Gender and global value chains : challenges of economic and social upgrading in agri-food

Supermarkets and agri-food companies increasingly dominate the production and retailing of food across the global south and north. They operate through global value chains (GVC) within which trade is coordinated by consumer-focused lead firms. This is generating jobs and incomes for workers and smallholders, a significant proportion female. Women contribute to enhancing productivity and quality in GVCs, but outcomes for improving their well-being appear to be mixed. The paper develops a gendered global value chain analysis as a frame for analysing processes of economic and social upgrading and downgrading in GVCs. It draws on case studies from African traditional and high value agro-exports to highlight three scenarios where: i. economic and partial social upgrading have gone together (floriculture); ii. upgrading and downgrading outcomes are mixed (horticulture); and iii. economic and social downgrading have gone together (cocoa). It considers the intersection of GVCs and gender embeddedness in shaping gender dynamics, and the role of private, civil society and public governance in promoting more gender equitable economic and social upgrading

Participatory social auditing : a practical guide to developing a gender-sensitive approach

A participatory approach to codes of labour practice comes from a different perspective to more compliance focused snapshot social auditing. It puts greater emphasis on involvement of workers and workers organisations in the process of code implementation and assessment. It is based on developing partnerships between different actors (companies, trade unions, NGOs and preferably government) in developing a locally sustainable approach to the improvement of working conditions. This approach is sensitive to uncovering and thus addressing more complex issues such as gender discrimination and sexual harassment. These are issues more likely to be experienced by insecure non-permanent workers, who are often women, whose voices snapshot audits usually fail to pick up. They are less visible issues, that are unlikely to be resolved through a simple compliance approach. The goal of a participatory approach is a process of awareness creation and improvement that is more gender sensitive. A participatory approach can be developed at different levels. At a minimum it involves the use of participatory tools in the process of social auditing to ensure that the views and voices of workers, especially women workers, are captured in an audit. More genuine participation by workers also requires the involvement of workers representatives or shop stewards at site level, and sector trade unions and NGOs, both in awareness creation and auditing process. At its broadest level, it involves the development of local multi-stakeholder initiatives that bring companies, trade unions and NGOs together with government in forming an independent body able to oversee the implementation, and monitoring of a locally relevant code of labour practice. Such an approach faces many challenges, but it represents a shift away from a formal top down compliance orientation, to the greater empowerment of workers and their representative organisations as an essential part of the process of improving labour standards and working conditions. This paper is aimed primarily at policymakers and practitioners with a practical interest in developing a gender-sensitive approach to participatory social auditing and codes of labour practice. Keywords: codes of labour practice; participatory social auditing; gender

Gender and ethical trade: A mapping of the issues in African horticulture

Codes of conduct covering employment conditions of Southern producers exporting to European markets mushroomed throughout the 1990s. A recent article (Blowfield 2000) cited over 200 codes related to worker welface specifically, and over twenty codes applied to agriculture in developing countries.1 Codes have become very prevalent in the UK food retail sector, and most of the large supermarkets are now implementing codes along their supply chains to cover their own brand name products and fresh produce. But codes of conduct are also evolving at multiple levels both internally and externally to supply chains as various actors such as importers, exporters and local trade associations have adopted their own codes. Externally, independent standards have been established through organisations such as Social Accountability 8000 in the US and the Ethical Trading Initiative in the UK. As a result, suppliers of horticultural products are faced with a plethora of codes, some of which are similar, but amongst which there can be considerable variability

The political economy of unequal exchange : A critique of the theory of Arghiri Emmanuel

