Long abstract
Agricultural Policy Reform and Farm Employment
Declines in farm employment have been observed in most developed countries in the post World WarII era. In this period, the numbers of farms, farm operators and farm households have steadily declined, and off-farm employment or pluriactivity among farm households is now common. The hired farm workforce has similarly witnessed declines in many countries. The overall trend in the majority of developed countries is towards increasing labour productivity, with significantly less employment in production agriculture. In developing economies, patterns of labour utilisation in the agricultural production sector vary widely, but even in these countries there is debate about long-term trends that point to eventual declines in agricultural employment, rather than labour absorption. |
