From panic to business as usual: What coronavirus has revealed about migrant labour, agri‐food systems and industrial relations in the Nordic countries

This article focuses on migrant labour in Nordic agriculture, wild berry picking and food processing. The starting point is the fear of a food crisis at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic (2020) because of the absence of migrant workers. The question was raised early in the pandemic if food systems in the Global North are vulnerable due to dependence on precarious migrant workers. In the light of this question, we assess the reactions of farmers and different actors in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden to what looked like an unfolding food crisis. In many ways, the reactions in the Nordic countries were similar to each other, and to broader reactions in the Global North, and we follow these reactions as they relate to migrant workers from an initial panic to a return to business as usual despite the continuation of the pandemic. In the end, 2020 proved to be an excellent year for Nordic food production in part because migrant workers were able to come. We discuss reasons why the Nordic countries did not face disruptions during the pandemic, map out patterns of labour precarity and segmentation for migrant labour in agriculture and food production in the Nordic countries and propose questions for further research. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Sociologia Ruralis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

COVID-19 debunks the myth of socially sustainable supply chain: A case of the clothing industry in South Asian countries.

The recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has exposed the fragility of the clothing supply chain operating in South Asian countries. Millions of workers have become jobless and are staring at an uncertain future. The purpose of this research is to understand the reasons behind the lack of social sustainability in the clothing supply chain operating in South Asian countries and to suggest ways for an appropriate redressal. Interviews with experts have revealed that the dominant power of some brands in the clothing supply chain is the primary reason. Unauthorised subcontracting of clothing manufacturing and the use of contract labour are also responsible for violations in the 'code of conducts' of social compliance. Post COVID-19, a sustainable sourcing model that incorporates disruption risk sharing contracts between the brands and suppliers should be adopted. Unauthorised subcontracting of clothing manufacturing by the suppliers must be prohibited. Supplier selection and the order allocation policies of the brands should also be tuned to facilitate social security of workers. The participation of NGOs and labour unions should be encouraged so that community development initiatives reach the grassroots level.

In Between Escapade and Peril: The Impact of COVID-19 on Nepali Returnees and Their Families

The outbreak of COVID-19 has damaged the world economy, resulting in the termination of thousands of jobs which affects migrants and their families who have both economic and other investments in migration. This article explores the experiences and challenges of Nepali migrant workers who returned from Malaysia and their wives who were left behind when they originally migrated. We discuss the aspirations of returnee workers, their life and experiences in Malaysia during the pandemic and their experiences of tackling the bureaucratic challenges of the return process in Malaysia and Nepal. We find that any problems in migration also affects those family members who are left behind and discuss the experiences of husbands affect migrants' wives, including their understanding of the foreign employment situation of the husbands and their involvement in different decisions related to foreign employment and the return of their husbands. The study follows a qualitative methodology. Phone interviews were conducted with ten returnee migrants from Malaysia and ten as well as three informants who have knowledge and experience of the sector. The article argues that both migrants and their family members face the consequences of any failures and challenges in migration and that policies should encourage joint discussion among governments of source and host countries on coping with the challenges of migration including in the context of a global pandemic.

Pathways for advancing good work in food systems: reflecting on the international good work for good food forum

The crucial roles that workers, especially seasonal and migrant workers, play in our food systems have come under renewed attention in recent years. The coronavirus pandemic resulted in food workers being recognized as critical or essential workers in many countries. In 2021, this coincided with the UN International Year of Fruits and Vegetables (IYFV), highlighting the importance of horticultural crops to healthy lives globally. Yet, workers' quality of life in this most labor-intensive form of food production is often disregarded, or in the case of the UN IYFV, misconstrued. The agriculture-migration nexus-on which food systems depend-remains recognized as a challenge, yet there is limited debate about how it could be ameliorated and a lack of articulation of desirable alternatives. While alternative food and peasant movements propose food system transformation and alternative labor futures based on agroecology, labor lawyers and other advocates propose regulation and formalization of workplace regimes to ensure fair working conditions. Most recently, a third possibility has emerged from agri-tech innovators: a techno-centric future with far fewer agricultural workers. These three archetypes of agricultural labor futures (agroecological, formally regulated, and techno-centric) have the potential to leave food scholars and activists without a unified, coherent vision to advance. Addressing this gap, this paper reports and builds on insights harvested from the international Good Work for Good Food Forum, organized by the authors with the aim of shaping consensus on positive visions for work in food systems. About 40 scholar-activists across three continents discussed the current challenges facing food workers and crafted a collective vision for good food work. This vision is documented in the form of nine principles supported by a framework of seven enabling pathways. We conclude by emphasizing the need for a people-centered incorporation of technology and a re-valuation of food workers' contributions to global food systems. We offer the vision as a collective platform for action to advocate for and organize with workers in food systems.

