Agricultural Employment Research Articles

Decent Employment and the Future of Agriculture. How Dominant Narratives Prevent Addressing Structural Issues

Decent employment in agriculture is part of the general narrative about working conditions. It is an unquestionable objective but its position high in the international agenda contributes to sideline major structural issues faced by many agricultures around the world. This is particularly the case in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, which represent about 90% of global agricultural workers, and where agriculture still plays a major role in employment and the economy. Different trajectories of structural transformation and rates of demographic growth result in different employment challenges which are central for possible improvement of work conditions in agriculture. However, the existing narrative about agricultural development remains shaped by the modernization paradigm based on technical progress and the centrality of the productive optimum. Its progressive adoption around the world has resulted in major productivity increases which deeply impacted agriculture through farm differentiation and concentration followed by a massive exit of farm workers. This process of change results today in major environmental and social sustainability challenges which prevent the replication of previous structural transformation pathways. Yet, the current policy architecture supporting agriculture promoted by international agencies and relayed in national policies continue to focus on the same modernization recipes. Framed by a market-led agenda, they are based on increased productivity and improved access to markets, and focus on a better provision of public goods. They target the “agripreneurs” who are able to adapt to the competitive economic environment. Attention is progressively paid to environmental challenges which results in a “smart-modernization” agenda based on sustainable intensification, while alternative approaches like agro-ecology remain limited to local experiences. Mainstream policies prevent addressing the continuing structural issues faced by many developing countries, as well as global sustainability issues. In that context, improving working conditions in agriculture is part of a necessary global approach about the development of the sector, where the multiple roles that agriculture plays beyond the production of food and feed must be acknowledged and discussed. It implies a reinvestment in strategic thinking which has to be supported by new research about the labor content in agriculture and the agri-food sector, and by a consideration of existing local dynamics in order to identify adequate development models for agriculture.

Economic feasibility and sustainability of commercial bioethanol from microalgal biomass: The case of Malaysia

Malaysia fosters its economic growth with fossil fuels, which are not sustainable and raise atmospheric carbon dioxide. This study aims to assess the economic feasibility and sustainability of Chlorella vulgaris to create bioethanol for the transportation sector. A partial equilibrium model of the Malaysian agricultural markets is modified to include algal farms. The model forecasts agricultural prices, quantities, employment, fertiliser usage, and greenhouse gas emissions. The results suggest the algal farms produce 47.38 million litres of bioethanol in 2024 and peak at 163.67 million litres in 2044 for $0.65 per litre. This bioethanol offsets 0.11 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from the transportation sector in 2024, which grows to 0.37 million tons in 2044. The microalga consumes the flue gas of coal and natural gas electric power plants – 0.31 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2024 and 1.09 million tons in 2044. The algal farms also sell dried slurry to the animal feed markets, which offsets the algal farm's high costs. The algal farms slightly raise Malaysia's agricultural commodity and fertiliser prices while boosting agricultural employment. The Malaysian government should subsidise algal bioethanol at $0.12 per litre.

Tourism Industrial Linkages In Rwanda’s Economy

Measurement of tourism economic impacts is important in monitoring progress towards meeting planned socio-economic goals. However, there has been insufficient attention to rigorous analysis of the ramifications of tourism beyond accounting for initial impacts. This study evaluates economic impacts of tourism in Rwanda by examining its effects on employment, labor incomes, and output and value addition. Rwanda’s 2014 Input-Output tables was used to compute direct, indirect, induced and total (SAM Type) multipliers which were interacted with internal tourism demand data from Rwanda’s 2014 tourism satellite account to estimate impacts. Labor income, output and value added multipliers indicate that tourism has strong linkages with service sectors, while the employment multiplier indicates robust linkages with agriculture. Results indicate that internal tourism demand created 29% of all jobs, generated 9.7% of labor incomes, 11.1% of total value addition and 12% of national output in 2014. Therefore, increasing internal tourism demand in Rwanda will lead to higher labor income, increased output and value addition and higher employment in agriculture and other associated sectors. This study’s main contribution is taking into account the predominantly informal sector of Rwanda’s economy especially with respect to the domestic tourism market. Future studies could estimate the magnitude of leakages from the economy through consumption and production processes.

