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Financing social insurance schemes for agricultural workers in the Middle East and North Africa








Sato, Lucas; Nicole Figueiredo; and Nourjelha Mohamed. 2022. “Financing social insurance schemes for agricultural workers in the Middle East and North Africa.” Research Report, No. 81. Cairo, Beirut and Brasília. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Labour Organization Regional Office for Arab States, and International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.


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    Administrative barriers, capacity constraints and solutions for the inclusion of agricultural workers in social insurance schemes in the Middle East and North Africa 2023
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    Extending the coverage of social insurance schemes to rural areas of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is challenging because of high administrative costs and a lack of necessary capacity. As a result agriculture workers tend to be left out of these schemes. This research report aims to understand the main administrative barriers and capacity constraints that may hinder the coverage of agriculture workers in social insurance schemes, and suggest possible strategies that could be considered to address them.
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    The state of social insurance for agricultural workers in the Near East and North Africa and challenges for expansion 2021
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    Agricultural workers are exposed to many risks during their life cycle and are particularly vulnerable to covariate risks, such as droughts, armed conflict and pandemics. Despite the great potential of social protection policies to protect this segment of the population, agricultural workers are commonly excluded from social protection systems—especially from contributory schemes—due to legal, programme design, financial, administrative, institutional, participation, and information barriers. This paper analyses the availability of social insurance schemes for agricultural workers in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, including many types of insurance: old age, disability and survivors’, sickness and maternity, work injury, and unemployment, as well as family and child allowances. In addition, we analyse agricultural insurance schemes, as they play a critical role in protecting agricultural producers from the catastrophic impact of covariate risks. We examine the barriers for agricultural workers to participate in contributory schemes, highlighting good practices being adopted in NENA countries to address them. This paper thus aims to help fill a gap in the literature regarding the role of contributory schemes for agricultural workers. Most importantly, it aims to highlight paths towards more comprehensive social protection systems, capable of addressing the pressing challenges in NENA countries, such as inequities between rural and urban populations, lack of rural development, and insufficient protection for rural families.
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    The role of social insurance schemes in addressing the risks faced by agricultural workers in the Middle East and North Africa 2022
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    The majority of agriculure workers in the MENA region are in informal employment. These workers are usually not covered by social insurance schemes and benefits such as old-age pensions, work injury benefits, maternity benefits and health insurance. This research report aims to understand the main risks faced by agricultue workers in the MENA region and the potential of different social insurance benefits to mitigate them.

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