A theoretical and empirical approach to foreign labour migration and employment: the case of agri-food migrant workers in developed economies

Most of the research on migration has focused on the scale and effects of people exodus from rural to urban areas rather than on rural areas as recipients of migrants, especially foreign migrants. This study aims to analyse employment of foreigners in agriculture and food processing sectors of selected developed countries, with particular emphasis on the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. It first reviews existing literature on ideas and theories about human migration through the history of economic and social thought. This theoretical background lies in the economic, social, health, demographic and integrated theories and concepts of migration that help understand the pull and push causes as well consequences of current international migration processes. Next, this article presents some facts about the employment of foreigners in agriculture and food processing in developed countries traditionally affected by severe labour shortages in these sectors, as well as the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on employers and workers. The results reveal that labour shortages and labour exploitation are amongst the most frequent and relatively consistent issues associated with immigrant workers in the agri-food industry. During COVID-19, these problems were exacerbated and complemented with the workers' health risk due to coronavirus clusters on farms and at food-processing plants.

COVID-19 pandemic: impact of agricultural labour migration on income levels of farmers in Telangana

The present study was undertaken during 25th March 2019 to 25th March 2021 to examine the impact of agricultural labour migration due to COVID-19 pandemic on the income levels of farmers. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study, multistage sampling technique was used in selection of district, mandals and villages. Tools and techniques like tabular analysis, gross returns and net returns were used. Economic impact on farmers in the study area was studied by selecting three major crops viz., Paddy, Cotton and Maize. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in the kharif and rabi season, in all the three major crops, the labour availability was increased when compared with the period of before the pandemic. This situation was appeared due to reverse migration during pandemic. The average wage rates received by the agricultural labourers for almost all farm operations in case of paddy, maize and cotton crops were decreased due to increase in labour supply due to reverse migration. The available man days also clearly got increased for almost all the operations except harvesting of paddy and cotton crops. In case of paddy and cotton crops, net returns were found to increase. In case of Maize crop, the gross and net returns were decreased due to increase in total operation costs and decrease in price per quintal during rabi season of the pandemic period respectively.

Essential but Exploitable: Migrant Agri-Food Workers in Italy and Spain

The Covid-19 pandemic crisis has shown that migrant workers are essential for the agri-food system, especially in Spain and Italy. The development of fruit and vegetable production in both countries has importantly relied on migrant labour due to integration in verticalized value chains and competition in neoliberal globalization. Migration and asylum policies as well as mobility policies and recruitment mechanisms have made labour differentiated, precarious, cheap, flexible and constantly renewed to match the specific demand in the sector. In both countries, the national governments have promoted different interventions to address labour exploitation, migrant workers' vulnerabilities, and also labour shortage risks, following internal socio-political confrontation and pressures from different actors. Having pointed out the interplay of dynamics and mechanisms causing labour exploitation in the agri-food system, this contribution will analyse the political interventions in the two countries showing how they shape specific migration and labour regimes. © 2022 Copyright 2022 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Beyond gratitude: lessons learned from migrants' contribution to the COVID-19 response

This paper provides a snapshot of migrant workers across countries and sectors, looking at the scale of their contribution to the global workforce before COVID-19. The analysis of the stories gathered in the media tracking and presented in the 'Key workers' data visualisation in Chapter 3. This focuses on migration-related reforms and initiatives by national and local governments over the past year in response to the pandemic. Recognising that the contributions of migrants will remain essential to our societies during our collective recovery from the pandemic, Chapter 4 presents conclusions and recommendations for policy-makers. These are based on the lessons that could inform more sustainable solutions for migration reform in the future.

How did COVID-19 affect food and nutrition security of migrant workers in northern Vietnam?

This study explored how measures to curtail the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in Vietnam affected the livelihoods and food and nutrition security of internal migrant workers. While Vietnam has made impressive progress towards food security in the past decades, marginalised groups of people such as ethnic minorities and migrants continue to face significant challenges. The project team investigated how the pandemic affected the precarity of these groups' income-generating opportunities and how the level of income generated affected the quality, as well as the quantity, of food consumed by migrant workers in Hanoi, the capital, and the Bac Ninh province, which hosts large industrial zones. Our research shows that income for migrant workers significantly reduced as a result of Covid-19-related lockdown measures. Almost half of the respondents were considered to be either moderately or severely food insecure. Financial support provided by the government hardly reached migrant workers because of the registration system required to receive unemployment benefits. To reduce the vulnerability of migrant workers, we conclude that: Short-term crisis responses need to focus on providing nutritious, healthy, and ample food to migrant workers;Policies that impose minimum standards of living need to be effectively enforced;The coverage of existing social safety nets by the government needs to be expanded;and A radical reform of labour law is needed to improve labour rights for migrant workers.

