WG10 – Rethinking labour in agri-food models in Africa
IAWA
ISWA2026
Working groups
WG10 – Rethinking labour in agri-food models in Africa

WG10 – Rethinking labour in agri-food models in Africa

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.

Convenors: Sandrine Michel (Université de Montpellier, ART-Dev, France), Fred Mawunyo Dzanku (University of Ghana, Ghana), Dzifa Torvikey (University of Ghana, Ghana)

Climate Change, Global Economics, and Security Labor: A Study of the Vanilla Farmers Militias of Madagascar  
Isaac Castellano   
 

Innovating in research approaches to support sustainable mechanization in Africa.
Teatske BAKKER, Pauline PUGEAUX   
 

Behind the Promises of Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire  
Jean François Xavier Kessy   
 

Large-scale agricultural investments, jobs, and land relations: what does it tell us for regional development perspective. The case of the maize sector, Bono East region, Ghana 
Sara Mercandalli, Pierre Girard, Dzifa Torvikey, Kofi Asante, Charline Sempere  
 

Agricultural Production Collectivities and Youth Employment in Northern Ghana
Gertrude Aputiik 
 

Histories of technologies: Labour, Work and Agricultural Revolution in Ghana’s Rice Sector 
Gertrude Dzifa Torvikey, Kofi Takyi Asante   
 

Balancing Sustainability and Inclusion: The EUDR and Ghana’s Cocoa Smallholders 
Hedvig Lagercrantz, Lisa Guerra, Harald Grethe, Dagmar Mithöfer   
 

Drivers of the labour content in agricultural production systems. Insights from Ghana    
Pierre Girard, Cédric Gaillard, Sandrine Michel, Fred Dzanku, Emmanuel Sasu, Guillaume Soullier 
 

Trading as a Major Source of Employment in Food Value Chains: Evidence from Ghana’s Maize Sector   
Guillaume Soullier, Ninon Sirdey, Samuel Ahoudjo, Grace Wilson, Pierre Girard   
 

From Family Labor to Permanent Wage Work: Farm Workload and Social Sustainability in Algerian Agriculture   
Amina Raggas, Marouane CHAAMI, Fatima Lambarraa-Lehnhardt   
 

Drivers of decent jobs in mango and cashew processing SMEs in West Africa  
Mohamed Porgo, Pierre Girard, Mamadou Bobo Barry, Houssofome Zacharia Yoda, Pape Bilal Diakhate, Windinkonté Seogo, Moussa Sall, Moustapha Kasse
 

Publication date: 11 September 2026 | By: I Avelange