Analisis Kinerja Produksi Struktur Biaya dan Pendapatan Agroindustri Keripik Tempe (Studi Kasus Agroindustri Keripik Tempe Siger Mas di Kota Metro

This study aims to analyze the manufacturing performance, cost structure and revenue of Siger Mas Tempe Chips Agribusiness in Metro City. This study is a case study of Tempe Siger Mas Chips' agribusiness. The respondents to this survey are founders and employees in agriculture. The study data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative descriptive analysis (production performance analysis) and quantitative descriptive analysis (cost and revenue structure analysis). The results showed that the overall performance of the Siger Mas Tempe Chips Agroindustry was not in a good category. The largest cost component of Tempe Chips cost structure is the cost of cooking oil (25.12%), labor cost (23.09%), raw material cost (10.84%), plastic packaging cost (9.36%) and liquefied petroleum gas cost (8.13) ± Flour Cost (6.90%), Marketing Cost (4.93%), Garlic Cost (3.20%), Aci Flour Cost (2.46%), Electricity Cost (2.46%), Depreciation Cost (1.47% ), aroma costs (1.23%) , transport costs (0.74%) and yeast costs (0.06%). Agro-industry Siger Mas Tempe Chips made a profit of Rp 8,380,487.50. It can be concluded that the agro-industry Siger Mas Tempe Chips is feasible and profitable to develop.

Communication Problems Facing Agricultural Employees Working in Agricultural Extension in Extension Centers in the Central and Northern Governorates of Iraq and their Relationship to Some Variables

Survey to identify the size of the problems, solving them in solving them, solving their problems, solving them in solving them, solving their problems, solving their problems, solving them in solving them, solving their problems in solving them, solving their problems in solving them, solving their problems in solving communication, solving translation problems in Work environment) educational seminar, seminar, seminar, seminar, educational seminar, upbringing, participation in extension activities). The research included all the agricultural workers working in agricultural extension in extension centers in the governorates of central and northern Iraq, and their number was (103). The exploratory sample consisting of (30) employees was excluded from the final procedures of the research, and thus the final research community became (73) employees. A questionnaire form was prepared to collect data for the research. It consisted of two parts. The first part included the factors related to the employees, while the second part included (63) phrases, each of which represented a communication problem, divided into five areas. SPSS program has been used for the social and psychological sciences and some other statistical methods to analyze the data and achieve the research objectives. The results showed that more than half of the respondents suffer from medium communication problems, as it was found that the area of problems related to the counsellor ranked first. The results showed a significant correlation between the size of the problems and a number of the studied factors. The researchers concluded that a large number of respondents suffer from communication problems that limit them from carrying out counseling activities with high efficiency. The two researchers recommend solving the communication problems of the employees and taking into consideration the factors that had a significant correlation with the size of the communication problems when assigning the employees to implement the extension activities.

The decline in agricultural share and agricultural industrialization—some stylized facts and theoretical explanations

PurposeThe decline in the share of agriculture in both output and employment is a central feature of structural transformation. The authors present the distinct features between developed and developing countries in the process of agricultural share decline and dig into the real changes that occurred in the agricultural sector during the rapid decline in the agricultural share.Design/methodology/approachTaking the declining share of agriculture as a clue, the authors depict heterogeneous characteristics in the declining share of agriculture in developed and developing countries. Secondly, by criticizing the factor substitution hypothesis, the authors argue that the essence of agricultural transformation is the process of agricultural industrialization characterized by the combination, reconstruction, and continual changes of agricultural production factors. Finally, based on the theory of agricultural industrialization, this paper analyzes the combination of factors in different stages of declining agricultural share in typical economies.FindingsIn this paper, the authors find that the rapid decline in agricultural employment share is accompanied by an increase in the returns to agricultural production in developed economies. In contrast, the decline in agricultural employment share in developing economies lags, and agricultural production efficiency is way much poorer than that of developed economies. Taking the United States and Japan as examples, the authors find that the agricultural sector underwent agricultural industrialization, featured by reconstruction and upgrades of production factors combination.Originality/valueThe authors systematically reveal why huge changes occurred in the agricultural sector in developed economies during structural transformation, and also provide further thoughts and lessons for developing countries to accomplish agricultural modernization.

Nontraditional sources for biodiesel production in Malaysia: The economic evaluation of hemp, jatropha, and kenaf biodiesel

Three feedstocks, hemp, jatropha, and kenaf, are economically evaluated to produce biodiesel for Malaysia and whether they could improve its sustainability and reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector. This study uses a partial equilibrium model, called the Malaysian Agriculture and Plantation Greenhouse Gas Model, to evaluate the potential feedstocks. The model represents the major agricultural commodities of Malaysia and forecasts market prices and quantities between 2024 and 2064. The results show that hemp and kenaf biodiesel can compete with the retail diesel price at the pump. Both hemp and kenaf are sustainable, and these two commodities produce two valuable coproducts: fiber and seed cake. The seed cake helps Malaysia offset some animal feed imports since Malaysia relies on imported feed to support its poultry and cattle industries. Furthermore, hemp and kenaf biodiesel production increases agricultural employment and mitigates some carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in the transportation sector. Jatropha biodiesel is not economically feasible because this commodity produces biodiesel and no valuable coproducts. If jatropha could be genetically altered to make less toxic seed cake or yield other valuable coproducts, then jatropha biodiesel could become economically viable.