Framing of policy responses to migrant horticultural labour shortages during Covid-19 in the Italian print media.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to a global food crisis. Like previous food crises how the debate is framed by food policy actors can have a bearing on policy outcomes. This study researches how the policy responses to migrant horticultural labour shortages, due to the pandemic, were framed in the Italian print media and how this relates to longer-term food policy making. Data were gathered from the six highest-circulation Italian daily newspapers. The coverage was dominated by left-leaning outlets and peaked in relation to Covid-19 recovery policies and political processes. Farmer industry bodies were the most quoted group, and the legalisation of undocumented migrant workers was the most frequently discussed policy response. A frames analysis was conducted and identified three principal frames: food security, worker exploitation and immigration. The worker exploitation and immigration frames were most frequently used by left-leaning newspapers, while centre-right papers used the food security frame the most often. The results suggest that media framing could contribute to both policy change, helping to open policy windows, as well as policy lock-ins, side-lining certain debates, actors and policy solutions. The research aims to contribute to growing empirical work which seeks to understand the impact of Covid-19 on migrant agricultural workers and food policy.

Syrian refugee labour and food insecurity in middle eastern agriculture during the early COVID-19 pandemic. (Special Issue: COVID-19 and the world of work (part II).)

Drawing on ethnographic data from the 2019 SyrianFoodFutures and the 2020 From the FIELD projects, this article provides insights into the early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on refugee labour in agriculture in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. In spring 2020, movement restrictions and supply chain disruptions caused displaced Syrian farmworkers to lose their jobs and face increased food insecurity. The authors situate their findings in the context of host countries' use of legal ambiguity in governing refugees, Middle Eastern agriculture's reliance on migrant labour, and the region's long-standing food insecurity. They conclude that formalizing refugee labour cannot alone address exploitation.

Impact of COVID-19 on agriculture, countryside and farmers and countermeasures

COVID-19 outbreak has great impact on agricultural and rural farmers. In order to effectively cope with the impact of COVID-19 epidemic and promote agricultural and rural development, this paper expounds the impact of the epidemic from three aspects of agricultural production, farmers and rural development, and puts forward corresponding countermeasures: building development platform for rural electric business, implementing the development mode of "Internet plus agriculture", strengthening the input and publicity of agricultural insurance to benefit farmers, and increasing support for local employment and entrepreneurship of migrant workers.

Migrant Workers in the Coal Mines of India: Precarity, Resilience and the Pandemic

This article analyses the lived experiences of migrant workers in India under different regimes of coal mining and engages with their contemporary precarious labouring conditions and resilience. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in the Talcher coalfields of Odisha, I argue that the labouring lives of migrant workers from marginalised communities have been invisiblised in a ‘shadow economy’ of coal extraction through subcontracting and labour recruitment by local contractors working with state-owned coal companies. The process of invisiblisation has taken place at three levels: first, at the workplace which includes recruitment patterns, contracting systems and precarious labouring conditions inflicted by the employer;second, through the exclusion of migrant workers in the land and labour politics of local dispossessed communities for coal mining jobs;and finally, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdowns, observed as ‘invisible’ essential workers under the Essential Services Maintenance Act of 1981.

Saving Bavarian hops in a "parallel universe": lessons on the biopolitics of agricultural labor in Germany during the Corona pandemic. (Special Issue: More than disaster: creativity in growing, distributing, and accessing food during covid-19.)

When countries closed their borders to curb the spread of COVID-19 in spring 2020, seasonal migrant workers in agriculture were either unable to travel or faced unsafe conditions when performing "essential" field work. Some countries, like Germany, subsequently implemented policies to let them travel to work, and simultaneously, called on their residents to temporarily help farmers harvest crops. This paper explores the case of these temporary pandemic workers on Bavarian hops farms. Based on ethnographic research and interviews, this paper discusses the complex relationships between temporary pandemic workers, farmers, and the mostly absent seasonal workers in the exceptional moment of a global pandemic. The researchers argue that in the state of exception of the Corona pandemic in Germany, biopolitical sorting highlighted migrant workers' indispensability and disposability in a peculiar way: their short-term replaceability through recruited temporary pandemic workers formed a self-ascribed "parallel universe" or "Coronal bubble". Through new encounters (with farmers) and hands-on experiences in agricultural fields, the parallel universe often also meant uncomfortable insights into an unjust agricultural system. For those widely unexposed to agriculture, the state of exception revealed both the general and temporary biopolitics of seasonal migrant workers in agriculture and the key role they play for German agriculture as a whole.

