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

Abstract

The paper’s 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.