Syndicat agricole

A syndicats agricole is a French farmers' union.

They first started after the Waldeck Rousseau law of 1884 legalised French unions. At the same time Catholic social teaching was evolving and encouraging the self help that the syndicats were capable of. They were often affiliated to and sometimes led by the local aristocracy.

There were a range of unions before the 1930s, but over that time they consolidated and the leading one is now the Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles which represents 20,000 syndicats.

The Syndicat agricole africain (SAA, in English the African Agricultural Union) was an syndicat agricole based in the Côte d'Ivoire that focused on African farmers in the country that quickly evolved into the political movement that led the country to independence.

The French communist party also attempted to mirror some of these techniques to organise small farmers with less success, but this did culminate in setting up a front group, the Confédération générale des paysans travailleurs which was affiliated to the Red Peasant International.