Bielefeld School of Public Health

improving the conditions of irregularized migrants working in Farm to Fork-labour markets in EU member and associated states

DignityFIRM aims to contribute to improving the conditions of irregularized migrants working in Farm to Fork (F2F) labour markets in four EU member states (Italy, Poland, Spain, Netherlands) and two associated countries (Morocco, Ukraine). The focus on irregularized migrants in F2F labour markets is timely, given the discrepancies between the instrumental role of these industries in securing societies’ functioning on the one hand (highlighted by their classification as “essential” during the Covid-19 pandemic), and the systemic reliance on irregularized migrants and pervasive group marginalization and vulnerabilities on the other hand.

The project will analyse regulatory infrastructures that govern these conditions in select food supply industries (e.g., agriculture, food processing, delivery, domestic work) while distinguishing five influential spheres of stakeholders (EU, national, and local level, and employers and irregularized migrant workers) and four policy domains (migration regimes, EU pillar of social rights, labour market sustainability and corporate social responsibility).

The project will adopt a special focus on the division of labour in F2F markets with respect to gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status. Moreover, occupational health and safety – i.e., links between migration, precarious work in the F2F industries and health – will be applied as a cross-cutting analytical lens.

By providing knowledge and innovative tools to improve regulatory infrastructures, this project will enhance irregularized migrants’ access to basic rights and services, thus contributing to improving their living and working conditions. In doing so, it will facilitate the systemic resilience of F2F industries and the EU’s ambitions for social and economic transformation.

Funding: European Commission (Horizon Europe)

Duration: 04/2023 – 03/2026

Project website: https://www.dignityfirm.eu/