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Fairtrade, Employment and Poverty Reduction in Ethiopia and Uganda
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... A recurrent finding is that in-kind benefits and Fairtrade premiums often benefit permanent workers more. Seasonal, temporary workers, and migrants and racially discriminated workers tend to receive less benefits than their co-workers (Oya et al & 2018Cramer et al., 2014Cramer et al., & 2017van Rijn et al., 2016;Ergon, 2022 Cases where premium funded projects are more beneficial for men than women are also reported. For example, Said-Allsopp and Tallontire (2014:12) report that "at [one flower farm] they asked for driving classes; ...
... In any case, multiple studies suggest that employment formalization is mainly determined by the forces of labour demand and supply, in combination with legislative obligations and the scale of production, rather than private labour standards Cramer et al., 2014). However, standards can bring greater visibility to auditors and can put pressure onto groups . ...
... Nevertheless, issues related to unwanted touching, obscene language and supervisors attempting to obtain sexual favours from workers in exchange for maintaining their jobs or finding better employment elsewhere, are also reported for certified plantations (Cramer et al., 2014). Oya et al (2014) conclude that VSS alone have not been able to offset the local social and gender dynamics. ...
ISEAL, IDH, Rainforest Alliance, and Evidensia commissioned a systematic review to identify the most effective supply chain sustainability approaches for improving decent work outcomes in agricultural production in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The review examined relevant literature to understand the impacts of these approaches on waged employees, including those on smallholder farms and in large agribusinesses. The findings are presented in three reports, with this report highlighting key insights and lessons on the effects of supply chain sustainability on decent work outcomes in the agriculture sector.
... Another key evidence gap is on the working conditions for workers employed by smallholder farmers. Although the body of literature on this topic is expanding, the evidence is still very limited with few studies providing insights on impact and context (for example, Cramer et al , 2014;Riisgaard and Okinda, 2018). The evidence base is shaped by research interest in specific dominant topics and by the efforts of certain schemes in producing counterfactual evidence. ...
... An example is Fairtrade's price/social premium that is linked to the small producer organizations' governance and compliance audits (Cramer et al., 2014). In short, sometimes VSS compete with other market channels that may offer higher rewards for product differentiation and quality. ...
... For instance, Kasente (2012) found that increased labour demands fell on women, creating more work for them. Several studies note that VSS labour criteria do not always cover casual or temporary workers employed by small farmers (Cramer et al., 2014;Waarts et al., 2015). ...
... Some studies show better benefits and security on VSS-compliant farms due to greater visibility and consumer pressure for better labour conditions in VSS-compliant value chains Raynolds, 2014). In other cases, wages declined more for VSS-compliant versus noncompliant farms, with researchers suggesting this is because VSS compliance overlooks casual and temporary employees hired by smallholders, has limited ability to monitor working conditions on smallholder farms, and by itself cannot counter local labour market dynamics (Cramer et al., 2014). ...
... For instance, in a landmark study of coffee and flower producers in Ethiopia and coffee and tea producers in Uganda, Cramer et al. (2014) found that Fairtrade certification did not provide positive benefits to wage workers compared to other forms of employment in the same crop production. In fact, wage workers from research sites with Fairtrade-certified producer organizations consistently earned less than those from sites without Fairtrade certification. ...
In this article, I propose the concept of the ‘value chain detective’ to offer a fresh perspective on the role of researchers investigating economic, social and environmental dynamics at the base of global value chains. I highlight significant methodological, fieldwork and ethical challenges inherent in studying these conditions. By recognizing and embracing this role, I suggest that researchers can transform how they engage with and navigate the intricacies of value chain research.
... The role of women in value chains in Nigeria is both severely disadvantaged and critical. Nigeria must address the issues facing women within its agricultural sector for economic progress [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. ...
