Actif'agri: the Transformation of Employment and Activities in Farming

CENTRE FOR STUDIES AND STRATEGIC FORESIGHT — Analysis n° 145 - November 2020

Actif'Agri: the transformation of employment and activities in farming

France lost a quarter of its farmers between 2000 and 2016, which testifies to far-reaching changes in its agricultural sector. Over and above this quantitative trend, the sector is constantly reinventing itself through the efforts of the women and men who contribute to it, and whose careers and skills are being transformed. Aiming at a better understanding of these profound changes, the Centre for Studies and Strategic Foresight (CEP) gathered a working group of around thirty experts, most of them researchers, who combined their economic, sociological and statistical analyses. The Actif'Agri1 study describes the resulting overview in detail in the course of a dozen chapters. The present note sets out its main lessons.

n 2016, Metropolitan France had a little documents these novel configurations with value chains. Public policies on fiscality, I under 570,000 farmers. There were the aim of deepening our shared understand- social matters, agriculture and vocational 25% more at the turn of the 21st century. This ing of them. What are the current broad trends training are central to the fifth section. Lastly, reduction in the farming population, a pro- in terms of jobs and work in agriculture? the final section sets out some broad, cross- cess under way for over half a century, has Who today is actually in charge of agricul- cutting lessons to be drawn from the study. gone hand in hand with fundamental change tural production? Which activities are being in the nature of its employment and activi- developed preferentially, and to the detri- 1. The collective approach in Actif'Agri ties. Women and men work in agriculture ment of which other activities? Who is work- today with a range of different formal sta- ing where and under what conditions? Actif'Agri is the outcome of a collective effort tuses: permanent or temporary employees, To answer these questions, some of the led by the CEP project team and based around employed by the farm or by other legal enti- major drivers for change that explain these a group of external and internal experts at the ties, seasonal workers, posted workers, changes are explored here, with a particular Ministry of Agriculture and Food, most of them family helpers, interns, apprentices, and so focus on public policies and their real-world researchers. This group met on eight occa- on. In total, nearly 1.7 million individuals impacts. The publication has twelve chap- sions between September 2017 and Decem- worked at one time or another on an agricul- ters grouped in four main sections, propos- ber 2018 to discuss the analyses underpin- tural holding during 2016. ing a panoramic, contemporary overview of ning the different chapters of the study. The Over the long term, this sharp reduction French farming at work. final session, held in a smaller format, led to in the farming population has gone hand in This note sets out its main results. After the identification of the key results, their limits, hand with a transformation in the nature of summarising the overall approach adopted the study’s cross-cutting messages and the its employment and activities. Farming today throughout the study, in its second part it strategic focuses that flow from them. is less a matter of farmers carrying out the recalls the key figures for the changes under The study’s layout matches the content of entire series of tasks on their farm than it is way and documents the main ongoing trends, the various sessions fairly closely. Each chap- a complex system of activities and functions looking particularly at dairy production. The ter was coordinated by a member of the CEP, that may be performed equally by the farmer third part addresses quality of work, precar- or by third parties, employees or service pro- ity of employment, the working and health 1. Forget V., Depeyrot J.-N., Mahé M., Midler E., viders. This fundamental change reveals a conditions of farm workers and their occu- Hugonnet M., Beaujeu R., Grandjean A., Hérault B., profound transformation in the organisation pational mobility. This is followed by an explo- 2019, Actif'Agri. Transformations des emplois et du of agricultural work and is evidence of the ration of some major determinants for these travail agricoles, [Actif’Agri. The transformation of employment and activities in farming] Paris, La sector’s capacity for innovation. transformational processes: a search for Documentation française: The publication Actif'Agri. Transforma- high environmental performance, dissemi- https://agriculture.gouv.fr/actifagri-de-lemploi-lacti tions des emplois et des activités en agriculture nation of innovation, globalisation of global vite-agricole-determinants-dynamiques-et-trajectoires

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force to this overview. Despite major progress in the last half-century, their daily lives (working time constraints, physical, chemical and biological risks, low pay, debt), and the context associated with their activity (isolation, lack of work-life separation, social pressure, gender norms) are the source of specific health issues. This is notably evidenced by a higher incidence of workplace accidents and occupational illness (physical and mental) compared with other occupational categories. This chapter also highlights a certain lack of information on the working conditions and state of health of some categories of farm worker. This concerns in particular those hired by employers' alliances and agricultural service providers, as well as those with no formal status.

Farmers’ occupational mobility These living and working conditions are enhancing occupational mobility in agriculture as is shown by Chapter 6. The entry in the sector of workers who increasingly frequently have experience of other occupation, or who have no family background in farming, plus the rise in the early exit from farming, generally involving definitive departure from the sector (cf. Figure 6), are part of the process of convergence with the rest of society. Using examples of career paths, this chapter looks particularly closely at the present generation of farmers under 55, who started out in farming in the 1990s and form a more broadly socialised generation, having had contact with people from different backgrounds during their school years or in neighbour- hoods that were less and less agricultural.

4. Three drivers of transformation in employment and activities in farming

Many of the changes described in Actif'Agri can found their source in a combination of external factors: consumer expectations,

In recent years trade has been changing the transformation of “peasants” into “farm- as “global value chains” have developed. The ers” and encouraged a search for productivity internationalisation of French and European gains for work based on a family-farm model agrifood sectors has been expanding the and controlled-cost paid labour. interactions between exports and imports. Increased use of imported intermediate products, Today, they provide income support and involved in the production of our exports, can have become a crisis management tool. As they improve corporations' competitiveness, cre- converge towards the standard regime and ating new commercial outlets and opportu- gradually adapt to ongoing changes in work nities for employment. Actif'Agri also shows (e.g. rising female representation, outsourc- that exports of intermediate agricultural and ing), they are helping to make farming more agrifood products contribute to employment similar to managing a small company, as is also in France not only in the relevant production observed in the other sectors of the economy. sectors (cf. Figure 8), but also in other areas of the economy, services in particular. Policies on agriculture

5. Public policies and their effects As for Chapter 11, this examines the role played by policies on agriculture, including As a subsidised sector under tight control, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and and one still fairly extensively administered, the regulation of farm structures and land. agriculture is a focus for numerous public The retention and creation of jobs in farming interventions at EU, national, regional and are recent objectives for the former and local government levels. While the objec- more intrinsic to the latter. In both cases, a tives of those interventions are not in most variety of tools have been used, with mixed cases directly related to the issue of employ- effects on the transformation of employment initial education of those working in farming ment and changes in the numbers and types and farm activities. has been constantly rising over the last fifty of jobs, they do nevertheless have a profound years, but despite the fact that their jobs influence on employment. The final chapters The chapter offers analyses of the redis- require increasingly specialised skills, it is of Actif'Agri seek to understand their tangible tributive effects of current CAP program- still below that of the French working popu- effects with a view to improving the action ming in terms of support per member of the lation in general (cf. Figure 11). The diversi- taken by the authorities. workforce (cf. Figure 10), and alternative fication of farming models, increasingly scenarios are explored. The results testify to numerous pathways to expertise and the Fiscal and social policies the relatively modest potential of this area acceleration of technological innovation all of policy where jobs are concerned, com- demand lifelong adaptation of skills. Devel- The first area studied is that of fiscal and pared with other tools. opment and training policies designed in the social policy, in which the various schemes 1960s and 1970s around three core focuses targeting agriculture are of growing impor- Human capital development policies (agricultural training, entry into farming, tance in budgetary terms (cf. Figure 9). Although development) are gradually changing to their main objective is not generally to foster Policies targeting the development of take account of these new issues. employment, most do contribute to chang- human capital in farming form the subject The public policies examined by Actif’Agri ing it. In the 1960s, these policies supported of Chapter 12. We see here that the level of appear to have fairly ambivalent and rela-

