Impact of the Earthquakes on Seasonal Migratory Agricultural Workers and Their Children
Evidence from the Earthquake Zone | May 2023
- Available in:
- Türkçe
- English
Highlights
The purpose of this assessment is to gain insight into how the recent earthquakes have affected one of the most vulnerable and underserved communities, i.e. seasonal agricultural labourers. While natural disasters like earthquakes have a significant impact on the socioeconomic profile of all members of society, certain groups, such as seasonal migratory agricultural workers, are more vulnerable than others to these effects. This report attempts to shed light on the changes in the economic, social, and psychological well-being of society in the immediate aftermath of the earthquakes. Our research revealed an influx of new households moving into agricultural tent settlement areas and taking on seasonal agricultural work as a result of the earthquakes and their aftershocks. Despite being familiar with agricultural living and working conditions through their extended familial networks, these newly emerging households had neither previously lived in agricultural tent settlements nor relied solely on agricultural labour as a source of livelihood. Following the earthquakes, while their non-agricultural sources of income have declined, their debt and their reliance on agricultural income have increased, and our study has found that these households have thus become extremely vulnerable and economically fragile. As a result of the loss of employment and the dramatic decline in earnings, they have been forced to rely on an agricultural income in the aftermath of the earthquakes. Furthermore, the children in these households are driven into agricultural work and are at risk of becoming lost to the education system. Though their arrival has increased the supply of labour for agriculture, it is currently unknown to what degree and for how long their presence will last.
