Agricultural seasonal work in COVID times
The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous disruption across most industries. The agricultural sector is not an exemption. Despite increased demand in food for household consumption, the closure of restaurants has resulted in a drop of the demand on a number of products. As an example, in Spain, lamb farmers are relying on exports to overcome the limitations of the current national market. In the US, some farmers had to take the difficult decision of destroying their crops. Another issue that has affected many farmers is seasonal labour shortages due to the limitations on cross-region/country movement imposed by governments as a safety measure against the virus.
The pandemic has sparked initiatives to solve the problem of labour availability around the World, and in Europe in particular. In the UK, a public-private collaboration has resulted in the Pick for Britain program. The German government has launched the Das Land Hilft initiative. France has launched the Mobilisation Emploi to meet seasonal requirements across different industries. Solutions have also been launched from non-governmental organisations, such as the Landworkers Alliance, with its Agroecological Land Army. It is no surprise that, as part of the recent EC-organised EUvsVirus hackathon, participants (such as the author of this article) also proposed solutions to this problem.
Much effort is being invested in the topic these days. However, labour shortages in this sector are not a new event. Actually, the agricultural seasonal labour market is complex, with variations in its characteristics between crops and countries. The degree of agricultural mechanisation, labour policies, trade-agreements or size of farms (among others); all have an impact on the dynamics of how this labour market operates. Sporadic labour shortages is just one of the issues surrounding the agricultural seasonal labour.
Structural problems within agricultural seasonal work
For millions of workers across the globe, seasonal work in agriculture is their main or sole source of income. For seasonal migrants, it allows them to send remittances back home to contribute to the development of local economies. For others, such as students or jobseekers, it can be a way of making an extra income. In many cases, working in agriculture is a great way of connecting with nature, allowing workers to keep active, and providing the opportunity to create meaningful human connections. However, some indefensible practices are still spotted across the sector.
Socio-economic and environmental issues
In recent years, a series of news and activists’ testimonies have outraged consumers. Gender-based abuses (like those reported during the strawberry harvesting season in Southern Spain), salaries below the legal threshold, mafias controlling the flow of labour force (like the Ndrangueta in Southern Italy), lack of safety protection or precarious living conditions for workers. These are just a bunch of the irregularities denounced within the boundaries of the EU.
In addition, the seasonality of this type of work presents a challenge for community cohesion and long-term individual development. Innovative business models could bring positive disruption by matching employment opportunities to job seekers.
The consequences of such practices go beyond the personal impact. There are socio-economic consequences too. Underpaying workers or lack of investment in protective equipment creates a competitive advantage over the many farmers that do follow regulations and pay workers fair (or just minimum legal) wages. Therefore, it is important for institutions to ensure that field inspectors have sufficient resources and tools to warrant workers’ rights and therefore maintain a fair competition between farms.
Unaware of their rights, desperate to find work, or just content with working conditions that (despite illegal) are better than those of their country of origin, migrant workers are often the targets of abuse. On occasions, migrant workers send a share of the income back home. Many are willing to live in poor conditions to be able to send as much as possible.
European farmers struggle to find sufficient local workforce to meet their labour demands, especially at peak times such as the harvest season. Some of the reasons for this are: the process of depopulation in the European countryside, long and tough working hours for a low salary (when compared to other industries) or the seasonal nature of these jobs (which does not favour long-term stability). As a result, thousands of workers travel cross-borders every season, with the environmental impact resulting from such trips. Moreover, these dynamics mean that, in exceptional times (such as the COVID-19 crisis), labour shortages are likely to occur.
The future of agricultural work
Technological revolution
Like other industries, the agricultural sector has seen an increase in mechanisation that led to lower labour needs. Currently, harvesting jobs that used to require lots of workers are fully or partially mechanised. Machinery now exists for small, medium and big-sized farms. Although increasing mechanisation seems to be a common trend, less machinery-intensive and more crop-diverse agricultural systems have the potential to increase the demand for both seasonal and permanent workers. For instance, regenerative agriculture practices can, in as little space as 1 acre, create stable job opportunities for local workforce.
Local or global?
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, governments are ramping up efforts to fill up the employment gaps of farms with local workforce. Amid the potential unemployment resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, this trend is likely to continue. However, will the sector be able to attract the local workforce under current salaries and working conditions? As youngsters are generally in good physical health and do not have huge family constraints, they could be a suitable sector of the society to target these job offers to.
In some European regions, migrants have established their permanent residence in rural areas and are currently taking up many of these jobs. Taking up these jobs, migrants are contributing to the development of European local economies. However, when only migrants are employed in these (low-paid) jobs, social cohesion issues can arise. Public administrations and other stakeholders should increase efforts to ensure that rural communities do not split into pockets, as this can have very detrimental long-term effects (i.e. marginalisation or inter-community conflict).
Land tenure
Land redistribution, when accompanied by institutional support and effective management, can be a driver of permanent employment. The SAT union (Andalucia, Southern Spain) is one of the European organisations campaigning more actively for food sovereignty, fairer land-use and seasonal workers’ rights. In areas of Europe where land is concentrated in few hands, redistribution of land (property or use rights) could be a driver of positive change. Yet, land redistribution experiences in other parts of the World (i.e. South Africa) show that intensive dialogue between stakeholders (current-land owners, public administration, food supply chain actors, landless farmers), as well as capacity building for the beneficiaries of such policies are required.
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