Extent of Crop Diversification across Different Farm Size Groups in the North Bank Plains Zone of Assam

Crop Diversification is a strategy to optimize the use of land, water and other farm resources particularly for risk reduction, stabilization of farm income, augmenting farm employment and overall agricultural development in general. The study was undertaken to find out the extent of crop diversification across different farm size groups in the North Bank Plains Zone (NBPZ) of Assam. To find the extent of crop diversification of farmers across different farm size groups two districts viz. Lakhimpur and Sonitpur were selected randomly with a sample size of 160 farmers (80 belonging from Lakhimpur district and 80 belonging from Sonitpur district) administered with the Simpson Index of Diversity [1]. The statistical techniques employed were frequency (f), mean (X), percentage (%). The findings suggested that in the pooled sample of farmers, majority of the respondents (64.37%) were in medium crop diversification category followed by 20.00 per cent in high and 15.63 per cent in low crop diversification category. Similarly, majority of the respondents were in medium crop diversification category in all the individual categories of farmer i.e., marginal, small and medium farmers respectively. This study will be useful to the extension functionaries, agriculture and allied departments to modify and quantify their ways and means to educate the farmers for adoption of diversification.

The Dynamics of Youth Employment and Empowerment in Agriculture and Rural Development in South Africa: A Scoping Review.

Over the years, South Africa has made significant investments aimed at transforming the agricultural sector to deliver on rural economic development and job creation. These investments have had varying levels of success; still, what is worrying is the high youth unemployment rate which is amongst the highest globally. We conducted a scoping review using the PRISMA-P guidelines to identify the challenges youth face in accessing sustainable employment in the agriculture sector. Peer-reviewed studies were retrieved from online databases (Web of Science, Cab Direct, and Science Direct) for 1994-2021. The findings showed that youth are still facing significant challenges in the demand and supply side of the labour market and lack of inclusivity in policy formulation and implementation, limiting their involvement in agriculture and rural development initiatives. Policies and strategies responding to these challenges exist, and the spectrum of support services provided are primarily focused on entrepreneurship. Yet, the implementation of programs and initiatives has not been successful. This could be attributed to the obstacles persisting in the sociopolitical environment in SA, causing additional barriers to program implementation. Therefore, to enhance youth involvement in agriculture and rural development, there is a need to connect more rural youth to support services, local employment programmes, and youth inclusion in policy formulation processes. Additionally, the focus of policy and programs should be broadened to cater to different youth knowledge and skill profiles.

Providing health services for farm workers during COVID-19: a case study of an NGO in a rural agricultural area

Farming, an essential service, continued during the most restricted phase of South Africa’s national lockdown. This chapter documents how Hlokomela, a non-governmental organisation in rural Limpopo, provided health and other social services to the farming community during this time. We documented the Hlokomela health services response to COVID-19 while conducting a pilot study of a partial-payment scheme for farm employers whose workers accessed their health services. From mid-March to June 2020, in-depth interviews with Hlokomela management, as well as reviews of the Hlokomela weekly newsletter, were added to pilot research activities. We undertook a case study using a systems lens to examine how the organisation addressed the needs of a rural agricultural community affected by COVID-19 lockdown measures. Hlokomela was able to address gaps in the health response for farm workers, farm employers and the broader community. Through leveraging established networks, the organisation supplemented the State’s COVID-19 response by providing four types of outreach activities: provision of personal protective equipment; workplace and community screening services; training and awareness activities; and distribution of food. Hlokomela utilised four strategic areas that enabled a strengthened health response: adaptability, health promotion, a network with local stakeholders, and social development outreach. The case study highlights the potential role of creative partnerships between the State and non-governmental organisations for health service delivery in rural agricultural regions.

