Cultivating Prosperity: Protecting Rural Workers from Forced Labor and Child Labor

“Protecting workers' rights, eliminating child labor, and promoting fair labor practices are not just moral imperatives, but also essential for long-term success and sustainability of any business. This requires collaboration between businesses, their suppliers, governments, and civil society to achieve lasting impact” Meg Phillips, Head of Programs Koltiva.

The agricultural industry provides employment for approximately 1.3 billion individuals globally, which amounts to half of the world's workforce, according to ILO. As per the ILO's calculations, at least 170,000 agricultural workers are killed each year. This indicates that agricultural workers are twice as likely to lose their lives while on the job compared to workers in other industries. (Source: ILO)

Furthermore, agricultural companies are responsible for ensuring that their supply chains are devoid of child labor and uphold fair labor practices. The well-being of agricultural workers is closely linked to the promotion of decent work, equal opportunities, and the protection of workers' rights - values that the Sustainable Development Goals strive to uphold.

Labor Day aligns with SDG 8, promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. This means ensuring fair wages, safe working conditions, and equal opportunities for all workers in the agricultural sector.

At Koltiva, we support agribusinesses in implementing fair labor practices to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to fostering decent work opportunities for adults and improving the economic prospects of farming communities.

Empowering Rural Communities to Prevent Labor Abuses with Our Boots-on-the-Ground

We engage all supply chain levels to monitor social sustainability standards compliance with some actions i.e Labor-Specific Farmer Training, Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS), Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) Training to Help Increased Income, and Supply Chain Monitoring

• Labor-Specific Farmer Training: Smallholder farmer training can also help improve working conditions for workers by promoting safe and fair labor practices. Koltiva’s farmer training can focus on the importance of providing protective gear, ensuring proper rest breaks, and avoiding the use of child labor or forced labor.
• Good Agriculture Practices (GAP): Improving farm productivity can increase the income of farmers and farm workers, which can help to reduce their vulnerability to exploitation and abuse. By earning a decent income, farmers and workers can better provide for their families and may be less likely to accept jobs with poor working conditions or low wages. Improving farm productivity can also help to reduce poverty in rural communities. Poverty is often a root cause of human rights abuses, such as forced labor and child labor. By providing farmers with the resources they need to improve their livelihoods, they can reduce their reliance on exploitative labor practices.
• Supply Chain Monitoring: Koltiva’s Field Agents survey farmers, their households, and laborers to identify issues within the supply chain and understand the potential risk of exploitation (points as above in the software).
• Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS): Child labor monitoring and remediation systems can help companies identify children in and at risk of child labor and guide them in providing tailored remediation support. Koltiva’s supply chain mapping is a piece of the puzzle of a comprehensive CLMRS. The goal is to eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor.

At Koltiva, we assist agribusinesses in establishing fair labor practices, demonstrating a steadfast dedication to promoting decent work opportunities for adults and enhancing the economic outlook of farming communities. Besides that, look at how we support multinational companies and MSMEs with our traceability platform, KoltiTrace, which enables brands, their suppliers, and smallholder producers to coordinate efforts and address and document labor concerns in an integrated cloud network.

Let's work together to build a brighter future for agriculture that is sustainable, ethical, and equitable for all workers.