(usually definitive) for other occupational farming profession by diversifying its occu- by sharp peaks in activity, a high level of sea- horizons are largely motivated by the diffi- pational references and communities of sonality, a variety of hazards and major price cult living and working conditions (e.g. remu- practice. The rapid expansion of organic volatility. And these categories of worker do neration, harsh working conditions, lack of farming is a good example. Organic farming not all have the same status or enjoy the work/family life separation) rather than by often goes hand in hand with activities involv- same recognition. business failure. ing product processing and the marketing of Historically, family labour has accounted These different change processes (margin- products via short distribution channels or for a large proportion of this “status-less” alisation within society, defamilialisation of directly on the farm. workforce: spouses, retired parents, chil- the work collective, development of wage- The entry conditions for the agricultural dren, and so on. Some of this family help was based labour and task outsourcing, increased sector also feature this same heterogeneity made visible by statistical surveys and the occupational and social mobility, etc.) lead of models, with a variety of career paths: obligation to adopt more protective forms of to the conclusion that a process of “normal- farmers more often enter the industry with- status offering enhanced recognition of the isation” is under way in the farming profes- out any family background in farming, after work performed. The introduction of the sion: it is converging more and more with previous occupational experiences, and at formal role of “collaborating spouse” (con- management of small or very small enter- different times in their lives. Access to farm- joint collaborateur) has for example thrown prises in the other sectors of the economy. ing is still more difficult than in other sectors a spotlight on women working on farms. And it is a fact that exchanges of people given the high entry cost related to acquisi- In certain regions and for certain crops and information between agriculture and tion of the productive capital. This difficulty (e.g. orchards, winegrowing), some mem- other domains are expanding, as the farm- is accompanied by diversification in types of bers of the workforce are precarious working world becomes increasingly porous and land ownership and underlying corporate ers on whom there is relatively little infor- open. Normalisation and porosity feed into forms, facilitated by changes in farm struc- mation and who are frequently left out of the process of “de-agriculturalisation” of tures monitoring policies. account in discussions of sector issues. the industry continue to be largely driven by Towards the normalisation and “porosity” French society, as is also the case in all other The diversification in models can be a Their working conditions are more or less family-type farms. of the farming profession European countries. response to the specific characteristics of well documented, but the worst-off are prob- An input of external skills and labour can Public policies, while supporting and agricultural activities. Specifically, farming ably those that escape oversight – illegal Farm operators are the members of the be a palliative for the withdrawal of the family, reflecting this “normalisation” of agricul- remains seasonal and marked by the uncer- workers foremost among them. agricultural workforce experiencing the hence the increase, in both relative and abso- ture, also single out the agricultural work- tainty arising from the use of natural capital The expansion in wage-based employ- most striking changes. The continuous ero- lute terms, of paid employment under per- force less and less. Although social and and dependence on the weather. The gradual ment and task outsourcing promotes the sion in their numbers is now obvious, just manent contract, but more especially of tem- fiscal provisions still consider them to be cit- liberalisation of the sector and exposure to development of jobs whose status is precar- as the farms they operate are undergoing a porary paid labour. Such wage-based employ- izens in a particular category, covered by price fluctuation increase both risks and ious. This vulnerability and the low levels of process of concentration and enlargement. ment is also increasingly outsourced and more flexible, less protective work legisla- hazards. Whereas market regulation (i.e. pay should be seen in conjunction with the Leaving behind a peasant farmer population provided by a variety of legal entities: agri- tion for the employees, a tax regime that fos- guaranteed prices and commercial outlets) modest and unstable nature of the revenue that was once very much in the majority in cultural service providers, employer group- ters labour productivity and less social pro- in the 1970s and 1980s was favourable to of the majority of farm operators. French society, farmers today are no more ings, farm machinery cooperatives (CUMA), tection for the self-employed, the current farmers deploying the “technical packages” Lastly, in farming as in other sectors, the than a minority in a constantly expanding foreign service providers using posted work- trend is towards convergence with the gen- underlying the standard model, mainte- place occupied by women still differs from and diversifying working population. Mar- ers, and so on. Farming has in this way become eral regime. Given this, the need is to pro- nance of activity now requires an adaptation that of men: the farming world continues to ginalised as they are, even in the country- a complex system of tasks that may be car- vide more support for occupational mobility of risk management strategies to match the be gendered. Women do not do the same side, they are now just one group of actors ried out equally by the farm operator or by (cf. the debate around “agricultural unem- chosen system of production. The agro- work, or in the same sectors, and they do not in rural life, one socio-professional category third parties. Taken to its extremes, such ployment”), to move away from the inher- nomic, organisational and financial solu- have the same income or the same career among many. task delegation may go so far as to include itance model (cf. the discussions around tions adopted (recourse to futures markets, paths. Despite their higher level of general The French farming model traditionally the entirety of productive activity. “corporate” tax regimes) or to improve work- for example) contribute to this diversity of education and greater mobility, they are structured around the farmer/spouse tandem Generally speaking, paid farm workers ing and living conditions (social protection, models. For example, wage-based employ- more exposed than men to occupational is also breaking down into various types of are relatively young and have a history of quality of working life). ment may be chosen by individuals wishing illness and less exposed to physical risk. tively limited effects on the changes in the organisation, whose common feature is the fairly precarious employment including to work in farming without having to deal Overall, their presence on farms is declining farming world, which they assist, reduce or disengagement of the family collective. work outside agriculture in various sectors The increasing heterogeneity of agricultu- with the associated risks. due to the expansion of paid workforce, amplify rather than direct or control. Indeed, Although there has always been a variety of of the economy. It is a workforce that is increas- ral models This trend towards diversification raises which includes more men, and the stagna- most such policies are not aimed at agricul- different models, the link between the family ingly flexible, hired under ever-shorter con- issues for public policies originally designed tion over the last ten years in the percentage tural employment or changes in activities or and the production unit was a specific his- tracts and recruited by temporary work Although the activity of a farm operator is for the typical French family farm of the of women running agricultural holdings. But jobs, and there is little research to support torical characteristic of French farming. agencies that help facilitate transfers of increasingly similar to that of the manager 1960s, a model that they have been slow to these changes mask more complex realities any real evaluation of their impacts in this Today, the tendency is for the farm opera- labour with construction and public works, of a small business, definition of the job of a relinquish. This trend also raises the ques- linked to variations in status and statistics. area. They continue to be shaped by the tor’s family to withdraw from involvement among other sectors. “farmer” covers situations that are increas- tion of the status of “farmer” as opposed to For many years, women farm operators were legacy of policies in previous decades which in his or her work. The income sources of Where farmers are concerned, their occu- ingly heterogeneous from the standpoint of “owner” or “manager” of an agricultural spouses who took over the farm when their encourage, with effective results, the devel- farm households are diversifying and it is pational mobility is tending to increase, work organisation, tasks to be performed business, as well as the definition and limits husband retired. Today, women entering opment of the productivist agricultural more often the case that spouses have no family although it remains limited. It is more often and ways of ensuring their performance. of the “agricultural holding”. farming more often do so in roles equivalent model of the time, a model that does not background in farming, and many have jobs the case that they have entered farming after This diversity probably already existed 30 to those of men and on a more independent favour the retention of jobs in farming. off the farm. As for the children, they do not experience of employment in other sectors. or 50 years ago, but it was overshadowed by Precarity and inequality basis as managers of their own projects and necessarily intend to take over the family Their level of initial education is rising, as it the dominance of the traditional family-farm not as spouses, with or without a formal role. 6. Some general lessons to be drawn farm and are increasingly looking to take up is the in the whole of French society, but the model. As that model has retreated, a variety In the dominant representations, a farm from Actif'Agri other careers. Becoming a farmer is no longer general educational system now plays a of forms of farm reconfiguration have come operator is the symbolic embodiment of Human capital, a key issue an ineluctable destiny, or a vocation directly dominant role compared with that of agricul- into view. More complex structures are farm work. Moving away from this stereo- The twelve chapters of Actif'Agri illustrate, connected to a family origin and a way of life. tural training. They now start their projects appearing that resemble entrepreneurial type, Actif'Agri shows that agricultural Despite the fact that farmers’ level of initial each in accordance with its chosen focus, the Within this broad structural trend, there more and more frequently without dedicated activity: holding companies, farm operator workforce is composed of a variety of cate- education has been constantly rising over the changes in form and content of employment is naturally a wide range of situations depend- public financial support. Farmers may thus groupings, for example. gories. Farming makes use of temporary last fifty years, as it has in the rest of society, in the agricultural sector. Combining what ing on sector, local region and individual his- give up their farms more easily than in the The broadening of the range of very widely employment, or even day labour, sourced the diversification of agricultural models they can all tell us, a number of general con- tory: for example, in dairy production, the past and the early winding up of farm busi- available innovations (technical, organisa- inside or outside the family, to meet the and accelerating technological innovation clusions can be defined. dynamics of farm enlargement and entry into nesses is more frequent. Such departures tional, managerial, and so on) changes the imperatives of a form of production typified require continuous adaptation of vocational documents these novel configurations with the aim of deepening our shared understanding of them. What are the current broad trends in terms of jobs and work in agriculture? Who today is actually in charge of agricultural production? Which activities are being developed preferentially, and to the detri- ment of which other activities? Who is working where and under what conditions? To answer these questions, some of the major drivers for change that explain these changes are explored here, with a particular focus on public policies and their real-world impacts. The publication has twelve chapters grouped in four main sections, propos- ing a panoramic, contemporary overview of French farming at work. This note sets out its main results. After summarising the overall approach adopted throughout the study, in its second part it recalls the key figures for the changes under way and documents the main ongoing trends, looking particularly at dairy production. The third part addresses quality of work, precarity of employment, the working and health conditions of farm workers and their occupational mobility. This is followed by an explo- ration of some major determinants for these transformational processes: a search for high environmental performance, dissemination of innovation, globalisation of global