Special Issue: The COVID-19 pandemic: precarious migrants and outbreak inequality. (Special Issue: The COVID-19 pandemic: precarious migrants and outbreak inequality.)

This special issue includes 8 articles that analyse and reflect upon COVID-19 and its multiple effects on migrant populations and migrant workers in Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Italy, and the USA.

The system dynamic model of the labor migrant policy in economic growth affected by COVID-19. (Special Issue: Covid-19.)

At the end of 2019, the new virus called Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) spread widely from China all over the world. In March 2020 the World Health Organization declared a new virus outbreak as "a global pandemic", and recommended social distancing and quarantine. Most countries in Europe have been quarantined. The social aspect of this issue is complicated by the fact that Europe nowadays hosts 82 million international migrants. If migrant workers leave the host country, it reduces the Covid-19 spread. Nevertheless, if migrant workers do not return, it will worsen the situation with the economic crisis. The subject of the study is the instrumental and mathematical aspects of impact simulation of labor migrants' policy on the economic growth of the host country affected by COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the work is to develop the system dynamics model for assessing labor migrants' policy impact on the economic growth of the host country during COVID-19 pandemic. It examined through hypotheses of different scenarios of labor migrants policy impact on the host country economic growth in Covid-19 pandemic. The proposed model combines epidemiological and the economic growth models and relies upon real statistical data. The analysis was carried out in four European countries. The results of the study enabled to state that without migrant workers the gross domestic product may fall to 43% in Italy, 45% in Netherlands, 37% in Spain and 200% in Switzerland in 2020.

Vulnerable, inequitable, and precarious: impacts of COVID-19 on newcomers, immigrants, and migrant workers in rural Canada. (Special Issue: COVID-19 and rural Canada: rural impacts and resilience.)

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed crucial flaws in Canada's immigration systems. While the majority of newcomers to Canada reside in urban centres, a substantial minority work and live in rural areas and small towns where crucial immigrant services are far less developed and greater geographical distances hinder efforts to support immigrants. Rural immigrants face distinct challenges, including increased social isolation and economic marginalization, which have only been amplified by the pandemic. Furthermore, the inaccurate perception of immigration as an exclusively urban issue hinders efforts to combat these problems. Building on rural immigration literature, this paper examines the ways in which the pandemic has impacted rural immigrants, including newcomers, refugees, and temporary foreign workers. Findings highlighted include the difficulty of providing immigrant support services in rural areas, the vulnerability of migrant farm workers to illness and isolation, and the lack of awareness and funding for immigration issues in rural areas relative to their urban counterparts. The paper draws on journalism and academic literature from the past year into these issues. In doing so, it demonstrates the need for renewed academic, policy, and rural development practice interests in rural immigration.

On the question of access to welfare and health for women during the initial phase of the pandemic

As the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, women migrant workers were placed at a distinct disadvantage. Millions of women workers in labour-intensive occupations, from domestic work to construction lost their jobs, while also shouldering the responsibility of caregiving. This study draws on in-depth interviews with women workers in Delhi to document their life and experiences in the aftermath of the national lockdown in 2020. It brings to light a range of challenges around food security, caregiving, income security, and social protection. It documents the impact of existing inequalities of gender, migration status, and class on access to support, which has implications on the long-term repercussions of the current economic crisis.

Internal Migration and the Covid-19 Pandemic in India

This chapter looks at the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on internal migrants in India. According to the 2011 Census, there are over 450 million internal migrants, of which a massive 54 million are inter-state migrants. A large number of these migrants consist of labourers who comprise a huge percentage of the informal sector workforce, both in the rural and urban areas of India, and are vital to the country’s economy. These workers are also some of the most vulnerable, with inadequacies in terms of working conditions and coverage of social safety nets, and are also largely absent from India’s policy discourses. This chapter highlights the size and extent of internal migration as well as its distribution across different states in India. It shows how the current crisis and lockdowns have affected their lives and livelihoods. It particularly looks at the responses of central and various state governments – at destinations and origins – to ensure migrants’ wellbeing. It also analyses the socioeconomic impact of the migrant exodus from major destinations and looks at solutions to enable and ensure that migration patterns in the future are sustainable, and more importantly, ensure migrants’ rights and dignity. © 2022, The Author(s).