The government unveils measures against farmer suicides on Tuesday

The sad fact is statistically established: farmers commit suicide more than the rest of the population. In the hope of curbing this phenomenon, the government launches Tuesday a “collective mobilization” with the key to increasing funding for the replacement of exhausted professionals or the training of “sentries” responsible for detecting discomfort.

The executive announced nearly a year ago that it would present an “operational action plan”, following the submission of a report by the majority deputy Olivier Damaisin calling for improved support for operators in distress. A report was also published in March 2021 by Senators Henri Cabanel (RDSE group) and Françoise Férat (Centrist Union), who felt that public policies were not up to the task of preventing suicides in the agricultural world.

In the name of the earth contributed to the awareness

A government “roadmap” will therefore be detailed on Tuesday, at the Ministry of Agriculture, by the ministers of Health, Olivier Véran, and of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, as well as by the Secretary of State in charge of Pensions. and Occupational Health, Laurent Pietraszewski. Among the “stakeholders” present will be “volunteers engaged on a daily basis with farmers” and the director Édouard Bergeon. His film In the name of the earth, on the depression of a breeder caught in the spiral of over-indebtedness, had met with great success in theaters at the end of 2019 and put this subject on the front of the stage.

Among the measures that will be taken, the “creation of steering committees in each department”, in the course of 2022, in order to better coordinate prevention locally. The executive also intends to structure and train networks of “sentries”, volunteers revolving around farmers “able to detect situations of distress”.

Reinforcement of “respite assistance”

The government also plans to financially strengthen mechanisms to relieve farmers, in particular “respite assistance” (which finances the replacement for up to 10 days of farmers in a situation of professional exhaustion) and the replacement tax credit. In total, the envelope dedicated to agricultural malaise will increase from 30 to 42 million euros per year.

According to the most recent data from the Agricultural Social Security (MSA), 529 suicides were counted in 2016 among the 1.6 million insured under the agricultural scheme aged at least 15 years (having rights of farmers and agricultural employees included). ). Among MSA policyholders aged 15 to 64, the risk of suicide was 43.2% higher than that of policyholders under all Social Security schemes. Beyond 65 years, the risk of suicide was twice as high compared to the population of this age group.