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Summary of Findings: Ethical Trade in African Horticulture: Gender, Rights and Participation (2004) . Smith, D. Auret, S. Barrientos, C. Dolan, K. Kleinbooi, C. Njobvu, M. Opondo and A. Tallontire, IDS Working Paper 223, Brighton, Sussex

Gender, Rights and Participation in the Kenya Cut Flower Industry (2003) C. Dolan, M. Opondo and S. Smith, NRI Report No. 2768, Chatham: University of Greenwich

Ethical Trade in African Horticulture: Gender, Rights and Participation. (2004) Final Report on Zambia Study A. Tallontire, S. Smith and C. Njobvu, NRI Report No. 2775, Chatham: University of Greenwich

PROJECT BACKGROUND

This is a collaborative project between NRET, the Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex and the School of Development Studies, University of East Anglia in the UK and research partners in Kenya, Zambia and South Africa. It began in January 2002 and ran until December 2003. 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. Men are more often in permanent employment, but women in temporary and insecure work with poorer conditions. The first phase of this project (carried out in 2000-01) mapped the gender content of horticultural codes. It found that they are at best variable, and often very poor. There is little gender sensitivity or local stakeholder participation in the monitoring and verification of codes. See Phase 1 report.

This project extends the findings of Phase I by conducting an in-depth assessment of gender and ethical trade in export horticulture in South Africa, Kenya and Zambia. The aims of the project are:

The project draws on gender, rights and capabilities approaches, and combines analytical, empirical, participatory and policy research. The gendered needs and rights of employees in the sector were examined, as identified by employees in each country, paying particular attention to vulnerable groups such as temporary workers. Fieldwork in each of the country case studies was undertaken between July and December 2003. Project outputs include:

Stakeholder workshops have been held in Kenya (February 2003) South Africa (March 2003), Zambia (April 2003) and the UK (June 2003).

Journal Articles:

A Gendered Value Chain Approach to Codes of Conduct in African Horticulture (2003) S. Barrientos, C. Dolan and A. Tallontire, World Development Vol 31, issue 9, Pages 1511-1526

Reaching the Marginalised? Gender, Value Chains and Ethical Trade in African Horticulture (Forthcoming, 2005) A. Tallontire, C. Dolan, S. Smith and S. Barrientos, Development in Practice