supported by co-authors themselves mem- force to this overview. Despite major progress bers of the working group in most cases. The Figure 1 - Changes in the agricultural workforce (in agricultural work units – AWU) in the last half-century, their daily lives (work- chosen approach involved studying the trans- from 2000 to 2016 by category of worker ing time constraints, physical, chemical and formations in agricultural jobs and activities 2000 biological risks, low pay, debt), and the con- from various mutually complementary stand- text associated with their activity (isolation, points in order to grasp their full complexity. lack of work-life separation, social pressure, 2016 For example, the study not only seeks to quan- 538,270 farm operators and joint operators gender norms) are the source of specific health Note: The height of tify those in employment, but also the qual- each rectangle is issues. This is notably evidenced by a higher ity of their working conditions, these being 430,700 farm operators and joint operators proportional to the incidence of workplace accidents and occu- quantity of labour topics habitually discussed separately, in the 181,700 family helpers represented pational illness (physical and mental) com- occupational as well as institutional and aca- 44,010 family helpers (expressed in AWUs). pared with other occupational categories. 129,960 permanent non-family employees 124,000 permanent non-family employees Apprentices and demic spheres. However, Actif'Agri makes interns are not This chapter also highlights a certain lack 92,860 seasonal workers 82,770 seasonal workers no claim to exhaustiveness and each chapter included here of information on the working conditions 8,000 external workers (agricultural services providers, 29,760 external workers (agricultural services providers, is also shaped by the personal choices and equipment cooperatives, employers’alliance) equipment cooperatives, employers’alliance) and state of health of some categories of farm centres of interest of its co-authors. Source: Actif'Agri, p. 19 Source: Agreste - agricultural census (RA) 2010 and FSS 2016, data processed by CEP worker. This concerns in particular those This desire for a cross-cutting vision goes hired by employers' alliances and agricul- hand in hand with a degree of multidiscipli- tural service providers, as well as those with has lost a quarter of its farmers in fifteen years. first one is towards concentration of labour narity. While the analyses presented here no formal status. Meanwhile, wage-based employment is expand- on farms that are larger in economic terms. are largely economic in nature, with a strong ing in both relative and absolute terms (+2.2% Although the majority of the agricultural statistical and econometric bent aimed at between 2010 and 2016) and is increasingly workforce remains on small and medium-sized Farmers’ occupational mobility quantifying the phenomena at work, they diverse (cf. Figure 1). Agricultural employ- holdings, employment on the biggest is also call upon sociology in order to define the These living and working conditions are ees turn out to be younger, less qualified, expanding. This concentration comes with ways in which the women and men in pres- enhancing occupational mobility in agricul- with more precarious and less paid jobs than increased labour productivity and profitabil- ent-day farming act, think and feel. To a lesser ture as is shown by Chapter 6. The entry in in other sectors of the economy. ity, but also higher levels of debt. extent, use is also made of what agronomy, the sector of workers who increasingly fre- Due to this expansion in wage-based employ- The second major trend is towards sub- law and medicine can tell us. quently have experience of other occupation, ment, these jobs tending to be held by men, contracting, of marginal importance in the The analyses in are based on a or who have no family background in farm- Actif'Agri female representation in the sector has past but now routine, especially for field variety of sources depending on the topics ing, plus the rise in the early exit from farming, regressed: the proportion of women employed work (cf. Figure 2). New types of agricultural addressed: agricultural censuses of all farms generally involving definitive departure from in farming is declining and the percentage contracting company are emerging, dedi- across the country; the 2013 and 2016 Farm the sector (cf. Figure 6), are part of the pro- of women running farms has failed to shift cess of convergence with the rest of society. Structure Surveys (FSS), providing intermediate from 27% for over 10 years. Gender differ- data points between two censuses (around 70,000 Figure 2 - Percentage of farms delegating Using examples of career paths, this chap- ences still continue to exist in agriculture in ter looks particularly closely at the present holdings were surveyed in 2016); the Farm all field work, by territorial terms of both jobs and careers. generation of farmers under 55, who started Accountancy Data Network (Réseau d'informa- department, 2016 Moreover, farmers population is growing out in farming in the 1990s and form a more tion comptable agricole – RICA) for technico- older: over the period 2010-2016, the per- economic performance (a sample of approxi- broadly socialised generation, having had centage of those aged 60 and older has risen contact with people from different backgrounds mately 7,200 holdings, representative of from 10% to 17%. Their average age was 52 medium-sized and large farms in Metropol- during their school years or in neighbour- in 2016, older than the average for France’s hoods that were less and less agricultural. itan France); data from the Agricultural Social working population (40.5) but younger than Mutual Fund (Mutualité sociale agricole – MSA), th elsewhere in the EU, France being ranked 4 Percentage 4. Three drivers of transformation in these being annual with exhaustive cover- among the 27 countries. One French farmer in of farms age of all of its members, after reprocessing, delegating employment and activities in farming three is currently not being replaced. Dairy cattle all work to approximate the agricultural statistical sector is hardest hit by this problem of renewal. on major Many of the changes described in Actif'Agri field. The study also makes use of other sources ﬁeld crop Developing an original typology (agricul- 16 to 18% can found their source in a combination of of data from public statistics (e.g. INSEE, 14 to 16% tural census [RA] 2010, Farm Structure Survey 12 to 14% external factors: consumer expectations, DARES, Eurostat), the OECD, tax databases 10 to 12% [FSS] 2016), Actif'Agri also shows that the 8 to 10% 6 to 8% and the results of more qualitative research. 3 to 6% traditional model of “family farms”, is now Source: Agreste - FSS 2016, data restated by CEP In addition to the variety of methods and < 3% breaking down from a former homogeneity Source: Actif'Agri, p. 40 data used, every chapter is underpinned by into a variety of configurations in which the an in-depth review of the available – mainly family collective is less and less central. The cated for example to complete delegation of scientific – literature. Each chapter seeks to farms closest to the family model with “two all farm activities. go beyond the current “state of the art” to agricultural work units (AWU)” are thus dis- The last phenomenon analysed is the diver- throw new light on the questions at issue. appearing most rapidly (down 49% between sification of farm activities, which involves

2010 and 2016). Farm operators are there- multiple jobs for farm households and reten- 2. An overview of the transformation of fore adjusting their organisations accord- tion of farm labour. It is also accompanied agricultural jobs and activities ingly, simplifying their systems of produc- by a degree of income stability. tion or bringing in outside labour, forming Key statistics and main trends agricultural holding companies or farms The dairy sector: condensing the ongoing groupings or contracting work. transformations Understanding the transformation of jobs and activities in farming begins by getting a Three trends: concentration, delegation Underlying the general trends described grasp on the scales involved through a sta- and diversification above, different agricultural sectors are affected tistical description of the agricultural work- by various transformations. Chapter 3 illus- force. Decrease in the population of farmers Three particularly significant trends are trates this by setting out the following over- and the number of farms is continuing: France looked at in greater depth in Chapter 2. The view of dairy farms, where fundamental change

2 ■ CENTRE FOR STUDIES AND STRATEGIC FORESIGHT Analysis No 145 - November 2020

force to this overview. Despite major progress Figure 3 - Changes in milk delivery (left) and dairy herd (right) in the last half-century, their daily lives (working time constraints, physical, chemical and Changes in milk deliveries, 2008-2014 Breakdown of national dairy herd by farm size biological risks, low pay, debt), and the con- 100 text associated with their activity (isolation, lack of work-life separation, social pressure, 80 gender norms) are the source of specific health issues. This is notably evidenced by a higher 60 incidence of workplace accidents and occupational illness (physical and mental) com- Percentage changes 40 pared with other occupational categories. in deliveries, This chapter also highlights a certain lack 2008-2014 > +8 % 20 of information on the working conditions +4 to +8 % and state of health of some categories of farm 0 to +4% Percentage of France’s national dairy herd -4 to 0% -4 to 8% worker. This concerns in particular those -8 to -12% 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 hired by employers' alliances and agricul- -12 to -16% 50 - 75 100 - 150 200 and over < -16% Number of cows n.-s. 25 - 50 75 - 100 150 - 200 tural service providers, as well as those with per farm 10 - 25