The Nigerian cassava value chain shows different gender roles for men and women in marketing and processing activities. Women are typically found in the less profitable work and at the bottom of the value chain because of their position in the labor market. This study identifies farm and individual factors that shape gender participation in various phases of the cassava value chain and measures gender differences in the marketing and processing phases of the cassava value chain. The study draws from the survey of 4 geopolitical zones in Nigeria conducted by IITA in 2010 that surveyed 952 respondents consisting of 221 women. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics like frequencies, mean, range, and standard deviation and inferential tools like t-test, chi-square, correlation, and multiple linear regression to test the hypotheses. We draw from the sustainable livelihood approach for the theoretical framework. The analysis indicated that more women were involved in the marketing phase than men, while more men were in the processing node than women. Additionally, producing cassava now, land allocated to cassava farming, level of education, marital status, and household size registered correlation with the index of participation in marketing. However, only household size registered a weak correlation with the index of participation in processing.
... Our results are consistent with the relevant literature, which shows that the impact of private governance, including certification of agricultural products, on ensuring social upgrading is limited (Besky, 2008(Besky, , 2014Cramer et al., 2014). The standards set by certification bodies only apply to farms exporting to northern markets. ...
This article presents findings from field studies of smallholders and farmworkers producing coffee, mangoes, and rice in several countries in the global South. It is one of the few comparative studies of the constraints and opportunities for social upgrading in global agricultural value chains ( gvc s). We argue that the ease with which new suppliers can be found gives highly concentrated global wholesalers and retailers enormous leverage over smallholders. As a result, opportunities for social upgrading tend to be limited. Even in successful cases, it is accompanied by fewer employment opportunities. Cooperatives, which enjoy government support and enforced labor laws, are an exception. The article begins with a discussion of problems in measuring the impact of gvc participation and a theoretical explanation of why economic upgrading is not sufficient to ensure social upgrading. Special attention is given to the role of the state in promoting social upgrading.
... Studies suggest that fair trade initiatives, because of both which groups they have targeted and how they have been organized, have excluded some of the most marginalized populations including migrant workers, unorganized smallholder farmers, home workers, and processors of agricultural products (e.g., Cramer et al. 2014;Loconto & Dankers 2014;Pinto et al. 2014). Although some fair trade initiatives specifically aim to support womenwith varying levels of successsuch as Café Femenino (Alegría 2016), others have failed to address barriers to women's leadership and participation (Smith, Kuruganti & Gema 2015). ...
This chapter aims to provide a snapshot of the current fair trade movement by addressing four provocative questions: 1) Fair trade for whom? 2) Fair trade by whom? 3) How may fair trade labeling and certification support these goals (or not)? and 4) What next for fair trade’s approach to capitalism and the state? For new readers, the chapter provides an introduction to fair trade that focuses primarily on the current moment. For readers more familiar with fair trade, it offers an updated summary of key debates in the field, drawing heavily on literature published in the last five years. This chapter also highlights linkages between fair trade and the environment. It describes the ways in which fair trade can support environmental conservation, raises questions about climate justice, and shows how certification programs can pit people against the planet, rather than supporting both. The follow- ing section provides basic background information on the fair trade movement.
The article addresses the social relations of labour in Senegal a decade after the land rush. Based on an intersectional feminist analysis of three firms, the study found that workers’ subjugation to patriarchal control in their households and workplace capitalists indicate the emergence of labour control associated with settler colonies of Africa. I argue that strategic alliances between patriarchy and racial capitalism influence the mobilisation and control of labour classes: i) through the subordination of women and younger male workers to farm management through the micropolitics of paternalism; and ii) through new spatial fixation forms of previously mobile footloose labour of women and junior workers staying close to their families for work such that they become a compliant and tied labour force. This occurs simultaneously with an urban exodus to the rural and peri-urban
areas where the commercial horticultural farms are located. Class consciousness is stymied so resistance is circumscribed, taking limited, individualised forms.
