The EU is on the verge of a boom in organic agriculture.

The European Commission targets a tripling in the EU’s organic farmland from today’s 8.5% of agricultural terrain to one quarter by 2030.

Cash and subsidies will be available at national and international level to finance this revolution.

Organic farming uses fewer pesticides and herbicides, meaning the work is often more labor intensive than conventional agriculture.

To fuel this drive, farms will need more employees, who undertake often back-breaking work.

However a major issue with farming in EU countries is its dependence on workers from abroad, who are at risk of traffic, exploitation and abuse.

Our team has spent the last six months investigating this phenomenon in a project financed with help from IJ4EU, with a focus on Italy, which has the potential to become an organic powerhouse.

Italy’s fields and greenhouses are reliant on workers from Romania and, recently, sub-Saharan African states such as Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Gambia and Senegal.

We have gathered data on organic farming and the changes in patterns of mobile workers, look for solutions to a rising demand for organic food, and show a growing problem – the rise in cases of foreign workers exploited on organic farms.