Source: Actif'Agri, p. 52 Source: France Agrimer data, processed by FranceAgrimer and Fre nch Livestock Farming Institute Source: National Identiﬁcation Database data, processed by Fren ch Livestock Farming Institute no formal status.

has been accelerated by the abandonment of Farmers’ occupational mobility milk quotas: geographical concentration, Figure 4 - Paid farm labour, 2016 These living and working conditions are increased farm size (cf. Figure 3), reductions enhancing occupational mobility in agricul- in job numbers, development of wage-based Seasonal ﬁxed-term Permanent contracts contracts and similar 109,900 ture as is shown by Chapter 6. The entry in labour, volume-based productivity gains, 74,000 the sector of workers who increasingly fre- and so on. Between 1996 and 2015, the number quently have experience of other occupation, of farms has been cut by half and almost one or who have no family background in farm- worker out of every three is now on a wage. How- In AWUs ing, plus the rise in the early exit from farming, ever, the wide variety of types of operation and Total: 220,000 AWU generally involving definitive departure from ways to produce milk, like the family model, the sector (cf. Figure 6), are part of the pro- continue to be present in dairy farming. cess of convergence with the rest of society. Apprentices 11,300 Using examples of career paths, this chap- 3. Quality of work Fixed-term, ter looks particularly closely at the present non-seasonal contract 24,800 Workers on generation of farmers under 55, who started Beyond the numbers of women and men permanent Source: Agricultural Mutual social Fund, processed by CEP contracts out in farming in the 1990s and form a more working on farms, part 2 of Actif’Agri sets 147,500 broadly socialised generation, having had out to pin down the reality of the conditions contact with people from different backgrounds in which they are operating. Three aspects Under In number of ﬁxed-term during their school years or in neighbour- are specifically addressed: the precarity of worker contracts 62,000 hoods that were less and less agricultural. some wage-based jobs, the working and Total: 756,000 individuals Apprentices health conditions of agricultural workers 13,600 4. Three drivers of transformation in and their occupational mobility. employment and activities in farming

Precarity of employment in agriculture Seasonal worker 532,800 Many of the changes described in Actif'Agri can found their source in a combination of Chapter 4 addresses the precarity of some Source: Actif'Agri, p. 70 paid farm employment, a recurring topic for external factors: consumer expectations, a sector historically dependent on a seasonal and temporary workforce. Farm employees Figure 5 - Working conditions of farmers and farm workers compared with other with no secure status (working under fixed-term, seasonal or apprenticeship contracts) currently self-employed workers and manual labourers, 2013 account for 50% of total volume of work and Intensity of work 80% of paid employees on farms during any 100 Time constraints and working time 80 Emotional demands one year (cf. Figure 4). organisation This chapter highlights the wide variety of 60 40 the forms of non-family labour, with an expan- 20 sion of wage-based labour in external entities Physical constraints Lack of autonomy 0 (e.g. service providers and temporary work agencies), including posted workers. Addi-

tionally, the chapter documents different Lack of recognition, low pay Complex social relationships forms of illegal labour.

The working and health conditions of Economic insecurity and associated changes Value conﬂicts farm workers Self-employed workers Non-agricultural workers Farmers Agricultural workers Chapter 5 adds a close look at the working and Source: Actif'Agri, p. 88 health conditions of the agricultural work-

CENTRE FOR STUDIES AND STRATEGIC FORESIGHT Analysis No 145 - November 2020 ■ 3

4. Three drivers of transformation in employment and activities in farming

Many of the changes described in Actif'Agri can found their source in a combination of external factors: consumer expectations,

duction volume and the replacement of In recent years trade has been changing the transformation of “peasants” into “farm- Figure 6 - Occupational mobility destinations for farmers abandoning agriculture labour by capital (cf. Figure 7), but they have as “global value chains” have developed. The ers” and encouraged a search for productivity also protected the competitiveness of those internationalisation of French and European gains for work based on a family-farm model farmers capable of implementing them. agrifood sectors has been expanding the and controlled-cost paid labour. Hotel work 5% Provision of services Today, while technological changes are pro- interactions between exports and imports. Craft work out-of-come catering, food to private individuals and local government longing this trend, other forms of innovation Increased use of imported intermediate products, Today, they provide income support and 5% foster systems that are more work-intensive involved in the production of our exports, can have become a crisis management tool. As they or entail new constraints, such as high envi- improve corporations' competitiveness, cre- converge towards the standard regime and Commerce 20% Health, social ronmental performance. ating new commercial outlets and opportu- gradually adapt to ongoing changes in work cultural and Chapter 8 thus shows that agroecological nities for employment. Actif'Agri also shows (e.g. rising female representation, outsourc- 11% sport action 6% farming methods and short distribution chan- that exports of intermediate agricultural and ing), they are helping to make farming more Management, compagny nels appear to be positive for employment, agrifood products contribute to employment similar to managing a small company, as is also adminsitration 5% whereas technology-based innovation tends, in France not only in the relevant production observed in the other sectors of the economy. Construction and public works due to the investment it demands, to complicate sectors (cf. Figure 8), but also in other areas Transports, the farm's transmission. Moreover, farmers of the economy, services in particular. Process Policies on agriculture logistics and 14% industries are accessing these new types of expertise, Maintenance 6% tourism 9% 8% tools and techniques via numerous channels 5. Public policies and their effects As for Chapter 11, this examines the role Source: Actif'Agri, p. 107 Source: Insee datas, IFP investigation 2014-2015 (Dares treatment); illustration CEP and in ways that are increasingly individu- played by policies on agriculture, including alised, and this is bringing about far-reaching As a subsidised sector under tight control, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and commodity prices, levels of employment in tion and geographical areas (cf. Table 1). This change in their profession. and one still fairly extensively administered, the regulation of farm structures and land. the rest of the economy, market competition, larger workforce stems from certain organic agriculture is a focus for numerous public The retention and creation of jobs in farming and so on. Looking at this set of factors, Actif'Agri farming methods (e.g.: mechanical or manual The internationalisation of agricultural interventions at EU, national, regional and are recent objectives for the former and focuses more particularly on three sources weeding), as well as a higher frequency of sectors and employment local government levels. While the objec- more intrinsic to the latter. In both cases, a of change: a search for environmental high short distribution channel marketing processes tives of those interventions are not in most variety of tools have been used, with mixed performance, the dissemination of innova- and increased diversification of farm activities. International trade creates winners and cases directly related to the issue of employ- effects on the transformation of employment initial education of those working in farming tions and the dynamics of commercial flows. Setting aside organic farming, the link between losers, and Chapter 9 sets out to identify ment and changes in the numbers and types and farm activities. has been constantly rising over the last fifty environmental performance and employ- them. From 1995 to 2005, imports from of jobs, they do nevertheless have a profound years, but despite the fact that their jobs Environmental performance ment on conventional farms depends on the countries with high levels of unqualified influence on employment. The final chapters The chapter offers analyses of the redis- require increasingly specialised skills, it is and employment type of production: whereas the “greenest” workforce generally reduced the employ- of Actif'Agri seek to understand their tangible tributive effects of current CAP program- still below that of the French working popu- dairy farms are more work-intensive, the ment of unqualified workers and contrib- effects with a view to improving the action ming in terms of support per member of the lation in general (cf. Figure 11). The diversi- Chapter 7 examines the link between the opposite is true for major field crops. uted to an increase in income inequality taken by the authorities. workforce (cf. Figure 10), and alternative fication of farming models, increasingly environmental performance of farms and the between the qualified and the unqualified. scenarios are explored. The results testify to numerous pathways to expertise and the employment and activities they generate. It Innovation, employment and activities However, for the major exporting nations Fiscal and social policies the relatively modest potential of this area acceleration of technological innovation all demonstrates that organic farming employs such as France, the positive impact of exports of policy where jobs are concerned, com- demand lifelong adaptation of skills. Devel- generally more workers (wage-based or not) The consequences of innovations for employ- more than offset the negative impact of The first area studied is that of fiscal and pared with other tools. opment and training policies designed in the than conventional agriculture, but with dif- ment are difficult to measure. Since the 1950s, imports, resulting in a positive net outcome social policy, in which the various schemes 1960s and 1970s around three core focuses ferent impacts depending on types of produc- they have led principally to increased pro- for unqualified jobs and inequality. targeting agriculture are of growing impor- Human capital development policies (agricultural training, entry into farming, tance in budgetary terms (cf. Figure 9). Although development) are gradually changing to Table 1 - Statistical link between their main objective is not generally to foster Policies targeting the development of take account of these new issues. “organic farming” certification Figure 7 - Changes in work factor and capital formation in farming, EU15 employment, most do contribute to chang- human capital in farming form the subject The public policies examined by Actif’Agri and farm employment ing it. In the 1960s, these policies supported of Chapter 12. We see here that the level of appear to have fairly ambivalent and rela- 140 (all other things being equal) Link between Production type organic farming/AWUs 120

