Socio - economic structure and future of seasonal agricultural labor in Adana province

Seasonal agricultural labor carries multidimensional qualities both in its reasons of emergence and the effects it created; and it is a phenomenon that already existed in both developed and developing countries. According to International Labor Office (ILO) it is estimated that there are about 400 million seasonal agricultural workers in the world. In the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS) reports it is estimated that the number of seasonal agricultural workers is about 1 million in Turkey. In the fieldwork carried out, it is ascertained that the number of travelling seasonal agricultural workers is above 30 thousand in Adana Province. In the precious years seasonal agricultural labor was made on the purpose of side income and travelling only by adults but today it has been carried out as a job especially by children and women and has become a lifestyle. Although it is a comprehensive application, METİP project (Reform Strategy and Action Plan of Work and Social Life of Seasonal Migrant Agricultural Workers) that has been prepared towards improvement of living and working conditions for workers failed to reach its goal because of insufficient staff or indifference of seasonal agricultural workers in Adana Province. Due to the adverse working conditions worsening every day, workers are faced with growing child labor and unregistered employment. It is necessary to improve the living and working conditions of workers and prevent the migration of workers from their hometowns or minimizing this migration. For that reason in the provinces that contain large numbers of workers, community-based economic development plans should be implemented with the approach of interventionist regional development. Thereby, positive changes provided in the social structure would significantly enhance the success of development plans to be implemented. Due to a significant proportion of female workers, education of female members and developing women-based politics become more of an issue.