Building Capacity:

Supporting Local Organisations in Supplier Countries

• Introduction
   
• Multi-stakeholder initiative on homeworkers, Delhi, India
• Multi-stakeholder audit body, Sri Lanka
• Multi-Fibre Agreement Forum, international
• Wine in South Africa - WIETA
• The Kenya flower trade
• Zimbabwe horticultural sector - AEAAZ
   

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Introduction

Our work has shown that code implementation is most successful when it is backed up by local organisations such as trade unions and NGOs. Trade unions and other local organisations working to improve working conditions have unique local knowledge, influence and staying power to ensure that improvements in labour conditions are appropriate and sustained over time. However, in many developing countries such local bodies tend to have very limited resources. As a result, it has often proved difficult to find appropriate organisations with the capacity to engage effectively with companies on code implementation issues.

ETI has previously invested in building local capacity in three significant export industries in Africa – wine in South Africa, flowers in Kenya, and fresh produce in Zimbabwe. You can find out more about each of these initiatives and how we have supported them in the sections below.

From 2006 onwards, we will now be developing work supporting local multi-stakeholder organisations in three Asian locations.

 

 

Multi-stakeholder initiative on homeworkers, Delhi, India

A highly active tri-partite local group has coalesced in Delhi under the Homeworker experimental project and has been working from February 2005 to develop guidelines for implementing the Base Code with homeworkers.

From April 2006, this group will begin work to establish a ‘multi-stakeholder action agency’, which would ideally include government officials, contractors, sub-contractors and homeworkers themselves, to implement key parts of the guidelines requiring co-operation across the supply chain. Activities will be likely to include:

• establishment of a welfare fund for homeworkers, funded by both employee and employer contributions;
• designing and implementing a system for monitoring contractors’ and subcontractors’ payments to homeworkers.

 

 

Multi-stakeholder audit body, Sri Lanka

For the past three years, suppliers to ETI retailers have been meeting with Trade Union and NGO representatives in Sri Lanka to develop rigorous and credible social audit methodologies for use in garment factories. Following first-round tests of audit models, the group is now moving beyond the original objectives of the project, to explore the possible establishment of an industry-wide agency that can audit across the industry using the models refined by the project.

 

 

Multi-Fibre Agreement Forum, international/Bangladesh

Established in 2004, the MFAF is a network of over 30 brands/retailers, trade unions, NGOs and multi-lateral institutions. The Forum is working to try to mitigate the impact of the end of quotas on countries whose garment industries could suffer in the current environment of open competition and increased uncertainty.

In June 2005 the MFA Forum in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched a joint initiative to identify a road map to a viable, profitable and internationally responsible and competitive textile and garment industry in Bangladesh. This has made significant progress, with a multi-stakeholder National Forum for Social Compliance now established and meeting in Bangladesh. ETI will be working to support NGO and TU involvement in the Bangladeshi National Forum for Social Compliance.

For more information see:

• Activities: Working with others: Multi-Fibre Agreement Forum;
• Multi-Fibre Agreement Forum website.

 

 

Wine in South Africa - WIETA

Our now completed experimental project in South Africa provided local stakeholders with the impetus to develop their own multi-stakeholder body, the Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association (WIETA). This will inspect and improve labour conditions in the Western Cape wine industry, using the methodology developed by our project. We have supported the development of this body by funding the training of local auditors and development of a manual for their members and educational material for workers.

The ETI-supported activities were completed in 2004, and WIETA will continue as a self-funding body. ETI continues to share experiences and learning with WIETA on a regular basis.For further information on WIETA and our experimental project in South Africa (now completed) see:

• the WIETA website.
• Activities: Experimental Projects: South Africa Wine.

 

 

The Kenya flower trade

Report: Addressing labour practices on Kenyan flower farms - Report of ETI involvement 2002-2004
(available in English & español, February 2005)

This report records ETI members' involvement in addressing labour standards on Kenyan flowers farms supplying ETI corporate members. It is of particular interest to ETI members and flower industry stakeholders in Kenya. The report may also be useful for companies, trade unions, governments, horticulture industry organisations and non-governmental organisations working on labour standards in horticulture at national or international level worldwide.

See also (very large download):

BBC Radio 4 - "Costing the Earth" - Kenya Flower Trade [MP3, 25MB]
Includes extended interview with Alan Roberts, Chair of ETI (July 2005).

 

 

Fresh produce in Zimbabwe: AEAAZ

In 1998, we approached horticultural suppliers, local NGOs and trade unions in Zimbabwe to participate in one of ETI’s first experimental projects. The agricultural sector trade union, relevant NGOs and the Horticultural Promotion Council (HPC) agreed to take part in the project, on condition that a local working group would be formed and that it would co-manage the project with ETI. Local stakeholders and ETI also agreed that the HPC’s draft code of practice, which covered labour as well as other standards, would be revised to incorporate ETI Base Code principles and used as basis for project activities.

As the project progressed, those involved decided that they wanted to the local working group to continue functioning after the ETI project was completed and evolve into a multistakeholder body tasked with overseeing the implementation of a local code of practice.

At the same time, other agricultural sectors expressed a keen interest in this initiative, and pushed for the establishment of a generic, national agricultural code of practice.This led to the formation of the Agricultural Ethics Assurance Association of Zimbabwe (AEAAZ) as an autonomous body, independent from the Horticultural Promotion Council.

ETI supported the development of the AEAAZ, providing advice on its governance structure and code content, and supporting the publication of an AEAAZ handbook. Owing to the current situation in Zimbabwe, AEAAZ is not operational at present. However, it can still be contacted – see below.

For further information:

• About the AEAAZ Handbook - Aimed at social and technical auditors, trainers and implementing bodies as well as producers and suppliers, this guide explains the concept and rationale behind participatory social auditing of labour standards, and provides practical guidance and training materials for social auditors. It also includes an overview of the history, purpose and functioning of the AEAAZ.
• contact AEAAZ
   
• ETI Workbook edition 2: Contents: Part 5: Resources

 

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