P-507 Rural Health and Decent Work: Vulnerability in Low and Middle-Income Countries (Lmic) and Monoculture Production

Introduction Large-scale food production, such as monocultures in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), presents both known and new hazards that impact decent work, objective of sustainable development. Workers in LMIC are more exposed due to less stringent laws and vulnerability to the benefits of large Multinational Corporations (MNC’s). The use of pesticide no longer used in developed countries, exposes families of rural workers in LMIC. The pesticides are used in the production of sugarcane monoculture for sugar and ethanol production. The study provides evidence of the impacts of sugarcane monoculture expansion on the work, environment, and health of peasant families. Methods An empirical study was conducted with a theoretical framework based on Cultural-Historical and Activity Theory (CHAT). Temporal maps were developed over a twenty-year period (1999 to 2019), in a recognized sugarcane monoculture-producing region in Brazil. Results We observed the substitution of livestock production with sugarcane monoculture. Evidence of environmental degradation was observed, such as pollution of sources and tributaries in the Paranapanema River Watershed, as well as the impacts on climate change. Additionally, due to pesticide spraying in the monoculture plantation areas, peasant’s families of neighboring these areas have their agroecological production affected and compromised. Discussion and conclusion The existing contradictions in biofuel production and the real impacts on rural work, the environment, and health of the population, especially peasant agroecological families, make these workers vulnerable and distant from decent rural work in LMIC.