STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN AGRICULTURAL WORK IN TUSCANY

This study is an integral part of the joint IRPET-Tuscany Region activity ‘Characteristics and trends of agriculture in Tuscany’, planned for 2024 (3.2024), and was commissioned to IRPET by the Managing Authority of the EAFRD in agreement with the General Directorate ‘Agriculture and Rural Development’ of the Tuscany Region. The study was carried out within the ‘Production Sectors and Enterprises’ area of IRPET. Sara Turchetti and Valentina Patacchini participated in the study design, data collection and processing and report writing phases. The editorial layout was edited by Elena Zangheri (IRPET).

The aim of this exploratory research is to understand how agricultural labour is changing in the Tuscan territories, investigating the links between variations in terms of cultivated surface area and family labour and possible changes in the demand for wage labour. As physiological in a context of tertiarization of the economy, the weight of the agricultural sector on the total economy has lost relevance everywhere in Italy and in Tuscany. This general trend has often been combined with the triggering of selection processes favourable to the survival of the most modern and competitive companies, from which to expect the displacement of agricultural labour, especially the less qualified. On the other hand, the lower availability of family labour may have had a positive effect on the variation in the demand for wage labour, particularly in the seasonal peak phases of production and for small production systems like that of Tuscany. A first analysis at the provincial level shows that the variation in the demand for wage labour is associated to the deactivation of the sector and/or with an increasing specialisation in specific production systems in some territories: a large part of the contraction of labour is due to the disappearance of family farms, especially in the provinces of Massa Carrara and Lucca, while employees have increased mainly in those provinces where the process of specialisation in specific crops has been more intense, such as Siena and Livorno. Using the local labour system (LLS) as a territorial reference grid, a second analysis highlights, first of all, the significant reduction in mountain agriculture and in some types of farming, such as olive groves, most common vine varieties, and cereals and other fieldcrops, while horticulture has grown. In order to understand the consequences on labour, we have identified three groups of LLSs using a cluster k-means procedure: i) SLL with declining agriculture; ii) SLL with displacement of agricultural activities; iii) SLL with high specialisations.

As is to be expected in a context of tertiarization of the economy, the weight of the agricultural sector in the total economy has lost relevance everywhere in Italy and Tuscany. This general trend has often combined with the triggering of selection processes favorable to the survival of the most modern and competitive farms, from which to expect displacement of agricultural labor, especially the less skilled. On the other hand, the lower availability of family labor may have positively affected the variation in demand for wage labor, particularly during seasonal peaks in production and for small production systems such as Tuscany.

An initial analysis at the provincial level shows that the change in demand for wage labor is associated with industry deactivation and/or increasing specialization in specific production orders in some areas: much of the contraction in the number of employees is due to the disappearance of tenants and their respective firms, while wage laborers have increased predominantly in those provinces where specialization in specific orders has been more pronounced.

Using the local labor system (SLL) as a spatial reference mesh, a second analysis shows, first, the significant reduction of mountain agriculture and some production systems, such as olive groves, most common grape varieties and arable crops, while horticulture has grown. In order to understand the labor consequences, we used a cluster k-means procedure, identifying three groups of SLLs: i) SLLs with declining agriculture; ii) SLLs with displacement of agricultural activities; iii) SLLs with high specializations.

Read the Report