Agricultural ergonomics and safety in the Zero Hunger era: a bibliometric analysis of global trends and research gaps

Agricultural ergonomics and safety are critical to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) yet remain underexplored especially in low- and middle-income countries where manual farming dominates. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of global research trends, thematic structures, and collaboration patterns in agricultural ergonomics and safety from 2016 to 2024. A total of 17,276 documents were retrieved from Web of Science and Scopus, with 581 meeting inclusion criteria. Bradford’s, Lotka’s, and Zipf’s laws were applied to evaluate journal productivity, author output, and keyword frequency. The findings revealed a growing focus on themes such as “ergonomics,” “biomechanics,” and “musculoskeletal disorders,” with publication surges around the COVID-19 pandemic. However, research output remains concentrated in industrialized countries, notably the United States, while regions heavily reliant on agriculture, such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, are underrepresented. Limited integration of ergonomics into food security, public health, and sustainability frameworks highlights a critical gap in aligning worker safety with development agendas. The study underscores the need for context-sensitive, interdisciplinary research and international collaboration. Its findings offer actionable insights for researchers and policymakers aiming to improve farmer health, enhance sustainable agricultural practices, and support resilient food systems in pursuit of the Zero Hunger goal.