Dairy cattle (a ll) + 100 Dairy cattle – lowland /

Dairy cattle – upland ++

Dairy cattle – Alps, Jura ++ 80

Dairy cattle – Auvergne /

Market gardening (all) + 60 Market gardening – open air ++

Winegrowing ( all) ++ 40 Winegrowing – Bordeaux area ++ Index (100=2005)

Winegrowing – Languedoc- ++ Roussillon 20

Source: table summarising figures 7.10 to 7.12 in Actif’Agri (pp. 129-131) and the annexes to CEP working document no. 14: Midler E, Depeyrot J.-N, 0 Source: European Commission, 2016 Detang-Dessendre C, 2018, Performance environnementale des exploitations agricoles et emploi 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 [The environmental performance of agricultural holdings and employment], Centre for Research and Strategic Analysis (CEP): https://agriculture.- EU15 labour EU15 capital gouv.fr/performance-environnementale-des- exploitations-agricoles-et-emploi-document- Source: Actif'Agri, p. 141 de-travail-ndeg14

4 ■ CENTRE FOR STUDIES AND STRATEGIC FORESIGHT Analysis No 145 - November 2020

4. Three drivers of transformation in employment and activities in farming

Many of the changes described in Actif'Agri can found their source in a combination of external factors: consumer expectations,

In recent years trade has been changing the transformation of “peasants” into “farm- as “global value chains” have developed. The ers” and encouraged a search for productivity Figure 9 - Amounts and allocation internationalisation of French and European gains for work based on a family-farm model of tax and social contributions agrifood sectors has been expanding the and controlled-cost paid labour. relief in farming, 2017 interactions between exports and imports. €3.7m tax and social contributions relief, 2017 Increased use of imported intermediate products, Today, they provide income support and involved in the production of our exports, can have become a crisis management tool. As they 3% improve corporations' competitiveness, cre- converge towards the standard regime and 16% ating new commercial outlets and opportu- gradually adapt to ongoing changes in work 28% nities for employment. Actif'Agri also shows (e.g. rising female representation, outsourc- that exports of intermediate agricultural and ing), they are helping to make farming more agrifood products contribute to employment similar to managing a small company, as is also 5% in France not only in the relevant production observed in the other sectors of the economy. 32% sectors (cf. Figure 8), but also in other areas 15% of the economy, services in particular. Policies on agriculture 1%

As for Chapter 11, this examines the role 5. Public policies and their effects Taxes on energy and gas, reduced rates, etc. played by policies on agriculture, including Property tax on unconstructed land Income/profit tax (e.g. research tax credit, organic tax credit) As a subsidised sector under tight control, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Other tax measures (including VAT reductions etc.) and one still fairly extensively administered, the regulation of farm structures and land. Relief on employers’ social contributions Reduction in individual farm operators’ contributions The retention and creation of jobs in farming agriculture is a focus for numerous public Financial relief (debt restructuring, cash flow, Agridiff, etc. Source: public aid to agriculture 2017 (Department of Statistic s and Strategic Analysis - [SSP] 2018), CEP graphic interventions at EU, national, regional and are recent objectives for the former and Source: Actif'Agri, p. 169 local government levels. While the objec- more intrinsic to the latter. In both cases, a tives of those interventions are not in most variety of tools have been used, with mixed cases directly related to the issue of employ- effects on the transformation of employment initial education of those working in farming ment and changes in the numbers and types and farm activities. has been constantly rising over the last fifty of jobs, they do nevertheless have a profound years, but despite the fact that their jobs influence on employment. The final chapters The chapter offers analyses of the redis- require increasingly specialised skills, it is of Actif'Agri seek to understand their tangible tributive effects of current CAP program- still below that of the French working popu- effects with a view to improving the action ming in terms of support per member of the lation in general (cf. Figure 11). The diversi- taken by the authorities. workforce (cf. Figure 10), and alternative fication of farming models, increasingly scenarios are explored. The results testify to numerous pathways to expertise and the Fiscal and social policies the relatively modest potential of this area acceleration of technological innovation all of policy where jobs are concerned, com- demand lifelong adaptation of skills. Devel- The first area studied is that of fiscal and pared with other tools. opment and training policies designed in the social policy, in which the various schemes 1960s and 1970s around three core focuses targeting agriculture are of growing impor- Human capital development policies (agricultural training, entry into farming, tance in budgetary terms (cf. Figure 9). Although development) are gradually changing to their main objective is not generally to foster Policies targeting the development of take account of these new issues. employment, most do contribute to chang- human capital in farming form the subject The public policies examined by Actif’Agri ing it. In the 1960s, these policies supported of Chapter 12. We see here that the level of appear to have fairly ambivalent and rela-

Figure 8 - Percentage of French agricultural employment associated with global value chains (percentage of sector employment tied to exports of intermediate products)

Wheat Oilseeds Maize, barley, rye, oats, other cereals Oils and plant-based fats Sugar Legumes, fruit, nuts Pigs, poultry, others livestock, etc. Beverages, tobacco Cattle, sheep, goats and live horses Dairy products Cereal-based preparations, flour, pastries, etc. Pigmeat, offal, meat preparations

Ornamental plants, flowers, tea, spices and other crops

Beef and veal Source: OECD/GTAP data, calculations by the authors

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% Source: Actif'Agri, p. 161

