Up to 60 percent of the Global South's work force toils in agriculture. Most smallholders and waged agricultural workers labor under poor health, safety and environmental conditions. This volume explores - the extent of the decent work deficit with a focus on women in agriculture, - the drivers of the poor remuneration and working conditions - some strategies for mitigating the decent work deficits. Its contributors argue that the severity of the decent work deficits in agriculture calls for action. Given the divers contexts of agricultural work and the many factors reproducing the deficits, action is needed in a comprehensive as well as context-specific form. The contributors are academics from Brazil, Columbia, Germany, Ghana, India, Mexico and Pakistan.

Christoph Scherrer, economist and political scientist, is Professor of Globalization & Politics at the University of Kassel, Executive Director of the International Center for Development and Decent Work and a member of the steering committee of the Global Labour University. / Santosh Verma is Assistant Professor at the School of Livelihoods and Development, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad, India. He earned his PhD degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University.