Madrevite is a farm focused on producing high-quality DOC wines. Nestled in a picturesque location overlooking Lake Chiusi, it boasts vineyards renowned for their exceptional produce. For the meticulous management of these vineyards, Madrevite relies on seasonal workers, primarily for the viticultural tasks.
Due to the vineyard’s high value and the premium quality of the wine it yields, a workforce of experienced and skilled individuals is essential. To meet these demands, Madrevite collaborates with an external cooperative. The cooperative’s workforce predominantly comprises migrant workers with expertise in viticulture. Furthermore, Madrevite directly employs migrants for tasks such as harvesting and other manual labor, which they undertake alongside their permanent team. Madrevite combine their labors need which is concentrated in their pick season (April to June) with the employment of migrant workers that live nearby.
Madrevite is located in Cimbano, in the municipality of Castiglione del Lago between Umbria and Tuscany, in the province of Perugia, within the controlled designation of origin area “Trasimeno.” The company covers a total of 17 hectares, divided into three different hills. Of these, 11 hectares are dedicated to vineyards, 5 hectares are olive groves in organic conversion, and the remaining land is used partly for arable crops and partly for the cultivation of “Fagiolina del Trasimeno” (in English cowpea). This area is renowned for the cultivation of various grape varieties, including Gamay del Trasimeno, Grechetto, and Sangiovese, which represent an heritage of great cultural and economic value. The business is based on the valorization of niche products and their territory. The company in fact is part of the consortium “Consorzio Colli del Trasimeno ” collecting all producers of the Controlled designation of origin (doc in Italian) of which Nicola is President. Madrevite being part of the consortium attend international initiatives to commercialize their wine DOC production. Madrevite is situated in an enchanting location, and they leverage this distinctive aspect of their business to enhance the direct sales process, offering an exceptional wine tasting experience in both the vineyard and their cellar. They also cooperate with some vertical marketplace to improve their commercial presence online.
The challenges associated with labor in the agricultural sector are a prevalent issue across European countries, and Madrevite, like many other farms situated in rural areas, faces this challenge. Seasonality, demanding physical work, and remote farm locations are just a few of the factors contributing to the difficulties in securing a workforce. Madrevite, thanks to its strong local ties, has forged a valuable partnership with a local cooperative to address its seasonal labor needs, particularly during the critical period from April to June when vineyard wise growth activities are necessary for the well being of the vineyard.
The cooperative is responsible for supplying the required number of workers equipped with the necessary skills for various essential tasks. These tasks include pruning, vineyard maintenance, trellising, weeding, and cluster separation. Engaging the cooperative has proven indispensable, as recruiting such a specialized workforce independently would be a time-consuming and challenging endeavor.
The two temporary workers recruited directly from Madrevite have been met thanks to the cooperative and now involved in different manual tasks within the farm.
Madrevite has established a long-standing partnership with an external cooperative, and many of the cooperative’s employees have remained consistent over the years. This continuity has fostered a familiar and easily manageable working environment for both parties.
The cooperative is responsible for the work committed in terms of time, working equipment, skills and transport. On the other hand the presence of Nicola and his stable staff ensure all the necessary indication and help that the crew might need for doing at their best the job committed. The external cooperative has a team leader who is in charge of organizing the crew work, managing time schedules and assigning tasks.
The two migrant workers recruited directly by Madrevite have been trained on the job working along with Madrevite stable team in a peer to peer relation.
Madrevite management and staff is very open minded and they have recognized as an opportunity for the business and for the workplace the presence of migrants with their different backgrounds. The team collaborates effectively with the migrant workforce, both external and directly employed, which exhibits varying levels of proficiency in Italian. Despite the language differences, they comprehend instructions and execute their tasks competently. The different cultural background has not been reported as an issue.
The dual channel of recruitment makes a different impact on the business although they both respond to the real need of workforce necessary to run the business.
The two workers employees directly by Madrevite have a regular fix term contract in compliance with the National collective contract of agriculture and are mainly in charge of grape harvesting and various agricultural labor, while a team of workers is engaged contracting an external cooperative to whom is committed the wise growth activities which consist in the pruning and grapevine cultivation, green pruning, screw binding, clean the rows of the vineyard from weeds and divide the bunches of grapes.
The direct workers have more chance of interacting within the stable team and with the owners as their commuting is arranged by madrevite and they spend more time with the staff that train them and with whom they work along. The owner is also organizing the workload and the worksheet for them and they lead them during the working hours.
With regards to the external crew they have less impact as they are more autonomous and have less chance of interacting although both staff and management are available for any kind of support necessary
The process of inclusion can be considered ongoing. The two migrant workers directly employed by Madrevite are participating in Italian language courses and pursuing a driver’s license course, which significantly enhances their integration into society.
Their employment under regular, albeit temporary contracts, recognizes their work duties and associated rights, contributing to their integration process. Both workers support their families in their home countries by regularly remitting a portion of their salaries. It’s important to note that their primary focus is on saving money and improving their socioeconomic standing to eventually reunite with their families.
Their foremost objective is ensuring their families’ well-being and dignity. Consequently, the formal process of integration is expected to commence once they are reunited with their families.
The main challenge highlighted concerns the language issue as some time can happen misunderstanding due to pronunciation or lack of vocabulary.
The issue has been sorted by using a colleague more fluent to translate into their own home language or the use of technology as the vocal translator.
Madrevite believe that many farm owners lack of a background capable of understanding cultural differences and language disadvantage so a training able to
raise awareness between entrepreneurs can be helpful for managing a multicultural team.
Madrevite considers cultural training very important for migrants in terms of inclusion. Cultural evidence as the securities on the job place (which is mandatory in Italy for working) are very far away from the standard and background of some extra-European countries.Also the knowledge of human rights and social duties are a matter of importance for undertaking a path of inclusion in the country of arrival.
Multichannel training material might be useful for migrants.
Understanding differences and being able to work without prejudice side to side is fundamental for a team. Team building example and cooperative strategies might be useful for the target.
The inclusion of migrant workers cannot be delegated to farmers or NGOs. Inclusion necessitates the collective effort of all social stakeholders, commencing with the formulation of equitable migration policies and the development of collaborative inclusion strategies. It is imperative that we do not delegate or marginalize the migration phenomenon, which has a profound impact on both urban and rural social dynamics.
MILIMAT is a 2-year project funded by the EU Erasmus+ Programme that focuses on integrating migrants into multicultural agricultural teams. The project aims to develop several training resources for farmers and migrant workers in agriculture, with the goal of promoting fair labor relations and encouraging commitment to European labor rights. MILIMAT is led by the CIA Agricoltori Italiani Umbria (Italian Farmers’ Confederation of Umbria).
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. The content of this website reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
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Migrants Labour Insertion in Multicultural Agricultural Teams