This thesis is an examination of the political economy of Arghiri Emmanuel's theory of unequal exchange. Emmanuel's theory is studied both as a theory of trade and as a theory of imperialism. Emmanuel's original aim was to develop a modified labour theory of value to explain why in the course of international trade some nations grow rich at the expense of poor ones. This thesis argues that Emmanuel's theory of international exchange value failed as an attempt to extend the labour theory of value to international trade; it rests instead on a Smithian 'adding up' theory of value, where value is defined by the sum of the rewards to the factors. Further, it is argued that Emmanuel's attempt to explain the determination of the rewards to the factors in terms of physical bundles of goods is inadequate as an explanation of value. Consequently, it is shown that he is unable to account for the origins of surplus value or profit. As a result Emmanuel's conclusions regarding the formation of international values do not move beyond sophisticated neo-Mercantilism - where one nation grows richer at the expense of another by adding on to its cost of production a 'surplus upon alienation'. Thus Emmanuel's neo-Mercantilist theory of international exchange value and trade is shownto be logically consistent with his theory of Mercantile imperialism. But it is argued this theory is inadequate as a theory of imperialism as it is merely descriptive and fails to identify the underlying determination of the transfer of surplus from one nation to another. Having established the main failures of Emmanuel's theory of unequal exchange the thesis concludes by examining its relevance to a theory of financial imperialism

Global value chains and gender: opportunities and challenges for women workers in developing economies

Monográfico: Estructura y dinámica de las cadenas globales de valorLos grandes minoristas y los supermercados operan a través de cadenas globales de valor (CGV) en las que se abastecen de bienes directamente a través de proveedores, muchos de ellos en el Sur global. Los supermercados y minoristas coordinan y gobiernan a sus proveedores mediante la aplicación de estrictos requisitos comerciales y estándares privados. El género desempeña un papel importante en la dinámica comercial y en la expansión de las CGV. Las CGV generan empleo e ingresos para cientos de millones de trabajadores y pequeños agricultores de economías de renta media y baja, una proporción significativa de los cuales son mujeres. Las mujeres contribuyen a mejorar la productividad y la calidad en las CGV, pero son recompensadas de forma desigual y las mejoras en su bienestar y en cuestiones relativas a la igualdad de género no siempre son claras. Este artículo se pregunta: ¿Cómo se sustentan las CGV en las relaciones de género, y cuáles son las oportunidades y los retos para las mujeres que participan en las cadenas africanas de valor agroalimentarias? El artículo avanza una perspectiva de género en el análisis de las cadenas globales de valor, centrándose en los procesos de mejora y degradación económica y social (social and economic upgrading and downgrading). Se basa en dos estudios de casos contrastados sobre exportaciones a Europa en las que las mujeres desempeñan un papel fundamental: la floricultura de África Oriental, donde predomina el trabajo asalariado, y el cacao de África Occidental, procedente principalmente de pequeños agricultores. Examina el papel de la gobernanza privada, social y pública en la promoción de una mejora económica y social más equitativa desde el punto de vista del género.Large retailers and supermarkets operate through global value chains (GVC) in which they directly source goods from suppliers, many in the global south. They coordinate and govern their suppliers via the application of strict commercial requirements and private standards. Gender plays an important role in the commercial dynamics and expansion of retail GVCs. GVCs generate jobs and incomes for hundreds of millions of workers and smallholders in middle and low-income economies, a significant proportion female. Women contribute to enhancing productivity and quality in GVCs, but are unequally recompensed and outcomes for improving their well-being and gender equality are mixed. This paper asks: How are GVCs underpinned by gender relations, and what are the opportunities and challenges for women engaged in African agri-food value chains? It advances a gender perspective on global value chain analysis with a focus on processes of economic and social upgrading and downgrading. It draws on two contrasting case studies involving exports to Europe in which women play critical roles: East African floriculture where wage labour predominates, and West African cocoa sourced mainly from smallholders. It considers the roles of private, social and public governance in promoting more gender equitable economic and social upgrading.Instituto Complutense de Estudios InternacionalesTRUEpu

Hallazgos imagenológicos de la columna lumbar mediante radiografía en pacientes con lumbalgia, Lima 2019