No One Size Fits All. Women Commercial Farm Employment and Fertility in Ethiopia: A Study of Saudi Star and MERTI Agricultural Development Farms☆

AbstractModern agricultural farms offer huge potential in creating employment opportunities, which, in turn, are expected to reduce fertility. The Ethiopian government has recently leased out millions of hectares of farmland to investors under highly concessionary terms. However, little is known regarding women's farm employment effect on their fertility. Using survey data, this paper analyzed this link in the context of Saudi Star and Merti Agricultural Development farms. Results showed lower odds of fertility intention among employed women compared to non‐employed women where employment is measured more broadly. This result at a glance appears to be consistent with conventional theory which considers children as resulting from parental choice relative to other essential household goods constrained by resource shortages in the household's utility maximization framework. Where employment is measured rather narrowly (standard way) as in most socioeconomic research, however, the odds of fertility intention is higher. The two results were expected to be reversed since fertility was expected to be lower where employment is measured more narrowly than broadly where a range of employments are included. Additionally, effects associated with the recent establishment of Saudi Star farm compared to the more matured farms in Merti are likely to reduce fertility intention.

WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE, TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IN WEST AFRICA

This paper investigated the relationship between environmental quality and the adoption of technology by women in agriculture in sixteen West African countries over a period of 16 years (2000-2016). The effect of the use of smartphones, laptops, tablets and charging devices on the level of carbon emission was examined. This paper points out that, though the adoption of technology has increased agricultural production, it has also impacted environmental quality in terms of carbon prints and the quality of life of women farmer adopters. This paper adopts the Fixed and Random effect of Hausman’s test method with data from WDI ranging from 2000 to 2016. Female employment in Agriculture (FEA) was 46% of the agricultural workforce. The paper recommends adherence to the 2015 Paris agreement on low carbon emission, which should be properly monitored and carried out by Governments and relevant agencies, investing in eco-friendly sustainable means of electricity and viable means of transportation to reduce the use of fossil fuel.

Evolving gaps: Occupational structure in southern and northern Italy, 1400–1861

AbstractDuring the Risorgimento (1800–61), southern Italy was less industrial than central‐northern Italy and initially agricultural provinces in the north saw rapid structural transformation. During the Renaissance (1400–1600), structural transformation in the south led to a near halving of the initial difference in agricultural employment share between the centre‐north and the south, but convergence came to a halt with the ‘seventeenth‐century crisis’. These trends suggest that regional inequality was evolving rather than persistent.

Farmer perceptions of climate, adaptation and management of farmworker risk in California

Adaptation across systems[1] in agriculture is essen­tial for sustainability under ongoing climate change. Farmers and agricultural employers implement changes in their work (e.g., mechanization, chang­ing crops, managing workspaces) in ways that may directly impact worker health. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with farmers and farm labor contractors in three agriculturally productive regions of California. We investigated (1) how farmers view changing climate in terms of worker safety and health; (2) how they are currently adapting to long-term weather patterns; (3) how their choices of management practices might impact their workers; (4) how they view their responsibility for their workers; and (5) what their overall observations are concerning environmental changes. Many employers made a clear distinction between weather and climate but not all agreed on whether they were experiencing climate change. Heat was notably the biggest climate hazard farm­ers identified. Most of the employers interviewed were proud of their longevity and ability to adapt to changing conditions in the field; however, they did not have established emergency procedures. Despite regulations that put the onus on employ­ers, most participants believed that workers needed to take individual responsibility to keep themselves safe in the workplace. This research is one step in an ongoing research process designed to address the impacts of health and safety for agricultural workers in the context of climate change.

Prospects of Agriculture as a Lifelong Livelihood Option for Young Indian Rural Population

There is a huge untapped reservoir of employment opportunities in agriculture which requires cultivating the young generation of farmers, food entrepreneurs, etc. Due to agricultural innovations made at the global and national level, the young population can leverage technology, leading to increase in productivity, efficiency and output and addressing the issue of food security. For promoting employment for youths in agriculture and making farming a remunerative economic activity, initiatives have been taken by FAO and by Government of India. The present study focuses on demographic profile of the youth, explores agriculture as an economically viable livelihood option for the youth and highlights the Indian Government policy measures and technological interventions for making agriculture an attractive employment option; discusses the initiatives taken by FAO for promotion of employment in agriculture and finally paper concludes by examining the role of rural youth in addressing the challenge of food security at the national level.

How flood affects rural employment in India: A gender analysis

It is widely accepted that natural disasters adversely affect agricultural production. Still, less is known about how disasters affect employment patterns in the long run, particularly the gender-differentiated impacts of such weather-related shocks in developing countries. Using employment and flood damage data, this study analyses how floods affect rural employment in 15 major states of India for 1983–2011. In addition, we examine the magnitude of the impact of floods on gender-wise employment in the rural agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. The empirical estimates suggest that flood damage affects female agricultural employment more negatively than male agricultural employment in the long run, controlling for crucial employment determinants. Furthermore, women suffer disproportionately in obtaining employment in the non-agricultural sector in the aftermath of floods. Thus, we conclude that flood damage creates differential impacts on employment by gender, with female agricultural workers more adversely affected than male workers.

