Despite all efforts, exploitive labor practices are still widespread in the agricultural sector. In this article, we focus on the Turkish hazelnut industry where labor exploitation and child labor are of particular concern. Our first (qualitative) study provides rich insights on multiple forms of exploitive practices, identifies their root causes and the existing interventions undertaken, and explains why these interventions have limited success so far. Based on these insights, we carried out our second study —a system dynamics model— to evaluate the effectiveness of existing and potentially new interventions as well as test their combined effect and long-term sustainability. Together, these studies provide a more complete picture of the challenges in addressing these acute problems and identifies potential solutions. We found that conditional cash transfers —a financial support to farmworkers (and their families)— can reduce the most prevalent root cause of these problems: poverty. Surprisingly, this intervention has not been implemented yet in this industry. Also, the registration of labor intermediaries, as well as boycotting with probation —a targeted boycott against exploitive farmers— have potential to address labor exploitation and child labor. Furthermore, we found important synergies among these three interventions. Finally, we discuss our implications for theory and practice.
