Global report warns climate change is worsening heat, chemical and exploitation risks for food system workers

Key facts

• A global report by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food), released on October 5, found that climate change exposes food workers to extreme heat, wildfire smoke and pesticide hazards amid poverty wages and weak labour protections.
• Nearly 1.4 billion people work in the global food system, and about 30% (around 416 million) earn below a living wage.
• Agriculture is among the world's most dangerous sectors, accounting for one-third of all occupational deaths globally, with heat stress the most common occupational health threat in agriculture.
• Around 90% of agricultural employment and 60%-80% of non-agricultural food employment worldwide is informal; informal workers earn on average only 56% of the monthly wages of formally employed workers.
• A January 2026 study of 200 male paddy-harvesting workers in West Bengal found dehydration rose from 16.5% to 33% over the summer 2024 work period.
• An April 2025 study of 400 small-scale fisher households in Ernakulam district, Kerala, found female-headed households had a higher livelihood vulnerability index (0.40) than male-headed households (0.37).
• In India, drought-driven crop failures have pushed tens of thousands of landless farmworkers into cycles of high-interest debt and bonded labour, and a study across five Indian States found farmer suicides increased significantly after droughts.