Mars, Mondelez and Nestlé and The Fight For Women's Rights
Mars, Mondelez and Nestlé and The Fight For Women's Rights
Mars, Mondelez and Nestlé and The Fight For Women's Rights
Ref: 04/2013
Mars, Mondelez and Nestl and the fight for womens rights
Background
Oxfams Behind the Brands scorecard shows major gaps in the policies of the Big 10 food and beverage companies when it comes to protecting and promoting womens rights. Substantial evidence shows that women get a raw deal in food and beverage company supply chains and companies are failing to adequately address the challenges. An Oxfam investigation into how women fare in cocoa supply chains in four countries revealed stories of neglect, inequality and unfair treatment. Although they do not directly employ or control them, this briefing shows how Mars, Mondelez International and Nestl, three of the most powerful chocolate producers in the world, must help lead an effort to bring about equality for women cocoa producers and women workers throughout food and beverage company supply chains.
Introduction
Today, comfort foods and sweets are extraordinarily popular, and despite a worldwide recession, food and beverage companies are enjoying unprecedented success in selling chocolate to consumers across the globe.1 In fact, sales of chocolate confectionery in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region more than doubled in the five years leading up to 20112 and Mondelez Internationals (formerly Kraft) Oreo is now the worlds favorite cookie with top sales in the U.S., China and Venezuela.3 In 2012, Snickers and M&Ms together generated an estimated $7 billion in sales for Mars4 and Nestls KitKat is today available to shoppers in 72 countries.5 Yet despite this success, similar advances in wealth and status have not trickled down to the millions of farmers and laborers who supply food and beverage companies with their most precious ingredients. In spite of global progress in reducing the number of hungry people in the world today, most people who work along the cocoa supply chain continue to live in poverty,6 and malnutrition in cocoa producing areas of the world is rampant.7 Women are often the primary target of company marketing campaigns. Yet women working in cocoa fields and processing plants suffer substantial discrimination and inequality. And while women increasingly occupy positions of power in food and beverage company headquarters, women working in company supply chains in developing countries continue to be denied similar advances in wealth, status or opportunity. Agnes Gabriel, a 37-year-old migrant worker living in Ayetoro-Ijesa, Nigeria, gets paid $3 a day for her work on a cocoa farm while her male counterparts make more than twice that
amount. Arti, a laborer at a cocoa exporting factory in Makassar, Indonesia, says she is made to work without a contract and is called an animal by her supervisor. And at the cocoa processing factory in Makassar where Munir works, all female workers were laid off after a few demanded equal treatment and pay. Over the past century, food and beverage companies have become giant multinational conglomerates whose success has often been tied to their appeal to female consumers. Yet these same companies have not done nearly enough to address inequality, hunger and a lack of opportunity for women working within their supply chains. Oxfam has been working in cocoa for years both in our programs and in advocating for more positive social impacts in the supply chain. Oxfam recently visited more than a dozen cocoa producing communities across the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Indonesia and Brazil to interview women cocoa growers and hear first-hand accounts of the issues they face. Based on that information and the data gathered for Oxfams Behind the Brands scorecard, along with our years of experience in cocoa supply chains, we urge three of the world's largest and most powerful food and beverage companies Mars, Mondelez International and Nestl to lead a more aggressive effort to support and protect the rights of the millions of women worldwide who grow the cocoa essential for their products. Investing in women is good for the chocolate companies and good for cocoa communities because it helps to increase yields and promote food security. It is also simply the right thing to do.
The problem
Around the world, 190,000 pounds or 95 tons of chocolate are consumed every second.8 Global chocolate confectionary sales topped $100 billion for the first time in 20119 and demand continues to rise, particularly in the massive emerging markets of Russia, China, Brazil and India. Yet surprisingly, only three food and beverage companies Mars, Mondelez International and Nestl control more than 40% of global chocolate market share.10 Together these companies purchase nearly one-third of the world's harvested cocoa11 and net more than $45 billion a year in confectionary sales.12 But this rise in sales has not translated into a better life for the more than 5.5 million smallscale farmers who currently supply 90% of the cocoa used by major food and beverage companies.13 Poverty and hunger among cocoa growers remains endemic;14 in fact most smallholders and cocoa workers live below the poverty line,15 especially those in West Africa where 70% of the world's cocoa is grown.16 Gender discrimination in cocoa value chains in Indonesia
Oxfams Behind the Brands scorecard does not assess company policies related to factories but our field research documented first-hand accounts from workers which illustrate the extreme vulnerability of women throughout the cocoa value chain. Link to full case study: http://oxf.am/3zy Arti* (female, mid-30s) Arti is a laborer at a cocoa exporting factory in Makassar. She says she has been working as a laborer in cocoa processing since 2008. She works without a legal contract, and is paid just Rp. 50,500 or $5.25 USD per day. But Arti often goes for more than a week without receiving any wages at all, as she only gets called in when there is a stock of cocoa. The money she makes is less than the minimum wage and does not stretch to cover the cost of food, water and her rent. She pays Rp.150,000 or $15.50 USD per month for a dark and stuffy 2.5 x 2.5 square meter room made of galvanized aluminum in a workers compound. Arti says she does not receive the legal rights that workers should get under Indonesian law, such as Workers Social Security. She says she is often scolded and insulted by the supervisor at the factory who calls her an 'animal'. "We are scolded even though we work properly," said Arti. She even reported being hidden in the back of the plant when 'guests' from outside visit. After the guests left I was asked to work again. Yet she says she does not dare to fight this discrimination. I never complain, I take it for granted, for fear of being fired.
