Working groups

This working group focuses on the double-edged impact of digitalization on agricultural and food systems and looks for holistic approaches to address the changing landscape of work and production in the agri-food economy. It acknowledges that these technologies can improve productivity, resource efficiency and traceability, but also pose significant challenges especially for labour dynamics. The group aims i) to share current research results on technological advances and digitalization in agriculture, ii) to promote dialogue between scientists, practitioners, and policy makers, iii) to develop recommendations for action such as best practices and policy recommendations for improving working conditions, and iv) to identify research gaps and opportunities for future collaboration.

This working group will interrogate the relationships between agricultural workers/farmers and robots and the meanings of robotised agricultural work. It considers emancipatory perspectives, political ecologies of robotisation and robotisation in the broader context of digitalisation. The working group aims to contribute to critical agricultural research on digitalisation and automation by i) compiling empirical and theoretical contributions examining labour, meaning, inclusion, and political ecologies of robotisation in agri-food systems; ii) fostering dialogue across disciplines including agrarian studies, STS, political ecology, labour studies, and responsible innovation research; iii) mapping competing narratives and imaginaries of agricultural robotisation, and iv) exploring how agricultural robotics can be understood not only as technical artefacts but also as socio-political projects with implications for justice, sustainability, cultural heritage, and the transformation of agri-food systems.

Work-related issues on farms and within their socio-technical networks are prompting a rethink of farm development pathways such as diversification. This working group aims to better understand i) how farm work is reconfigured by the expansion into non-agricultural activities and their embeddedness in socio-technical networks, including the reliance on external labour and services; ii) how these diversified farms promote attractive workplaces for workers, iii) share lessons learned across farm work contexts to identify common bottlenecks, successful strategies, and emerging patterns; iv) develop a research agenda on work dynamics, diversification, and socio-technical networks in agriculture, fostering interdisciplinary dialogue. Another purpose is to facilitate networking based on knowledge sharing to encourage future collaborations.

This working group explores pathways, junctures and experiences of youth careers in the agri-food sector. Youth attraction and retention is a crucial element in the discussion about supporting a sustainable agriculture workforce. It implies a need to map the territory of youth careers and experiences in the agri-food sector, considering various junctures shaping career decision-making throughout. The working groups thus aims to showcase recent scholarship and policy research with a view to soliciting academic dialogue, international collaboration and networking that focuses on 1) Empirical research of young people’s engagement in agricultural work, training and careers, 2) Policy approaches shaping young people’s work experiences in the sector, 3) Research building theory and policy.

This working group aims to create an interactive space for sharing and reflecting on the experiences of young family members working on farms and engaging in succession processes. It provides a space for reflection on how farm succession unfolds in practice, what enables or hinders youth involvement, and how this process can be better supported. Bringing together diverse perspectives, the working group will examine both shared patterns and contextual differences, with attention to the roles young family members play on the farm. By fostering open dialogue and exchange, the workshop seeks to generate new perspectives, build connections, and collectively explore pathways to better support and empower the next generation of farmers in sustaining family farms and revitalising rural communities.

This working group focuses on strengthening workers’ rights and socio-economic security, such as fair pay, access to benefits, and retirement systems in the Global North contexts, and expanding basic protections for informal and seasonal workers in Global South. It aims to foster dialogue among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners on transforming agricultural work into a more attractive and sustainable career choice. The group will generate comparative insights and highlight innovative practices by bringing together perspectives from the countries of Global North and South and other comparable contexts. It will also identify systemic barriers and co-develop policy and practice recommendations. The group further aims to stimulate future collaboration to better understand how to attract and retain agricultural workers across regions.

This working group will examine the root causes of labor scarcity in rural Africa and explore strategies to improve the attractiveness of agricultural jobs, focusing on wage trends, working conditions, and job satisfaction for vulnerable groups including women and youth. It will also explore systemic approaches to agricultural workforce development, focusing on collaborative strategies that can be implemented at local and regional levels. Sessions will highlight case studies, empirical or statistical data analyses, as well as methodological and theoretical contributions that explore the topic’s objectives from diverse disciplinary perspectives. Participants share their insights in workforce development and potential solutions to enhancing labour management and workforce attractiveness.

This working group explores effects of the on-going transformations of different production systems (animals and/or crops, pasture based or housing system, etc.) in countries of the Global North and South on the attractiveness of work and support of decent work. It analyses the diversity of forms of work related to the production systems considering different challenges (work organisation, productivity, labour flexibility, capacity to transform, etc.), effects of technical choices (combination of production, livestock and crop management, processing and marketing) on work, discussing also frameworks, concepts and methodologies. Contributions from diverse disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives are welcome.

This working group explores efforts to promote decent work in family farming and the wider agri-food sector considering global changes. It conceives family farms as closely connected farm enterprises and households that co-evolve. In family farms economic, environmental, social and cultural dimensions interconnect. Global changes, such as climate change, demographic change, migration, pandemics and technological transformations that affect the agri-food sector and family farms need to be considered, when exploring decent work and its promotion, including differences in scale and other characteristics between countries. Hence, comparative analysis of policies that target rural labour forces in the Global North and South warrant attention.

This working group explores sustainable agri-food models that can provide decent jobs for the cohorts of young people entering the labour market. It defines agri-food models as the specific combination of agricultural production systems and the valorisation of production by agri-food value chains. The working group aims at advancing the conceptualisation of labour in agri-food models by discussing the current approaches and available data. It will shed light on the socioeconomic and institutional conditions for more and better jobs in differentiated African territories. The group will share new conceptual knowledge and empirical findings on labour in agri-food models in a diversity of South and North contexts.