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Women in the Banana Export Industry. Regional Report on West & Central Africa.

Working paper. Series for the World Banana Forum.

Year of publication 2015

Pages 35 p.

Author Cooper, A.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Document

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) ‘Women in the Banana Export Industry Regional Report on West & Central Africa’ is part of a global report on the economic aspects of gender issues in the banana sector. It analyses key issues for women workers with a particular focus on women’s employment in the region. The main roles carried out by women in the workplace are identified as are any advances towards Decent Work that have been made through multi stakeholder and project activity in West and Central Africa. The report will inform the gender work of the World Banana Forum. Women’s employment in the region varies from 11% in Côte d'Ivoire, to 21% in Cameroon. This is in part explained by the dominant operator in Ghana and Cameroon, Compagnie Fruitiere, being more restrictive of women’s employment in the field. The key issues for women across all three countries in the study (Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, and Cameroon) were low wages, hours of work, health and safety (in particular for pregnant women and nursing mothers, sexual harass ment and lack of childcare provision. Women experience a triple burden as plantation worker, domestic worker and child carer. In Cameroon and Ghana women reported earning less than men. Lack of education and training is a key barrier to better employment opportunities for women which companies are beginning to address. The Collective Bargaining Agreement between GAWU and Golden Exotics Ltd was an example of best practice, aiming to create a ’women friendly’ environment. Unions involved in the re port are active in gender training initiatives for women workers and representatives in partnership with British NGO, Banana Link, and the IUF. The African case shows that gender does not need to prevent women being employed in banana operations in both the field and packhouse, increasing job opportunities for women, although further research is needed to assess the impacts of greater numbers of women being employed in the field.

Language English

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