Munir* (male, early 30s) Munir works part-time at a cocoa exporting plant located in Makassar. Munir says the plant where he works has 34 male workers and no female workers. He says this is because some years ago the factory management fired all the women after some had been demanding basic rights, such as wage increases and worker protections guaranteed under Indonesian employment law, such as menstruation leave. This right gives women the option of two days leave per month, and is aimed at those doing physically demanding jobs where long hours and overtime is the norm, such as factory workers. Many of these women suffer from anemia and especially during their periods they are particularly vulnerable and physically weak. *Names have been altered to protect the identities of the workers.
Worldwide, an estimated 4050 million people rely on cocoa for their livelihoods.17 Yet a farmer in Cote dIvoire, for example, earns a mere $342 a year for their efforts while the poverty line in that country is $5840, 1608% more than a cocoa farmer makes annually (see Figure 1 for income in Ghana and Cote DIvoire). Figure 1: Income increase needed to escape from poverty and absolute poverty
18
Child labor also remains rife within the industry.19 Basics like running water, electricity and toilets are scarce in cocoa growing areas of countries like Nigeria. Sadly, the bad news does not end there. Millions of women cocoa farmers and laborers worldwide also face rampant inequality and discrimination. Women working on cocoa farms usually get paid less than men, if they get paid at all for their work. 21 Women cocoa farmers rarely own the land they farm even if they work the same plot their entire lives. 22 Many women working on cocoa farms who face problems like harrassment or discrimination while at work have no way to complain or fight back.23 Women cocoa farmers dont have the same opportunities to attend agricultural or financial training as men.24 Because of a lack of capital and land, women cocoa farmers struggle to get loans or credit, no matter how hard they work. This severely limits womens ability to purchase fertilizers, better performing seeds, or irrigation systems which could help increase yields.25
Source: Oxfam Novib. Frank Mechielsen. (2009). Eerlijk duurt het langst, de Nederlandse chocoladebranche doorgelicht
In Nigeria for example, some farmers earn only 320 Naira or $2.04 per kilogram for cocoa beans. For a full year's effort then, a farmer could earn a mere $612, less than $2 per day.33 Yet Mars sells one kilogram boxes of chocolates for as much as $26.45 more than ten times what a farmer in Nigeria makes for the same amount of cocoa.34
It is in everyones best interests to reimagine and redesign the cocoa supply chain
It is the responsibility of companies who make significant profits from the hard work of cocoa farmers to help protect and promote the rights of women and men in their supply chains. But it is also within a companys best business interest to see conditions improve for women cocoa growers. Companies that continue to deprioritize these issues are missing a major opportunity. Although global demand for chocolate is rising, the once seemingly endless supply of cocoa has significantly slowed, due to a changing climate35 and an aging workforce,36 giving companies concern for the future of their own supply chains. Millions of young people are leaving cocoa farming in droves due to low pay and a lack of opportunity, and established farmers are considering switching to other crops like rubber and palm oil.37 Please tell the companies that if the price is not better, it will be difficult to produce in the future, Marhanah a 43-year-old farmer from Indonesia told Oxfam. If the welfare of cocoa farmers does not improve, especially for women, cocoa will be replaced. Companies are already taking steps to try to shore up supply but there is strong evidence that investing in women will yield greater marginal returns and increases in agricultural productivity while improving product quality and the lives of millions of women and their families.38 5
Consumers too are demanding more information about the food they eat and how it was grown, and supply chain issues are now reputational risks for multinational companies. Attention to child labor and environmental degredation in the chocolate industry, for example, has already pushed food and beverage companies to implement new sustainabilty initiatives; the systemic discrimination of women in the supply chain is sure to also strike a nerve with women shoppers. The time is then ripe for change in the industry. And by investing in and protecting the rights of women cocoa farmers and workers, companies will work to both secure their own supply chains and reputations while helping raise millions of women out of poverty.
