Livestock farmers’ working conditions in agroecological farming systems. A review

Abstract

The livestock farming sector is under stress as fewer and fewer people are willing or able to become livestock farmers. Contributing to the decline in attractiveness of the profession are, among other factors, agricultural crises, higher consumer expectations, and difficult working conditions. Agroecology is a sustainable solution that can maintain livestock production and provide positive contributions to society without negatively affecting the environment. Moreover, in its search for social sustainability, agroecological farming could offer better working conditions to farmers and thus contribute to a sustainable future for the livestock farming sector. Here, we review research on livestock farmers’ working conditions in agroecological farming systems. This paper aims to give a comprehensive overview of the available research findings and the dimensions used to describe farmers’ working conditions. The major findings are the following: (i) relatively little published research is available; (ii) it is difficult to compare findings across studies as different dimensions are used to study working conditions and, in certain cases, detailed descriptions of the farming systems are not provided; (iii) certain dimensions were rarely addressed, such as farmers’ health, or work organization; and (iv) in general, farmers’ work is addressed as a component of environmental and economic analyses of the performance of agroecological livestock farming systems, using most often indicators on labor productivity and/or efficiency. Comprehensive multidimensional approaches to study working conditions are lacking, as are studies on the interactions and trade-offs between dimensions (e.g., workload, fulfillment, work organization). To study livestock farmers’ working conditions in agroecological farming systems, we recommend to use a comprehensive approach assessing different dimensions contributing to working conditions, combined with the description of farmers’ activities and work environment.

Identification of representative dairy cattle and fodder crop production typologies at regional scale in Europe

“…To date, previous studies have highlighted the need to move toward more sustainable farming systems across the three sustainability pillars (Duval et al 2021;Helfenstein et al 2022). In this sense, livestock production in high-and middle-income countries is experiencing a transition toward more intense, concentrated, and productive systems (Britt et al 2018).…”

“…Over the last decades, different initiatives, political bodies, and research institutions have highlighted the role of livestock in the transition toward more sustainable agricultural production (Köchy et al 2015;Feil et al 2020; Joint Programming Initiative on Agriculture 2020). Changes in dietary patterns and the reduction of production costs have led to a growing demand in the consumption of animal-based products (Westhoek et al 2011;Searchinger et al 2014;Duval et al 2021). As a substantial part of animal production systems, dairy production significantly contributes to global greenhouse gas (GHG) and nitrogen (N) emissions, as well as to natural resource use (Steinfeld et al 2006;Gerber et al 2013;Styles et al 2018).…”

The Multiple Influences on the Future of Work in Agriculture: Global Perspectives

“…More recently, concern has been expressed about the impacts of agroecology on women's burden (Bezner Kerr et al, 2019). Other parameters of working conditions are considered to be improved, such as greater meaningfulness at work on extensive beef cattle production (Duval et al, 2021) and quality of life in dairy farming (Contzen and Häberli, 2021).…”

How agroecological farming practices reshape cattle farmers’ working conditions

“…Compared to the evaluation of environmental and economical performances of livestock farms, social performance is the aspect of sustainability that is the most often neglected (van der Linden et al 2020). Relatively few studies focus specifically on livestock farmers' working conditions in agroecological farming systems (Duval, Cournut, and Hostiou 2021). In general, farmers' working conditions are rarely assessed (van der Linden et al 2020).…”

“…When 'work' is part of sustainability analyses, often, indicators of labor productivity or labor requirements are used. These indicators are providing a very narrow view of farmers' work or working conditions (Duval, Cournut, and Hostiou 2021;Toro-Mujica et al 2012;van der Linden et al 2020;Veysset et al 2014).…”