The Real Cost of Flowers and Veg: workers’ and environmental rights in the horticultural sector conference 2009

The labour and environmental rights of horticultural workers in East Africa and across the world were discussed at the 2 day conference ‘The Real Cost of Flowers and Vegetables’ held in Nairobi in September 2009, which was part-funded by Oxfam Novib. The conference was hosted by the Global Horticultural Workers’ and Environmental Rights Network (GHOWERN), which links NGOs and Trade Unions working with horticultural workers. Co-organisers were the UK NGOs War on Want and Women Working Worldwide.

100 attendees attended talks and workshops on a range of issues including the need for a Living Wage in the sector, the role of social codes of conduct in improving workers rights, women’s rights and how to mobilise for change, the impact of purchasing practices on workers’ rights and environmental damage caused by the industry and how it can be mitigated. Speakers and attendees included representatives from Trade Unions and NGOs working closely with workers, workers themselves, farm managers, multi-stakeholder bodies, academics and more, coming from Africa, Europe, North and South America.

The informative discussions of the conference have been encapsulated into a set of recommendations for action for various stakeholders. These included:

Living Wage:

  • Collective Bargaining and social dialogue around Living Wage to be strengthened and supported by campaign and advocacy actions
  • Governments set up a Living Wage Board to agree and implement a Living Wage

    • Codes of conduct and social auditing:

  • GHOWERN should devise a strong monitoring system for social codes of practice as well as its own standards of best practice
  • All audits should be conducted in liaison with trade unions

    • Mainstreaming gender issues:

  • Unions should conduct job evaluations in an effort to increase the perceived worth of women’s work
  • Women need to be supported by unions and employers to progress in the work place
  • All organisations should conduct gender audits

    • A full conference report will be available on our website in due course.