Non-traditional agricultural export industries: conditions for women workers in Colombia and Peru

Abstract

Women comprise the majority of the workforce in many non-traditional agricultural export (NTAE) industries, which international lending and aid agencies espouse as a development solution for rural poor people. In the Peruvian asparagus industry and the Colombian cut-flower plantations, however, women workers endure unsafe and substandard conditions. Local organisations creatively employ various strategies, ranging from legislative advocacy to direct services for workers, to promote women's rights in this sector, but their efficacy is limited by governments’ failure to pass and enforce comprehensive labour laws, and judicial procedures that favour employers.

Notes

1. Non-traditional agricultural exports (NTAEs) are ‘high-value’ products introduced more recently in less-developed countries, generally as a central part of a new development strategy, and frequently pushed by international lending and aid agencies like USAID. Traditional agricultural exports (TAEs), like coffee, bananas, sugar, and corn, have a longer history of production in these countries and are receiving progressively lower prices on the world market.

2. Flower workers interviewed by the author are unnamed or are identified only by first name, at their request, due to their fear that they will be fired or blacklisted for speaking about their experiences and concerns.

3. An EPS is a health administrator, public or private, who forms part of the social-security system, and provides services to affiliated individuals. The employer is responsible for affiliating all of its contracted employees to an EPS.

4. The carpal tunnel protects a main nerve to the hand and the tendons that bend the fingers. Carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by pressure placed on this nerve, generating symptoms such as tingling, loss of feeling, radiating pain, and hand weakness. Repetitive hand-intensive work for prolonged periods without rest is one of the common causes. Women are more likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome than men (www.mayoclinic.com).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nora Ferm

Nora Ferm is the founder of the Fairness in Flowers Campaign at the International Labour Rights Forum (ILRF). She is currently an expert consultant for the ILRF and an MA student at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University