Food retailers need to persevere with sourcing from small farmers in
developing countries even if the farmers are not complying with ethical
guidelines, the Ethical Trading Initiative has said.
The ETI says its three-year investigation into the food industry’s
supply chain has found it can take a long time for working conditions
on small farms in developing countries to improve, and that retailers
should stick with them rather than give up.
The ETI, whose members include UK supermarkets such as Asda,
Sainsbury’s and Somerfield, says that in spite of proven labour
problems, retailers should continue sourcing from small producers.
Dropping them only compounds the problems they face and will not
improve conditions. Tea, coffee, vegetables and other common food items
are grown in low volumes on small plots of land in the developing
world, reaching international markets via packers, marketing boards,
co-operatives, and other intermediaries.
Site visits in Kenya found both workers and smallholders often lack
drinking water and protective clothing. Many work for less than a
living wage and are not represented by trade unions.
In advice based on its findings, the ETI says that while retailers
might reasonably demand concerted action from larger suppliers who fail
to comply with ethical standards, it is unrealistic to demand swift
improvements from small farmers – and the best way forward is for
retailers to ensure intermediaries’ pricing and ordering procedures are
not ‘negatively affecting smallholders’.
‘No-one is expecting retailers or purchasers to bring smallholders into full compliance overnight,’ it says.
However, the ETI adds that greater forbearance on the part of retailers
needs to be matched by patience from NGOs and trade unions, who often
attack companies for poor conditions in their supply chains. Dan Rees,
director of ETI, stressed the recommendations are aimed as much at
non-profit groups and trade unions as at food retailers.
Sue Longley, global co-ordinator of the IUF, the international food and
agriculture union, agreed firms should be given more leeway. ‘It’s
important that measures to ensure ethical standards don’t result in
smallholders being excluded from access to markets,’ she said.