CENTRE FOR STUDIES AND STRATEGIC FORESIGHT Analysis No 145 - November 2020 ■ 5

(usually definitive) for other occupational farming profession by diversifying its occu- by sharp peaks in activity, a high level of sea- horizons are largely motivated by the diffi- pational references and communities of sonality, a variety of hazards and major price cult living and working conditions (e.g. remu- practice. The rapid expansion of organic volatility. And these categories of worker do neration, harsh working conditions, lack of farming is a good example. Organic farming not all have the same status or enjoy the work/family life separation) rather than by often goes hand in hand with activities involv- same recognition. business failure. ing product processing and the marketing of Historically, family labour has accounted These different change processes (margin- products via short distribution channels or for a large proportion of this “status-less” alisation within society, defamilialisation of directly on the farm. workforce: spouses, retired parents, chil- the work collective, development of wage- The entry conditions for the agricultural dren, and so on. Some of this family help was based labour and task outsourcing, increased sector also feature this same heterogeneity made visible by statistical surveys and the occupational and social mobility, etc.) lead of models, with a variety of career paths: obligation to adopt more protective forms of to the conclusion that a process of “normal- farmers more often enter the industry with- status offering enhanced recognition of the isation” is under way in the farming profes- out any family background in farming, after work performed. The introduction of the sion: it is converging more and more with previous occupational experiences, and at formal role of “collaborating spouse” (con- management of small or very small enter- different times in their lives. Access to farm- joint collaborateur) has for example thrown prises in the other sectors of the economy. ing is still more difficult than in other sectors a spotlight on women working on farms. And it is a fact that exchanges of people given the high entry cost related to acquisi- In certain regions and for certain crops and information between agriculture and tion of the productive capital. This difficulty (e.g. orchards, winegrowing), some mem- other domains are expanding, as the farm- is accompanied by diversification in types of bers of the workforce are precarious working world becomes increasingly porous and land ownership and underlying corporate ers on whom there is relatively little infor- open. Normalisation and porosity feed into forms, facilitated by changes in farm struc- mation and who are frequently left out of the process of “de-agriculturalisation” of tures monitoring policies. account in discussions of sector issues. the industry continue to be largely driven by Towards the normalisation and “porosity” French society, as is also the case in all other The diversification in models can be a Their working conditions are more or less family-type farms. of the farming profession European countries. response to the specific characteristics of well documented, but the worst-off are prob- An input of external skills and labour can Public policies, while supporting and agricultural activities. Specifically, farming ably those that escape oversight – illegal Farm operators are the members of the be a palliative for the withdrawal of the family, reflecting this “normalisation” of agricul- remains seasonal and marked by the uncer- workers foremost among them. agricultural workforce experiencing the hence the increase, in both relative and abso- ture, also single out the agricultural work- tainty arising from the use of natural capital The expansion in wage-based employ- most striking changes. The continuous ero- lute terms, of paid employment under per- force less and less. Although social and and dependence on the weather. The gradual ment and task outsourcing promotes the sion in their numbers is now obvious, just manent contract, but more especially of tem- fiscal provisions still consider them to be cit- liberalisation of the sector and exposure to development of jobs whose status is precar- as the farms they operate are undergoing a porary paid labour. Such wage-based employ- izens in a particular category, covered by price fluctuation increase both risks and ious. This vulnerability and the low levels of process of concentration and enlargement. ment is also increasingly outsourced and more flexible, less protective work legisla- hazards. Whereas market regulation (i.e. pay should be seen in conjunction with the Leaving behind a peasant farmer population provided by a variety of legal entities: agri- tion for the employees, a tax regime that fos- guaranteed prices and commercial outlets) modest and unstable nature of the revenue that was once very much in the majority in cultural service providers, employer group- ters labour productivity and less social pro- in the 1970s and 1980s was favourable to of the majority of farm operators. French society, farmers today are no more ings, farm machinery cooperatives (CUMA), tection for the self-employed, the current farmers deploying the “technical packages” Lastly, in farming as in other sectors, the than a minority in a constantly expanding foreign service providers using posted work- trend is towards convergence with the gen- underlying the standard model, mainte- place occupied by women still differs from and diversifying working population. Mar- ers, and so on. Farming has in this way become eral regime. Given this, the need is to pro- nance of activity now requires an adaptation that of men: the farming world continues to ginalised as they are, even in the country- a complex system of tasks that may be car- vide more support for occupational mobility of risk management strategies to match the be gendered. Women do not do the same side, they are now just one group of actors ried out equally by the farm operator or by (cf. the debate around “agricultural unem- chosen system of production. The agro- work, or in the same sectors, and they do not in rural life, one socio-professional category third parties. Taken to its extremes, such ployment”), to move away from the inher- nomic, organisational and financial solu- have the same income or the same career among many. task delegation may go so far as to include itance model (cf. the discussions around tions adopted (recourse to futures markets, paths. Despite their higher level of general The French farming model traditionally the entirety of productive activity. “corporate” tax regimes) or to improve work- for example) contribute to this diversity of education and greater mobility, they are structured around the farmer/spouse tandem Generally speaking, paid farm workers ing and living conditions (social protection, models. For example, wage-based employ- more exposed than men to occupational is also breaking down into various types of are relatively young and have a history of quality of working life). ment may be chosen by individuals wishing illness and less exposed to physical risk. tively limited effects on the changes in the organisation, whose common feature is the fairly precarious employment including to work in farming without having to deal Overall, their presence on farms is declining farming world, which they assist, reduce or disengagement of the family collective. work outside agriculture in various sectors The increasing heterogeneity of agricultu- with the associated risks. due to the expansion of paid workforce, amplify rather than direct or control. Indeed, Although there has always been a variety of of the economy. It is a workforce that is increas- ral models This trend towards diversification raises which includes more men, and the stagna- most such policies are not aimed at agricul- different models, the link between the family ingly flexible, hired under ever-shorter con- issues for public policies originally designed tion over the last ten years in the percentage tural employment or changes in activities or and the production unit was a specific his- tracts and recruited by temporary work Although the activity of a farm operator is for the typical French family farm of the of women running agricultural holdings. But jobs, and there is little research to support torical characteristic of French farming. agencies that help facilitate transfers of increasingly similar to that of the manager 1960s, a model that they have been slow to these changes mask more complex realities any real evaluation of their impacts in this Today, the tendency is for the farm opera- labour with construction and public works, of a small business, definition of the job of a relinquish. This trend also raises the ques- linked to variations in status and statistics. area. They continue to be shaped by the tor’s family to withdraw from involvement among other sectors. “farmer” covers situations that are increas- tion of the status of “farmer” as opposed to For many years, women farm operators were legacy of policies in previous decades which in his or her work. The income sources of Where farmers are concerned, their occu- ingly heterogeneous from the standpoint of “owner” or “manager” of an agricultural spouses who took over the farm when their encourage, with effective results, the devel- farm households are diversifying and it is pational mobility is tending to increase, work organisation, tasks to be performed business, as well as the definition and limits husband retired. Today, women entering opment of the productivist agricultural more often the case that spouses have no family although it remains limited. It is more often and ways of ensuring their performance. of the “agricultural holding”. farming more often do so in roles equivalent model of the time, a model that does not background in farming, and many have jobs the case that they have entered farming after This diversity probably already existed 30 to those of men and on a more independent favour the retention of jobs in farming. off the farm. As for the children, they do not experience of employment in other sectors. or 50 years ago, but it was overshadowed by Precarity and inequality basis as managers of their own projects and necessarily intend to take over the family Their level of initial education is rising, as it the dominance of the traditional family-farm not as spouses, with or without a formal role. 6. Some general lessons to be drawn farm and are increasingly looking to take up is the in the whole of French society, but the model. As that model has retreated, a variety In the dominant representations, a farm from Actif'Agri other careers. Becoming a farmer is no longer general educational system now plays a of forms of farm reconfiguration have come operator is the symbolic embodiment of Human capital, a key issue an ineluctable destiny, or a vocation directly dominant role compared with that of agricul- into view. More complex structures are farm work. Moving away from this stereo- The twelve chapters of Actif'Agri illustrate, connected to a family origin and a way of life. tural training. They now start their projects appearing that resemble entrepreneurial type, Actif'Agri shows that agricultural Despite the fact that farmers’ level of initial each in accordance with its chosen focus, the Within this broad structural trend, there more and more frequently without dedicated activity: holding companies, farm operator workforce is composed of a variety of cate- education has been constantly rising over the changes in form and content of employment is naturally a wide range of situations depend- public financial support. Farmers may thus groupings, for example. gories. Farming makes use of temporary last fifty years, as it has in the rest of society, in the agricultural sector. Combining what ing on sector, local region and individual his- give up their farms more easily than in the The broadening of the range of very widely employment, or even day labour, sourced the diversification of agricultural models they can all tell us, a number of general con- tory: for example, in dairy production, the past and the early winding up of farm busi- available innovations (technical, organisa- inside or outside the family, to meet the and accelerating technological innovation clusions can be defined. dynamics of farm enlargement and entry into nesses is more frequent. Such departures tional, managerial, and so on) changes the imperatives of a form of production typified require continuous adaptation of vocational In recent years trade has been changing the transformation of “peasants” into “farm- as “global value chains” have developed. The ers” and encouraged a search for productivity internationalisation of French and European gains for work based on a family-farm model agrifood sectors has been expanding the and controlled-cost paid labour. interactions between exports and imports. Increased use of imported intermediate products, Today, they provide income support and involved in the production of our exports, can have become a crisis management tool. As they improve corporations' competitiveness, cre- converge towards the standard regime and ating new commercial outlets and opportu- gradually adapt to ongoing changes in work nities for employment. Actif'Agri also shows (e.g. rising female representation, outsourc- that exports of intermediate agricultural and ing), they are helping to make farming more agrifood products contribute to employment similar to managing a small company, as is also in France not only in the relevant production observed in the other sectors of the economy. sectors (cf. Figure 8), but also in other areas of the economy, services in particular. Policies on agriculture

(usually definitive) for other occupational farming profession by diversifying its occu- by sharp peaks in activity, a high level of sea- Figure 10 - Variation from the mean of CAP first pillar support, in euros, per AWU and by type of production, 2010-2016 horizons are largely motivated by the diffi- pational references and communities of sonality, a variety of hazards and major price cult living and working conditions (e.g. remu- practice. The rapid expansion of organic volatility. And these categories of worker do 10000 neration, harsh working conditions, lack of farming is a good example. Organic farming not all have the same status or enjoy the 8000 6000 work/family life separation) rather than by often goes hand in hand with activities involv- same recognition. 4000 business failure. ing product processing and the marketing of Historically, family labour has accounted 2000 These different change processes (margin- products via short distribution channels or for a large proportion of this “status-less” 0 alisation within society, defamilialisation of directly on the farm. workforce: spouses, retired parents, chil- -2000 the work collective, development of wage- The entry conditions for the agricultural dren, and so on. Some of this family help was € / UTA -4000 based labour and task outsourcing, increased sector also feature this same heterogeneity made visible by statistical surveys and the -6000 -8000 occupational and social mobility, etc.) lead of models, with a variety of career paths: obligation to adopt more protective forms of -10000 processed by SSP to the conclusion that a process of “normal- farmers more often enter the industry with- status offering enhanced recognition of the -12000 isation” is under way in the farming profes- out any family background in farming, after work performed. The introduction of the

