29 March 01 April 2021 Ended
Clermont-Ferrand
ISWA 2021 - 2nd International Symposium on Work in Agriculture
The 2nd Work in Agriculture Symposium welcomes various disciplinary approaches of work such as Economics, Ergonomics, Medicine and Health Sciences, Design, Sociology, Management, Agrarian Sciences and Farming Systems, and various approaches of cross cutting issues, dealing with a deep understanding of the work in agriculture continuities and changes, exploring future scenarios and providing resources for the future.
Approximately 1.3 billion people work in agriculture, the sector representing 25% of total employment in the world. Work in agriculture faces continuities, such as i) the ongoing model of a dominant family-based activity but also with a high contribution of wage earners to the work (42% of farmworkers are salaried); ii) the large diversity of work contents due to the various production systems (vegetables, crops, indoor or outdoor livestock, etc.) and to the various models of work organization (taylorism, cooperation, externalization of tasks).
But work in agriculture also faces changes referring to various dynamics: i) the emergence of "firm models" with a large use of contractors, as a new figure of highly productive farms; ii) the development of agroecological farming systems combining a large diversity of production systems and regular interactions between farmers and consumers; iii) the more and more meaningful contribution of migrants to farm work particularly in many OECD countries; iv) the end of ignorance of the negative impacts of chemicals on workers’ health; v) the consolidation of global chains and its incidence on work and labour governance; vi) the use of new technologies (robots, sensors, internet) that modify work rhythms, workload and the skills required under the paradigm of Agricultures 4.0.
These changes and continuities question the future of work in agriculture: employment, gender equity, health, professional identities, skills, organization, farming models, working conditions and quality of life at work. Are sufficient knowledge, useful frameworks and tools provided to follow up the changes of work in a sustainable way?