For all of these reasons Oxfam is calling on Mars, Mondelez and Nestl to lead the way in forging equality for women in the cocoa industry and across the entire supply chain. Specifically companies must take three important steps to root out gender inequality in their supply chains. Below, Oxfam highlights specific ways these steps can be implemented. Step One: Know and show how women are treated in their value chains. Conduct third-party impact assessments on how women farmers fare in every country from which the company sources, making sure to use confidential, off-site interviews specifically focusing on women workers and women on family farms. Publish all relevant gender disaggregated data and assessments and engage with local stakeholders, specifically womens groups. Establish a road-map to conduct assessments at least every 5 years in the companys cocoa supply chain and share the relevant gender disaggregated data and assessments. Engage with local womens groups to improve the companys practices. Step Two: Commit to transparently adopt a plan of action to increase opportunities for women and address inequalities in womens pay and working conditions along the supply chain. Require suppliers to provide farmers with a fair price and workers with a living wage to provide for their basic needs. Create agricultural extension services for women farmers and workers and training programs on womens empowerment and discrimination. Provide training for women farmers on how to increase yields, invest in their farms, and increase their resilience to price shocks and natural disasters. Create a goal to hire a significant number of women extension service providers and ask suppliers to do the same. Actively promote female recruitment and leadership of smallholder and cooperative groups that supply companies. Reward cooperatives that improve contracting, so all farmers women and men receive contracts, and on equal terms. Ensure women are a part of teams that audit suppliers, and which train and mentor women farmers. Step Three: Engage with and influence other powerful and relevant public and private actors to address gender inequality. Immediately sign on to the UN Womens Empowerment Principles and encourage all direct suppliers to sign on as well. Advocate for laws in countries in which the company operates or sources that promote gender equity in agriculture, including land reform policies and the promotion of equal access to training and other services (credit, inputs, marketing). Work with certification schemes (RA, FLO, Fairtrade USA, Utz) to incorporate standards and trainings that will address gender inequity and foster womens empowerment. Work with sector initiatives like WCF, ICI, ICCO to develop joint programs for the cocoa sector to address gender inequality. Work with the big cocoa processors, ADM, Cargill, Barry Callebaut, and traders like Olam, Armajaro and others to address gender inequality within their sourcing policies and practices.
Conclusion
The chocolate industry is poised for change. Climate change is forcing food and beverage companies to look to new lands and growing techniques to meet growing demand, while farmers are less willing to work under poor conditions. Consumers are demanding more responsible practices, and certification and sector-wide initiatives are being employed to address the impact of operations on communities around the world. But thus far, companies have been missing one of the most important and potentially gamechanging elements of the global supply chain: women. Not only do women make up a large percentage of those who plant, pick and process cocoa, they are also the key to food security and sustainable, equitable growth. Oxfam now calls on three of the worlds largest cocoa buyers to take responsibility for the impacts in their supply chains and to improve conditions for the women who make their products possible.
Notes
1
KPMG. Food and Beverage Industry Outlook Survey 2012. Found at http://www.kpmg.com/US/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/food-and-beverageindustry-outlook-survey-2012.pdf
2
Bloomberg. Chocolate Binge Topping $100 Billion Boosts Cocoa After Slump: Commodities Nov 24, 2011
3
Planet Money, Rethinking The Oreo For Chinese Consumers January 27, 2012. Found at http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/01/27/145918343/rethinking-the-oreo-for-chinese-consumers
4
th
http://archive.unctad.org/templates/WebFlyer.asp?intItemID=5389&lang=1
Increasing Cocoa Productivity Through Improved Nutrition: A Call to Action. K. de Vries, B. McClafferty, M. van Dorp
8
World Cocoa Foundation, Cocoa Market Update. Quoting Bloomberg News. Found online at http://worldcocoafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/Cocoa-Market-Update-as-of-3.20.2012.pdf
10 11
http://www.confectionerynews.com/Manufacturers/Mondelez-sets-global-chocolate-vision
2011 total world production 3.940.000, 2011 Mondolez 450.000 + Nestle 400.000 + Mars 390.000 = 1.240.000 Calculation 1.240.000/3.940.000 = 31.5% source: Cocoa barometer 2012, visual 3 (p.5) and visual 8 (p.11)
12
World Cocoa Foundation, Cocoa Market Update. Quoting Bloomberg News. Found online at http://worldcocoafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/Cocoa-Market-Update-as-of-3.20.2012.pdf
14 15 16
http://www.gainhealth.org/reports/increasing-cocoa-productivity-through-improved-nutrition http://archive.unctad.org/templates/WebFlyer.asp?intItemID=5389&lang=1
Fairtrade International. Fairtrade and Cocoa August 2011. Found at http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/includes/documents/cm_docs/2011/C/Cocoa%20Briefing%20FINAL%208 Sept11.pdf
17
This came from the Cocoa sector policy brief and the larger number of those who depend on cocoa is also found at http://worldcocoafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/Cocoa-Market-Update-asof-3.20.2012.pdf
18
http://www.cocoabarometer.org/Cocoa_Barometer/Download_files/COCOA_baro2012_printerfriendl y.pdf
19 20
http://www.childlabor-payson.org/Tulane%20Final%20Report.pdf
This needs a reference can whoever wrote it in send me the link? I think we can phrase better too.
