What are the current working conditions for the sugar cane field workers like, and what is being done to improve their situation?
It is a good thing that this question is raised, since the work of the sugar cane field workers often is carried out during tough conditions. It’s an important question and a solution must be found that doesn’t create other social problems. In Brazil about 6 million people get their income thanks to the bioalcohol programme. According to Brazilian researchers, most of these would otherwise have moved to the slum of the big cities without income, or they had been burning rain forest to grow food for the days need. Because of this, the Brazilian government is introducing mechanisation gradually as new field areals are taken into use. The Brazilian sugarcane industry is today where the Swedish forest companies were a generation ago, when they were mechanising the forestry work to get rid of the heavy jobs. Good for the workers, yes, but it has to be done gradually to avoid creating massive unemployment.