Economic Growth and Agricultural Employment

Bu çalışmanın amacı, 1990–2019 dönemine ait TÜİK’den elde edilen gayrisafi yurtiçi hasıla, istihdam ve tarımsal istihdam verileri kullanılarak Türkiye’de büyüme ile tarımsal istihdam arasındaki ilişkileri araştırmaktır. Bu amaçla durağanlık analizi ve Granger nedensellik testi uygulanmıştır. Değişkenler arasındaki ilişkilerin yönünü belirlemek amacıyla hata düzeltme modeline bağlı Granger nedensellik testi sonucunda tarımsal GSYİH ile tarımsal istihdam arasında tek yönlü, tarımsal istihdam ile toplam istihdam arasında tek yönlü nedensellik ilişkisi olduğu tespit edilmiştir

Agrivoltaics in Ontario Canada: Promise and Policy

Well-intentioned regulations to protect Canada’s most productive farmland restrict large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) development. The recent innovation of agrivoltaics, which is the co-development of land for both PV and agriculture, makes these regulations obsolete. Burgeoning agrivoltaics research has shown agricultural benefits, including increased yield for a wide range of crops, plant protection from excess solar energy and hail, and improved water conservation, while maintaining agricultural employment and local food supplies. In addition, the renewable electricity generation decreases greenhouse gas emissions while increasing farm revenue. As Canada, and Ontario in particular, is at a strategic disadvantage in agriculture without agrivoltaics, this study investigates the policy changes necessary to capitalize on the benefits of using agrivoltaics in Ontario. Land-use policies in Ontario are reviewed. Then, three case studies (peppers, sweet corn, and winter wheat) are analysed for agrivoltaic potential in Ontario. These results are analysed in conjunction with potential policies that would continue to protect the green-belt of the Golden Horseshoe, while enabling agrivoltaics in Ontario. Four agrivoltaic policy areas are discussed: increased research and development, enhanced education/public awareness, mechanisms to support Canada’s farmers converting to agrivoltaics, and using agrivoltaics as a potential source of trade surplus with the U.S.

Regional variations in automation job risk and labour market thickness to agricultural employment

Automation has the potential to transform entire agricultural value chains and the nature of agricultural business. Recent studies have emphasised barriers to adoption, as well as issues related to labour market and cultural outcomes of automation. However, thus far, very little attention has been afforded to the regional variations in the potential for automation adoption or threats to agricultural employment. Specifically, research to date does not take into account the local availability of similar occupations including those in different sectors to which displaced workers may transition. Threats to employment and lower numbers of similar jobs locally are particularly salient in rural contexts, given the thin and specialized local labour markets. The aims of this paper are to show the regional distribution of risk to automation for the agricultural sector specifically, and to link these patterns to indicators for occupation specific labour market thickness in Ireland. Using detailed occupational skills data, we construct indices for local labour market thickness conditioned on occupational skills and knowledge requirements. We show that there is substantial regional heterogeneity in the potential threat of automation to the employment prospects of workers currently active in the agricultural sector. This regional heterogeneity highlights the importance of the regional context for designing effective labour market policy in the face of job automation.

Environmentally sustainable socio-economic welfare and agricultural employment: evidence from ECOWAS

Environmental sustainability considerations in socio-economic welfare has been argued in recent welfare literature. With an emphasis on the role of agricultural employment, this present study explores environmentally sustainable socio-economic welfare in ECOWAS, which features countries abundant in agriculture resources, although with low levels of socio-economic welfare and low carbon emissions. The study utilises a balanced panel data set of observations in respect of all fifteen ECOWAS countries over the period of 2010 to 2019. The Human Sustainable Development Index (HSDI) was used to measure environmentally sustainable socio-economic welfare. On the other hand, agricultural employment was measured using the percentage of the employed population earning their livelihoods from agricultural employment. Panel data fixed effects estimation was used to estimate the model for the study, and the findings were that agricultural employment had a significant adverse influence on environmentally sustainable socio-economic welfare as measured by HSDI, while a further comparison of the findings with that of welfare measured using HDI indicated that agricultural employment also adversely affected HDI. The study recommends that socio-economic welfare be assessed from the view point of environmental sustainability, and the governments of ECOWAS member countries provide strong governance including strong laws and policies to ensure that socio-economic welfare that is environmentally sustainable is realised as abundant agricultural resources as well as agricultural employment are well managed.