Family farming through the lens of work organization. Illustrations from Africa

The paper objective is to generate knowledge about work organization patterns in family farms
across Africa. A thorough understanding of farming systems is essential (since behind every practice, there
is one or several workers), as well as a step toward clarifying the diversity of workers’ task profiles and
working conditions across the continent. The study uses a multisite approach, covering five African
countries and 14 farming systems, from Tunisia to Madagascar, and is based on the Quaework methodology
(which tracks the annual duration of routine and seasonal work, by category of worker—farm manager,
family workers, permanent and temporary workers, and by gender). In total, 438 farms were surveyed. Three
work organization patterns were identified: one based on the farmer’s investment in either managing the
system or performing most operational tasks; another relying on the contributions of family members
notably to routine work; and the third involving the mobilization of wage workers, particularly temporary
workers, for seasonal tasks. Most farming systems combine multiple work organization patterns. The
contribution of women to farm work is also discussed, sometimes more significant and other times less so,
depending on the farming system. We examine the workers’ task profiles and related working conditions,
providing more detail on what the work involves and who the workers are behind “family” farming.

https://doi.org/10.1051/cagri/2025034

Authors : Benoît Dedieu, Nathalie Hostiou, Jacques Kuzo, Sara Mercandalli, Frija Aymen,
Véronique Alary, Yohana Haule, Sitrakiniana Raharimalala, Jean-François Belières,
Catherine Dembele, Jean-Daniel Cesaro, Ba Baba and Pierre Girard.