-14000 and Farm Structure Survey 2016, sion: it is converging more and more with previous occupational experiences, and at formal role of “collaborating spouse” (con-

Source: data from Services and Payment management of small or very small enter- different times in their lives. Access to farm- joint collaborateur) has for example thrown Agency 2010 & 2016, Agricultural Census prises in the other sectors of the economy. ing is still more difficult than in other sectors a spotlight on women working on farms. BEEF AND MIXEDVEAL CATTLE DAIRY CATTLE SHEEP &FRUITS GOATS GROWINGWINE GROWING MAJOR FIELD CROPS PIGS AND POULTRY MARKET& HORTICULTURE GARDENING And it is a fact that exchanges of people given the high entry cost related to acquisi- In certain regions and for certain crops MIXED CROP & LIVESTOCK and information between agriculture and tion of the productive capital. This difficulty (e.g. orchards, winegrowing), some mem- Note: the scope of analysis covers holdings receiving first pillar support payments in 2010 and 2016. other domains are expanding, as the farm- is accompanied by diversification in types of bers of the workforce are precarious work- Source: Actif'Agri, p. 191 The bars extending above (or below) the zero line indicate that the beneficiaries received more (or less) support. ing world becomes increasingly porous and land ownership and underlying corporate ers on whom there is relatively little infor- open. Normalisation and porosity feed into forms, facilitated by changes in farm struc- mation and who are frequently left out of the process of “de-agriculturalisation” of tures monitoring policies. account in discussions of sector issues. the industry continue to be largely driven by Towards the normalisation and “porosity” French society, as is also the case in all other The diversification in models can be a Their working conditions are more or less family-type farms. Figure 11 - Percentage of the working of the farming profession European countries. response to the specific characteristics of well documented, but the worst-off are prob- An input of external skills and labour can population having attended Public policies, while supporting and agricultural activities. Specifically, farming ably those that escape oversight – illegal Farm operators are the members of the be a palliative for the withdrawal of the family, secondary education in France reflecting this “normalisation” of agricul- remains seasonal and marked by the uncer- workers foremost among them. agricultural workforce experiencing the hence the increase, in both relative and abso- ture, also single out the agricultural work- tainty arising from the use of natural capital The expansion in wage-based employ- most striking changes. The continuous ero- lute terms, of paid employment under per- 90% force less and less. Although social and and dependence on the weather. The gradual ment and task outsourcing promotes the National workforce sion in their numbers is now obvious, just manent contract, but more especially of tem- 85% fiscal provisions still consider them to be cit- liberalisation of the sector and exposure to development of jobs whose status is precar- as the farms they operate are undergoing a porary paid labour. Such wage-based employ- 80% izens in a particular category, covered by price fluctuation increase both risks and ious. This vulnerability and the low levels of process of concentration and enlargement. ment is also increasingly outsourced and 75% more flexible, less protective work legisla- hazards. Whereas market regulation (i.e. pay should be seen in conjunction with the 70% Leaving behind a peasant farmer population provided by a variety of legal entities: agri- tion for the employees, a tax regime that fos- guaranteed prices and commercial outlets) modest and unstable nature of the revenue 65% that was once very much in the majority in cultural service providers, employer group- Agricultural ters labour productivity and less social pro- in the 1970s and 1980s was favourable to of the majority of farm operators. 60% French society, farmers today are no more ings, farm machinery cooperatives (CUMA), workforce tection for the self-employed, the current farmers deploying the “technical packages” Lastly, in farming as in other sectors, the 55% than a minority in a constantly expanding foreign service providers using posted work- trend is towards convergence with the gen- underlying the standard model, mainte- place occupied by women still differs from 50% and diversifying working population. Mar- ers, and so on. Farming has in this way become eral regime. Given this, the need is to pro- nance of activity now requires an adaptation that of men: the farming world continues to 45% ginalised as they are, even in the country- a complex system of tasks that may be car- vide more support for occupational mobility of risk management strategies to match the be gendered. Women do not do the same 40% side, they are now just one group of actors ried out equally by the farm operator or by (cf. the debate around “agricultural unem- chosen system of production. The agro- work, or in the same sectors, and they do not in rural life, one socio-professional category third parties. Taken to its extremes, such 199519971999200120032005200720092011201320152017 ployment”), to move away from the inher- nomic, organisational and financial solu- have the same income or the same career

Source: Eurostat data among many. task delegation may go so far as to include Source: Actif'Agri, p. 202 itance model (cf. the discussions around tions adopted (recourse to futures markets, paths. Despite their higher level of general The French farming model traditionally the entirety of productive activity. “corporate” tax regimes) or to improve work- for example) contribute to this diversity of education and greater mobility, they are structured around the farmer/spouse tandem Generally speaking, paid farm workers ing and living conditions (social protection, models. For example, wage-based employ- more exposed than men to occupational is also breaking down into various types of are relatively young and have a history of quality of working life). ment may be chosen by individuals wishing illness and less exposed to physical risk. tively limited effects on the changes in the organisation, whose common feature is the fairly precarious employment including to work in farming without having to deal Overall, their presence on farms is declining farming world, which they assist, reduce or disengagement of the family collective. work outside agriculture in various sectors The increasing heterogeneity of agricultu- with the associated risks. due to the expansion of paid workforce, amplify rather than direct or control. Indeed, Although there has always been a variety of of the economy. It is a workforce that is increas- ral models This trend towards diversification raises which includes more men, and the stagna- most such policies are not aimed at agricul- different models, the link between the family ingly flexible, hired under ever-shorter con- issues for public policies originally designed tion over the last ten years in the percentage tural employment or changes in activities or and the production unit was a specific his- tracts and recruited by temporary work Although the activity of a farm operator is for the typical French family farm of the of women running agricultural holdings. But jobs, and there is little research to support torical characteristic of French farming. agencies that help facilitate transfers of increasingly similar to that of the manager 1960s, a model that they have been slow to these changes mask more complex realities any real evaluation of their impacts in this Today, the tendency is for the farm opera- labour with construction and public works, of a small business, definition of the job of a relinquish. This trend also raises the ques- linked to variations in status and statistics. area. They continue to be shaped by the tor’s family to withdraw from involvement among other sectors. “farmer” covers situations that are increas- tion of the status of “farmer” as opposed to For many years, women farm operators were legacy of policies in previous decades which in his or her work. The income sources of Where farmers are concerned, their occu- ingly heterogeneous from the standpoint of “owner” or “manager” of an agricultural spouses who took over the farm when their encourage, with effective results, the devel- farm households are diversifying and it is pational mobility is tending to increase, work organisation, tasks to be performed business, as well as the definition and limits husband retired. Today, women entering opment of the productivist agricultural more often the case that spouses have no family although it remains limited. It is more often and ways of ensuring their performance. of the “agricultural holding”. farming more often do so in roles equivalent model of the time, a model that does not background in farming, and many have jobs the case that they have entered farming after This diversity probably already existed 30 to those of men and on a more independent favour the retention of jobs in farming. off the farm. As for the children, they do not experience of employment in other sectors. or 50 years ago, but it was overshadowed by Precarity and inequality basis as managers of their own projects and necessarily intend to take over the family Their level of initial education is rising, as it the dominance of the traditional family-farm not as spouses, with or without a formal role. 6. Some general lessons to be drawn farm and are increasingly looking to take up is the in the whole of French society, but the model. As that model has retreated, a variety In the dominant representations, a farm from Actif'Agri other careers. Becoming a farmer is no longer general educational system now plays a of forms of farm reconfiguration have come operator is the symbolic embodiment of Human capital, a key issue an ineluctable destiny, or a vocation directly dominant role compared with that of agricul- into view. More complex structures are farm work. Moving away from this stereo- The twelve chapters of Actif'Agri illustrate, connected to a family origin and a way of life. tural training. They now start their projects appearing that resemble entrepreneurial type, Actif'Agri shows that agricultural Despite the fact that farmers’ level of initial each in accordance with its chosen focus, the Within this broad structural trend, there more and more frequently without dedicated activity: holding companies, farm operator workforce is composed of a variety of cate- education has been constantly rising over the changes in form and content of employment is naturally a wide range of situations depend- public financial support. Farmers may thus groupings, for example. gories. Farming makes use of temporary last fifty years, as it has in the rest of society, in the agricultural sector. Combining what ing on sector, local region and individual his- give up their farms more easily than in the The broadening of the range of very widely employment, or even day labour, sourced the diversification of agricultural models they can all tell us, a number of general con- tory: for example, in dairy production, the past and the early winding up of farm busi- available innovations (technical, organisa- inside or outside the family, to meet the and accelerating technological innovation clusions can be defined. dynamics of farm enlargement and entry into nesses is more frequent. Such departures tional, managerial, and so on) changes the imperatives of a form of production typified require continuous adaptation of vocational