Objetivo: Determinar los hallazgos imagenológicos más frecuentes de la radiografía de columna lumbar en pacientes atendidos en el Instituto Americano de Medicina Física, Miraflores - Lima de agosto a noviembre del año 2019. Metodología: El estudio fue de enfoque cuantitativo, retrospectivo, de alcance descriptivo, de diseño no experimental, de corte transversal. El tamaño de la muestra fue de 193 pacientes de 18 a 80 años que acudieron al Instituto Americano de Medicina Física durante los meses de agosto a noviembre del año 2019. Resultados: Los resultados mostraron un mayor porcentaje en hombres con 51.8% (100 pacientes) y en mujeres con 48.2% (93 pacientes). Se observó un mayor predominio en el grupo etario de 46 a 55 años con 21.2%, según la ocupación a la que se dedican los pacientes se obtuvo un mayor porcentaje en profesionales con 37.31% (72 pacientes), la mayor incidencia de hallazgos imagenológicos fue la subluxación vertebral con 15.9% (123 casos), seguido de espondiloartrosis con 12.7% (98 casos), hipolordosis con 11.1%, hubo mayor predominio de afección en las vértebras inferiores L5-S1 con 22.8% (149 casos). Conclusiones: Los hallazgos imagenológicos más frecuentes de la columna lumbar por radiografía fueron las subluxaciones vertebrales con 15.9%, el sexo más representativo fueron los hombres, la mayor frecuencia de casos fue en el grupo etario de 46 a 55 años y la ocupación con mayor incidencia fue a nivel de profesionales

Southern actors and the governance of labour standards in global production networks: The case of South African fruit and wine

From SAGE Publishing via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: epub 2021-08-05Publication status: PublishedRecent studies highlight the emergence of standards, including multi-stakeholder initiatives developed and applied within the global South where supplier firms are usually based. This trend has created a complex ethical terrain whereby transnational standards flow through global production networks and intersect with domestic initiatives at places of production. The paper complements global production network analysis with the concepts of ‘space of flows’ and ‘space of places’ and insights from relational economic geography, to examine how some multi-stakeholder initiatives in the global South can shape the broader governance of labour standards in global production networks. The following questions are addressed: How is the governance of labour standards in global production networks shaped by dynamic spatial interactions between actors? What role have diverse Southern multi-stakeholder initiatives played in influencing the governance of South African fruit and wine? We draw on research conducted over seven years into two standards in South Africa, the Wine and Agriculture Ethical Trade Association and Sustainability Initiative of South Africa. Our analysis shows that these two Southern-based multi-stakeholder initiatives contributed to shaping the broader governance of labour standards through dynamic non-linear waves of interaction over time, involving both collaborative and contested exchanges between actors across space of flows and places. We further argue that despite the development of multi-stakeholder initiatives by Southern actors, commercial power asymmetries in global production networks limit their ability to promote significant improvements for producers and workers

Ethical trade in African horticulture : gender, rights and participation

Codes of conduct covering employment conditions of southern producers have gained popularity over the past decade. In African horticulture employers now face a plethora of codes coming from supermarkets, importers, exporters and trade associations. Women constitute the majority of workers in African export horticulture. However, men are often in permanent employment, whereas women tend to work in temporary and insecure jobs. This report provides an in-depth assessment of gender and ethical trade in South African fruit, Kenyan flowers and Zambian flowers and vegetables. It examines the gendered needs and rights of workers, as articulated by workers themselves, and how these could best be addressed by codes of conduct. The research paid particular attention to vulnerable groups such as women and seasonal, casual and migrant workers, who typically face a different set of constraints and opportunities in employment. This paper discusses the nature of employment and working conditions found in the subsectors, and the varying perspectives of workers and employers toward these conditions. It summarises key gender issues in employment and outlines how they relate to codes. It explores the benefits of “participatory social auditing” for assessing workplace issues, especially gender issues. It describes the value of a local multi-stakeholder approach to code implementation and the extent to which stakeholders in South Africa, Kenya and Zambia have embraced the process thus far. Finally it identifies policy recommendations for best practice in code implementation