Research of the Social and Human Capital Structure of the Population Employed in Agriculture

Providing competitive advantage in international markets, encouraging innovation, increasing productivity and supporting sustainable growth constitute the long-term goals of countries. In order to gain competitive advantage in changing market conditions, it is not enough to limit natural resources, capital, labor and production factors; the existence of social networks and information is also needed. To increase competitiveness in agriculture, which stands out as the primary sector for rural areas in country economies; there is a necessity to use technology, value-added production, effective use of resources, provide employment opportunities, employ qualified human resources and develop strong collaborations. In accordance with these needs, it is necessary to adapt the concepts of social and human capital to the agricultural sector and develop strategies for the current situation that are concretized with data. Within the scope of this study, a micro-scale study was carried out to analyze the social and human capital structure of the agricultural employment market in Konya. Face-to-face interviews were conducted via a survey with a total of 268 agricultural operators, 96 unpaid family laborers, 294 agricultural workers and 30 agricultural intermediaries. In employment areas where data were collected using social and human capital scales, problems such as social exclusion, feeling insecure due to working conditions, polarization between local and foreign labor, and low levels of bridging social capital were encountered. Policy recommendations have been developed to solve these problems and also policy recommendations have been made for community building and successful employment management in agriculture.