This book addresses the controversies surrounding smallholders’ opportunities for economic and social upgrading by joining global agricultural value chains (AVC). While international organizations encourage small farmers to become part of AVC, critics point out its risks. Unlike previous single case studies, researchers from three continents compared the influence of the characteristics of the crop (coffee, mango, rice), the end markets, and the national political economic contexts on the social and economic conditions for smallholders and agricultural workers. Their findings highlight the importance of collective action by smallholders and of a supportive state for economic and social upgrading. With contributions by Angela Dziedzim Akorsu, Do Quynh Chi; Francis Enu Kwesi, Daniel James Hawkins, Jakir Hossain, Khiddir Iddris, Clesio Marcelino de Jesus, Manish Kumar, Michele Lindner, Mubashir Mehdi, Rosa Maria Vieira Medeiros, Antonio Cesar Ortega, Thales Augusto Medeiros Penha, Bruno Perosa, Sérgio Schneider and Santosh Verma.
Investigative report for ActionAid on conditions of fruit farms in South Africa supplying Tesco in the UK.
The use of income distribution indicators in the economics literature has increased considerably in recent years. This work relies on household surveys from 18 LAC countries to take a step back from the use of these indicators, and explore what`s behind the numbers, and what information they convey. We find: a) that the way countries rank according to inequality measured in a conventional way is to a large extent an illusion created by differences in characteristics of the data and on the particular ways in which the data is treated; b) Our ideas about the effect of inequality on economic growth are also driven by quality and coverage differences in household surveys and by the way in which the data is treated; c) Standard household surveys in LAC are unable to capture the incomes of the richest sectors of society; so, the inequality we are able to measure is most likely a gross underestimation. Our main conclusion is that there is an important story behind each number. This story influences our judgement about how unequal countries are and about the relation between inequality and other development indicators, but it is seldom told or known. Perhaps other statistics commonly used in economics also have their own interesting story, and it might be worth trying to find out what it is.
The paper disputes the notion that in Africa the conjugal bond is "traditionally' weak, reflecting the predominance of women's labour in farming systems and the importance of lineage ties. It looks critically at the theoretical debates underlying the analysis of African family systems, arguing that weak conjugal ties cannot be derived a priori either from the structure of African lineage systems, or from the precolonial gender division of labour. Research experience in Tchad and Mozambique is used to show why assuming the weakness of conjugal ties and focussing on women's own-account farming creates a distorted and partial view of the problems confronting women in rural Africa. -from Authors
Increasingly, consumers in North America and Europe see their purchasing as a way to express to the commercial world their concerns about trade justice, the environment and similar issues. This ethical consumption has attracted growing attention in the press and among academics. Extending beyond the growing body of scholarly work on the topic in several ways, this volume focuses primarily on consumers rather than producers and commodity chains. It presents cases from a variety of European countries and is concerned with a wide range of objects and types of ethical consumption, not simply the usual tropical foodstuffs, trade justice and the system of fair trade. Contributors situate ethical consumption within different contexts, from common Western assumptions about economy and society, to the operation of ethical-consumption commerce, to the ways that people's ethical consumption can affect and be affected by their social situation. By locating consumers and their practices in the social and economic contexts in which they exist and that their ethical consumption affects, this volume presents a compelling interrogation of the rhetoric and assumptions of ethical consumption. © 2012 James G. Carrier and Peter G. Luetchford. All rights reserved.
Fair trade commonly focuses on the figure of the smallholding peasant producer. The effectiveness of this as a strategy lies in the widespread appeal of an economy based upon independent family producers trying to secure livelihoods in impersonal and exploitative global commodity markets. But the attempt by fair trade to personalise economic relationships between coffee producers and consumers diverts attention away from aspects of the political economy of production for the market. This chapter examines a rural Costa Rican coffee economy that has supplied fair trade markets since the 1980s. Documenting differences in landholdings, the range of activities farmers engage in, and the relationship between landowners and landless labourers, women, and migrant harvesters from Nicaragua reveals differentiation and tensions that are obscured in the "smallholder" model invoked by fair trade.