How agroecological farming practices reshape cattle farmers’ working conditions

Abstract

Concerns for the future of the French livestock sector are growing, amongst others due to the profession' low attractiveness which is partly related to its difficult working conditions. Agroecology in its search for social sustainability could offer better working conditions to farmers. The objectives of this study are; i) to understand whether expected changes in working conditions are taken into consideration when cattle farmers decide to adopt or not agroecological practices, ii) to study the impact of these practices on their working conditions and ii) to discuss the use of a multidimensional framework to study farmers' working conditions. A framework addressing seven dimensions known to impact farmers' working conditions was used to interview 22 French cattle farmers adopting agroecological practices. Improving working conditions was rarely the main motivation of farmers to adopt agroecological practices. Although never completely anticipated, all farmers experienced an impact of the adoption of agroecological practices on their working conditions (e.g. changes in work organization, health or pleasure derived from work). Across farms, all dimensions were impacted but consequences on working conditions were situation specific. The framework allowed a comprehensive understanding, from farmers' point of view, on how working conditions are constituted and showed that farmers make tradeoffs between different dimensions.

The psychological concept of social sustainability in the workplace from the perspective of sustainable goals: A systematic review

“…The construct of sustainable work is linked to the construct of decent and meaningful work. For example, the adoption of agri-environmental practices had a significant impact on the work characteristics and working conditions of livestock farmers in France (Duval et al, 2021 ). Although improving working conditions was rarely the main motivation for farmers to adopt agri-environmental practices, they played an important role in improving the quality of working conditions.…”

“…Similarly, it is probably not sufficient to implement ergonomic measures, although these are particularly important in industry, which is an environment with health risks due to work processes (Andriolo et al, 2016 ). Innovation in terms of new approaches to implementing basic processes, as demonstrated by practices in agriculture (Röös et al, 2019 ; Duval et al, 2021 ) and in start-up companies (Harlin and Berglund, 2021 ), can contribute to a more comprehensive approach in ensuring elements of SS in the workplace. Innovation can also enter companies and organizations in the form of new job descriptions and job roles.…”

“…At the level of work and work environment characteristics, the reviewed articles focus on SS through an interpretation of constructs such as decent work, meaningful work, and sustainable work, and through the identification of approaches to redesign work so that such work and work environment characteristics are also achieved (ergonomic solutions, implementation of certification systems that influence work and work environment characteristics, innovations), and on the role of educational institutions and the education system in setting the work standards that guarantee a sustainable orientation through the design of professional roles. The review also shows that the majority of the presented articles within the job/work focus interpret SS through the perspective of social rights and equality; some (e.g., Röös et al, 2019;Duval et al, 2021;Harlin and Berglund, 2021) take a broader approach to the construct of SS as "sustainable social relations" (Magee et al, 2012, p. 245), encompassing economic, environmental, cultural, and political relations as interconnected aspects of sustainability that cannot be reduced to a single dimension of sustainability.…”

Key research challenges to supporting farm transitions to agroecology in advanced economies. A review

“…To improve the social dimension of sustainability assessments (Janker and Mann 2020), several studies consider subjective well-being measures as useful indicators to describe sustainable and resilient farm systems (e.g., Jones and Tanner 2017). Thus, subjective assessments are a promising way to consider the social dimension of sustainability, via satisfaction (Perrin et al 2020), aesthetics (Boeraeve et al 2020), and work conditions (Duval et al 2021). In the same spirit, analyzing peer exchanges about their transitions to agroecology provides privileged access to the way farmers assess their situations (Slimi et al 2021).…”

Criação Animal Agroecológica

“…A criação animal agroecológica proporciona proteína de alta qualidade para a sociedade sem impactos negativos no meio ambiente. Além disso, em sua busca pela sustentabilidade social, a agricultura agroecológica pode oferecer melhores condições de trabalho aos agricultores e, assim, contribuir para um futuro sustentável para a pecuária (DUVAL et al, 2021) e para a permanência dos agricultores no campo.…”