21
The role of certification and producer support in promoting gender equality in cocoa production, UTZ CERTIFIED Solidaridad-Certification Support Network in cooperation with Oxfam Novib, February 2009.
22 23
IFPRI (2002) Empowering women and fighting poverty: Cocoa and land rights in West Africa.
Oxfams Behind the Brands Scorecard found that Mars, Mondelez and Nestle do not have policies which require all suppliers to have grievance mechanisms in place for farmers or workers.
24
The role of certification and producer support in promoting gender equality in cocoa production, UTZ CERTIFIED Solidaridad-Certification Support Network in cooperation with Oxfam Novib, February 2009.
25 26 27
Bogui, N. and M. Belleau, Ralisation du diagnostic Genre et Dveloppement, SOCODEVI (1999) Food and Agriculture Organization. FAO at work 2010-2011: Women Key to Food Security. See: SOFA Team & Cheryl Doss (2011).The role of women in agriculture, ESA Working Paper No. 11-02, FAO publication, p. 2 http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/am307e/am307e00.pdf http://www.economist.com/node/6802551 http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/52011/icode/ http://worldcocoafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/Cocoa-Market-Update-as-of-3.20.2012.pdf
28 29 30 31
The role of certification and producer support in promoting gender equality in cocoa production, UTZ CERTIFIED Solidaridad-Certification Support Network in cooperation with Oxfam Novib, February 2009.
32
IFPRI, Gender Dimensions of Agriculture, Poverty, Nutrition, and Food A typical cocoa farmer harvests twice a year. http://www.amazon.com/Silky-Smooth-Chocolate-Promises-Collection/dp/B002SC083C
CIAT, Predicting the impact of climate change on the cocoa growing regions in Ghana and Ivory Coast
36 37
http://worldcocoafoundation.org/creating-sustainable-cocoa-communities-through-literacy/
Euromonitor.com, Euromonitor Internationals View on the 2012 World Cocoa Conference: Dont Panic. http://blog.euromonitor.com/2013/01/euromonitor-internationals-view-on-the-2012-worldcocoa-conference-dont-panic.html. Farmers, argued politicians from producing countries, will find little or no incentive in passing on their cocoa farms to their offspring at current price levels. New generations will likely shift to more profitable crops like rubber or simply move to better remunerated jobs in cities.
38
Chan, M.K.; Barrientos, S. (2010). Improving opportunities for women in smallholder-based supply chains.
39 40
Oxfam analysis of company sustainability initiatives found little focus on gender equality. While certain individual programs address gender issues companies have so far taken a piecemeal and are not mandating changes throughout their supply chain.
41 42
http://www.childlabor-payson.org/Tulane%20Final%20Report.pdf
Chan, M.K.; Barrientos, S. (2010). Improving opportunities for women in smallholder-based supply chains.
Oxfam
www.oxfam.org
Oxfam is an international confederation of seveteen organizations working together in 94 countries: Oxfam America (www.oxfamamerica.org), Oxfam Australia (www.oxfam.org.au), Oxfam-in-Belgium (www.oxfamsol.be), Oxfam Canada (www.oxfam.ca), Oxfam France (www.oxfamfrance.org), Oxfam German (www.oxfam.de), Oxfam GB (www.oxfam.org.uk), Oxfam Hong Kong (www.oxfam.org.hk), Oxfam India (www.oxfamindia.org), Intermon Oxfam (www.intermonoxfam.org), Oxfam Ireland (www.oxfamireland.org), Oxfam Italy (www.oxfamitalia.org), Oxfam Japan (www.oxfam.jp), Oxfam Mexico (www.oxfammexico.org) Oxfam New Zealand (www.oxfam.org.nz) Oxfam Novib (www.oxfamnovib.nl), Oxfam Quebec (www.oxfam.qc.ca)
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