6 ■ CENTRE FOR STUDIES AND STRATEGIC FORESIGHT Analysis No 145 - November 2020 In recent years trade has been changing the transformation of “peasants” into “farm- as “global value chains” have developed. The ers” and encouraged a search for productivity internationalisation of French and European gains for work based on a family-farm model agrifood sectors has been expanding the and controlled-cost paid labour. interactions between exports and imports. Increased use of imported intermediate products, Today, they provide income support and involved in the production of our exports, can have become a crisis management tool. As they improve corporations' competitiveness, cre- converge towards the standard regime and ating new commercial outlets and opportu- gradually adapt to ongoing changes in work nities for employment. Actif'Agri also shows (e.g. rising female representation, outsourc- that exports of intermediate agricultural and ing), they are helping to make farming more agrifood products contribute to employment similar to managing a small company, as is also in France not only in the relevant production observed in the other sectors of the economy. sectors (cf. Figure 8), but also in other areas of the economy, services in particular. Policies on agriculture

CENTRE FOR STUDIES AND STRATEGIC FORESIGHT Analysis No 145 - November 2020 ■ 7 skills. The issue is no longer how to access reorganising their day-to-day activities to build farm price competitiveness in the context of technologies but how to develop a business new skillsets and new ways of working. international competition. A number of sig- plan. Today, the level of education of the This study did not set out to cover every nals tend to indicate that the present dynamic agricultural workforce, whether on a wage or aspect and every issue relating to the trans- favours continued effort to reduce labour costs. not, remains lower than in the global French formation of agricultural work and activities This raises the question of the acceptable working population, in spite of the fact that in France. Possible avenues for research level of social performance for agriculture in their jobs demand increasingly high levels were explored and others remain to be explored. France and abroad, and how that level might of qualification and ability. Results have been produced but many others be raised. Among the ways discussed in this In particular, questions of work organisa- are lacking and there are still areas of igno- study, the “social quality” of agricultural tion are increasingly important. The range rance that call for further research. Some of goods could in the future be a new factor in of strategic decisions to be taken is broader: these require a change in the level of analy- product differentiation for consumers in on what market should the farm be positioned? sis to look at regional and local dynamics, at developed countries, as it has been observed Which activities should be undertaken directly international similarities and dissimilari- in other sectors of the economy. and which should be delegated? What inno- ties, and at induced and indirect employ- The third tension concerns human capital: vations should be adopted? How can high ment surrounding agricultural productive despite the observed rise in levels of training environmental performance be combined activity (upstream and downstream). More and qualification, agricultural workers are with productivity? Farm operators often do in-depth analysis of the effects of public pol- still less educated than the population as a not possess all the skills required for the icies remains to be done from a range of stand- whole, in spite of the fact that the level of adaptation of their business, hence the need points, particularly with regard to taxation ability required by their jobs is constantly for outside input. and social security systems. increasing. The lack of certain skills (e.g. In farming as elsewhere, expertise breeds The facts observed and the trends identi- management, information and communica- expertise: workers with the best levels of ini- fied by Actif'Agri reveal the challenges that tion technology) can be a handicap for busi- tial education are also those who continue to policy makers will need to confront tomor- ness innovation and the working conditions train throughout their careers. Such skills row to bring about a form of agriculture that of the paid workforce. Additionally, agricul- are also necessary to achieve mobility and best matches their expectations. They lead tural workers make less use than others of successfully undertake changes of direction to the formulation of a small number of stra- continuous vocational training, while agri- during their careers. tegic focuses that concern all stakeholders cultural development schemes fail to engage Human capital is of little value without in the farming world, public actors foremost a significant percentage of workers. To address healthy working conditions enabling abilities among them. Of the many topics addressed these tensions, the Actif'Agri group suggests to be used effectively. Although the situation in the conclusion to the study (generational that both public and private-sector effort has significantly improved over the long term, renewal, evaluation of public policies, and so should be stepped up to assist agriculture’s the working conditions of the agricultural on) we focus here on the social performance paid workforce. More generally, the chal- workforce remain problematic compared of French agriculture. Where this is concerned, lenge posed by human capital calls for con- with those for the French population as a attention will need to be paid to three types sideration of the links between the organisa- documents these novel configurations with whole: working time constraints, physical of tensions in the future. tion of work and effective use of individual the aim of deepening our shared understand- risks, low income in some cases and debt. The first tension is between the objectives and collective skills. ing of them. What are the current broad trends The context (isolation, social pressure, etc.) of farm job retention on the one hand and By the end of this study, there are numer- in terms of jobs and work in agriculture? is also a source of specific health issues. This increased labour productivity on the other. ous avenues for reflection, research and action, Who today is actually in charge of agricul- is evidenced by a higher incidence of work- Such increase depends largely on technical and we hope that it will contribute to discus- tural production? Which activities are being place accidents and occupational illness innovations and on consumption of inputs sions on the future of French agriculture. developed preferentially, and to the detri- compared with the general average. This sit- accompanied by suitable advisory services, ment of which other activities? Who is work- uation is accepted and tolerated by some in underpinned by public incentives such as ing where and under what conditions? 2 farming to whom it seems normal for work support for investment and modernisation. Vanina Forget , Bruno Hérault, To answer these questions, some of the to be hard and stressful or a source of illness. Historically, improved labour productivity Raphaël Beaujeu, Jean-Noël Depeyrot, major drivers for change that explain these Others find this increasingly difficult to accept, has led to the eviction of the least productive Mickaël Hugonnet, Muriel Mahé, changes are explored here, with a particular and they leave the sector. farms, along with their workers. Today, the Estelle Midler focus on public policies and their real-world Given the levels of income in farming, the race for ever-higher productivity based on Centre for Studies impacts. The publication has twelve chap- difficult conditions for work and life contrib- technological innovation is questioned due and Strategic Foresight (CEP) ters grouped in four main sections, propos- ute for some to diminished attractiveness for to its increasingly unfavourable cost-benefit ing a panoramic, contemporary overview of a profession which nevertheless has numer- ratio for farms (debt, solvency issues, upstream French farming at work. ous positive aspects. This handicap is a factor, dependence, problematic transferability, 2. V. Forget was a member of the CEP at the time of This note sets out its main results. After among others, in the difficulty of recruitment. resilience). One way to resolve this tension drafting this note. summarising the overall approach adopted One farmer in every three is currently not would be to replace productivity as defined throughout the study, in its second part it replaced, but there are many young people in by volume with productivity based on eco- Ministry of Agriculture and Food General Secretariat recalls the key figures for the changes under the paid workforce: the sector could capital- nomic performance, lying on creating higher Centre for Studies way and documents the main ongoing trends, ise on them by supporting their career devel- gross margins per worker. This could mean and Strategic Foresight (CEP) looking particularly at dairy production. The opment and building their skills. encouragement of alternative, more eco- 3 rue Barbet de Jouy 75349 PARIS 07 SP third part addresses quality of work, precar- nomic and self-sufficient systems limiting Website: www.agreste.agriculture.gouv.fr ity of employment, the working and health * the use of inputs, generating smaller vol- www.agriculture.gouv.fr conditions of farm workers and their occu- umes in production, but with controlled Director of publication: Corinne Prost pational mobility. This is followed by an explo- Far from the image of an unchanging, tra- costs and therefore better margins. Editor-in-chief: Bruno Hérault ration of some major determinants for these ditional farming world, Actif'Agri shows that A second tension exists between the desire Mail: [email protected] transformational processes: a search for agriculture is reinventing itself through the to improve the quality of work, and specifi- Tél. : +(33)1 49 55 85 75 high environmental performance, dissemi- efforts of the women and men involved in it, cally its remuneration and execution, and Legal Deposit: To publication © 2020 nation of innovation, globalisation of global

8 ■ CENTRE FOR STUDIES AND STRATEGIC FORESIGHT Analysis No 145 - November 2020

4. Three drivers of transformation in employment and activities in farming

Many of the changes described in Actif'Agri can found their source in a combination of external factors: consumer expectations,