially in developing countries [10]. On a global scale, farming accidents place a great burden on the economy, resulting in reduced return on investment (ROI) in agriculture; moreover, the burden of injuries/illness (BOI) is on the increase. This impedes workers’ efficiency, decreases agricultural output, and weakens productivity.

In the US, it is indicated that 167 agricultural labourers are being injured daily, leading to loss of labour and life each day. In Sub-Saharan African countries, there have been more than 54,000 fatal occupational accidents annually; approximately 42 million work-related accidents take place each year that cause at least three days’ absence from work or stop of work or even the loss of life; the fatality rate of the region is 21 per 100,000 workers; the accident rate is 16,000 per 100,000 workers; and the fatal accident rate in agriculture is 22.5 per 100,000. [11]. In Cameroon, agriculture is the highest employer of labour, but the farmers lack basic occupational health and safety knowledge, knowledge on PPE, knowledge on dangers of chemicals, and correct use of chemicals. Anyajua is made of 12 villages with a total population of about 36,000 inhabitants, with about 80 percent of its inhabitants practising farming [12]. The villages are bounded by Kilum-Ijim mountain forest to the north and to the east, which is very dense and has a variety of species of wild animals and poisonous snakes. These snake bites can lead to severe health issues including infections, allergic reactions or even death. The topography of Anyajua is hilly and very prone to erosion which depletes soil nutrients and reduces agricultural productivity [12]. Farmers have thus resulted in gradually shifting deep into the Ijim forest to farm and this increases their susceptibility to snake bites and attacks by wild animals. These hills also make transportation of farm goods to markets difficult thus reducing income and access to supplies. The lack of understanding of their surroundings as well as inadequate preparedness methods which allows the farmers to navigate through the forest and hills and adequate response strategies to mitigate the impact of hazards by farmers in Anyajua has constantly exposed them to occupational injuries, fatal occupational accidents, and loss of lives. Given the importance of farming and the significant health risk associated with its activities, there is an urgent need to identify and implement effective strategies to improve occupational health and safety outcomes among farmers, increase their awareness on their environment, PPE, and encourage them to seek prompt medical care when exposed to hazards, thus the need for this study.

1.3. Importance of the Study

Farmers are a crucial segment of the agriculture workforce in all rural settings in Cameroon. Many studies have evaluated the effects and risk perceptions of pesticides on farmer’s health in Cameroon but very few studies shave been able to show hazards preparedness and response mechanisms among farmers. Stake holders in Cameroon have been able to set up organizations like ACEFA (Program for the consolidation and sustainability of agro-pastoral counselling) that train, educate and mentor farmers on general farming procedures, usage of pesticides, risk of pesticides to their health and different occupational hazards involved in farming [13,14] but only few studies have been carried out to evaluate how farmers get to prepare to response to these hazards and how their different response mechanisms affect their faming lives. This study therefore seeks to assess the level of preparedness among farmers towards hazards and the different response measures employed by farmers to mitigate occupational hazards. Through this study, gaps in response strategies will be identified in order to improve the farmer’s knowledge on hazard response strategies and use of PPE.

1.4. Rationale of Study

Few studies have been conducted in Cameroon to determine the hazards plaguing farmers or the response mechanism that farmers need to put in place to mitigate hazards. Furthermore, previous studies in Cameroon focused more on the risk of pesticides among farmers [13], [14] without assessing general hazards among them. Identifying different preparedness methods towards hazards among farmers and their response strategies will help design interventions to assist these farmers better mitigate occupational health hazards. 

1.5. Research Questions

1.5.1. Main Question

What measures of preparedness and response strategies have farmers put in place to mitigate occupational hazards?

1.5.2. Specific Questions

1. What is the prevalence of different types of occupational hazards faced by farmers?
2. What are the hazard preparedness methods employed by farmers in preventing occupational hazards?
3. What are the existing interventions used by farmers when confronted with occupational hazards?
4. What challenges do farmers face in mitigating occupational hazards?

1.6. Research Hypothesis

1)  Farmers are exposed to occupational hazards in Anyajua.

2)  There is a significant relationship between the level of occupational hazards awareness and preparedness.

3)  After exposure to occupational hazards, farmers undertake some response measures.

4)  Farmers in Anyajua face challenges in mitigating occupational hazards.

1.7. Research Objectives

1.7.1. Main Objective

To assess the preparedness and response to occupational health hazards among farmers in Anyajua Belo-Boyo.

1.7.2. Specific Objectives

1)  To assess the prevalence of different types of occupational health hazards.

2)  To evaluate the effectiveness of existing occupational hazard preparedness methods

3)  To assess the measures employed by farmers after occupational hazards occurrence.

4)  To identify different challenges faced by farmers