The AgriMental project continues exploring relevant solutions to an urgent problem of protecting the psychological well-being of farmers and agricultural employees, which requires careful analysis. National surveys of Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, and Türkiye cover various topics related to the working conditions of agricultural employees, mental health-related challenges, provision of assistance and support, and coaching strategies in agriculture. A review of the gathered data indicates several common trends that require special attention to the protection of psychological well-being of rural residents.
First of all, a common trait for all explored countries is that farming is a strenuous job accompanied by economic, climatic, physical challenges, excessive workload, and loneliness. As the analysis shows, farmers have many problems associated with stress, anxiety, and emotional challenges, while the availability of relevant mental health services proves to be limited.
One of the key observations made during the review of national surveys is that a considerable number of agricultural employees belong to the older generation. This applies to farmers in Cyprus and Greece, whose significant part consists of people aged over 55 years with low involvement of young people into agriculture. Likewise, the vast majority of the surveyed Turkish farmers reported having over 20 years of experience in agriculture.
As another common trend, a relatively low level of mental health services aimed at solving psychological challenges in farmers can be observed. In particular, there was identified a complete lack of a national psychological support program for farmers in Cyprus, while the only source of such help was provided in the form of rural health services and European projects. A similar situation is observed in Greece, which suggests that there are no specific mental health services for farmers in that country. Moreover, Turkish farmers indicated that they sought assistance in their families and communities because of the unavailability of appropriate mental health services.
Unlike the situation in other countries, France demonstrated relatively advanced national structures for helping farmers cope with psychological challenges. According to the national survey, the existing program includes the establishment of a help line, local prevention networks, agricultural “sentinels” who can recognize stressed farmers, and various programs providing financial aid to burnout farmers. Nevertheless, despite all efforts, mental health issues persist in farmers, especially among livestock farmers and those employed individually.
In a similar way, the presence of instability in working conditions among Italian farmers was linked to higher risks of experiencing psychological difficulties. Many jobs performed by farmers proved to be seasonal and unstable, which caused their unemployment and insecurity. In addition, it should be noted that the suicide rate among farmers was much higher compared to other spheres, especially among men and contract-based employees.
Finally, one of the main barriers to accessing professional help across all reviewed countries was stigmatization associated with various cultural norms, shame, fear of criticism, and lack of information regarding available assistance. For instance, Turkish farmers were worried about the stigmatization that can arise in case of mental health issues experienced by farmers. Similar patterns can be observed in Greece and Cyprus, as indicated in the psychologists’ reports that reveal a wide range of psychosocial problems faced by farmers.
Another important point discussed during the survey was a weak occupational safety strategy addressing psychosocial issues, as psychosocial risks are recognized as an essential part of modern occupational safety legislation, but appropriate training programs for dealing with them are missing in most countries.
At the same time, several opportunities for future research are proposed in order to implement effective measures. First of all, farmers show relatively high interest in psychological counseling, including Turkish farmers, which makes it possible to introduce EU-wide mental health programs in agriculture. Another opportunity refers to the development of flexible models of service delivery involving digital coaching, online counseling, mentoring, and resilience coaching.
Thus, the collected information proves that the well-being of farmers is not a marginal topic anymore and is regarded as an integral part of sustainable rural development
