On the Social Sustainability of Industrial Agriculture Dependent on Migrant Workers. Romanian Workers in Spain’s Seasonal Agriculture

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Romanian migrants have become one of the most significant national groups doing agricultural work in Spain, initially coming via a temporary migration program and later under several different modalities. However, despite their critical importance for the functioning of Europe’s largest agro-industry, the study of this long-term circular mobility is still underdeveloped in migration and agriculture literature. Thanks to extensive fieldwork carried out in the provinces of Huelva and Lleida in Spain and in the counties of Teleorman and Buzău in Romania, this paper has two main objectives: first, to identify some of the most common forms of mobility of these migrants; and second, to discuss whether this industrial agriculture, hugely dependent on migrant work, is socially sustainable. The case of Romanian migrants in Spanish agriculture will serve to show how a critical sector for the EU and for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations, operates on an unsustainable model based on precariousness and exploitation.

What Can We Expect for the Development of Rural Areas in Europe?—Trends of the Last Decade and Their Opportunities for Rural Regeneration

“…European rural areas are expected to be affected by international migration in the future [74]. Other aspects such as seasonal workers did not play a major role, although they are a very important part of some rural areas, for example in Germany [75] or Spain [76].…”

Labour Implications on Agricultural Production in Romania

“…In this regard, questions are raised about the sustainability of migrant agricultural work from a social perspective and the identification of general forms of mobility using a systematic review of legislation and quantitative field work. Circular movement produced by agricultural production systems has been found to be unsustainable, requiring reformulation in the 2030 EU Agenda [30].…”

Taking Stock of Social Sustainability and the U.S. Beef Industry

“…Other scholars have drawn attention to farm labor in both conventional and alternative agriculture as a critical aspect of social sustainability that is too often ignored in studies of sustainable agriculture that focus on farm owners. The low wages, occupational hazards, and vulnerability of undocumented migrant status experienced by many farmworkers are examples of the lack of social sustainability in agriculture today [29][30][31][32][33]. Others link social sustainability to risk mitigation and equitable social relations [33,34].…”