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Stuart Coffey, Intern, International Labor Rights Forum

In a recent article  in  Food First, the US Working Group on the Food Crisis argues that “we should focus on helping African farmers maintain control over their land and seeds, earn a living wage, and enhance – not degrade – the quality of their land and water… We have found GE technology to be disastrous for small farmers and rural communities…farmers lose their land and with it, the ability to feed themselves and their families.”

On Tuesday April 21, 2009, Washington DC was enlightened with the candor and charisma of Josphat Ngonyo, Kenyan activist and founder of the Africa Network for Animal Welfare. Ngonyo is also currently aligned with the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition. Hosted by Food and Water Watch, Ngonyo presented a talk at the popular Busboys and Poets hangout, titled “Africa Bullied into Submission by Multinational Corporations; Kenyan Perspective of GE Technology, GMOs and Bio-safety legislation.”

In its essence, Ngonyo’s talk downplayed the influence that American corporations and government agencies have in re-shaping Kenya's agriculture policy. Kenyan farmers and consumers were kept in the dark last year as the US legislature passed the Global Food Security Act on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that benefits multinational corporations while putting farmers and consumers at risk. However, this act paints a bigger and more morbid picture of a broken African food system that allows these corporations and agencies to abuse agricultural workers and in turn feed the world unhealthy food.

Ngonyo stated that Kenya has never been partial to multinationals however; these companies have been able to sway government policies in favor of Genetic Engineering (GE). These MNCs have worked closely with the Kenyan government and in turn have marginalized farmers and farm workers.

Ngonyo illustrated that in Kenya’s dairy industry the hormone stimulant rBST was approved in order to increase milk production. The consequence was an oversupply of milk and depressed prices, along with many hidden costs within GE technology that farmers were not informed about. The result is greater poverty among farming communities in Kenya. In addition, there are the safety concerns from the possible side effects induced by hormone enhancers such as rBST, being absorbed into humans who work with and consume the produce. 

Ngonyo then illustrated that maize, the staple food of most Kenyans, is also being targeted by GE agencies and corporations. Surely Kenyans should have the right to untainted, safe maize? The 2008 global food crisis put pressure on the Kenyan government to sign the GMO bill that allowed genetically modified maize to be imported from the USA. Thus, these MNCs used food relief as a GMO conduit. The result was the destruction of local farming and livelihoods in Kenya, as it created a dependency on imported maize. Money that could be used to improve agriculture through irrigation and pricing structures is being used on GE.

Both the UN and World Bank argue for agro-ecological and sustainable agriculture, rather than reliance on chemical-intensive practices and genetic engineering. The United States should reject the approach of the misleading Global Food Security Act and instead bring our agricultural research and foreign aid strategy in line with the findings of the acclaimed International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). The IAASTD found that the most promising solutions to the world’s food crisis include investing in agro-ecological research, extension and farming.

It is about time for there to be comprehensive approaches to a sustainable food system.  At ILRF, there has been an ever increasing connection between the types of food that farmers are often required to grow and the lack of ability for farmers to make enough money to provide for their families.  The food system in the U.S. is dominated by large corporate interests where the farmers and farmworkers have little power to improve their pay or working conditions.  Here are some suggested steps to improve the lives of agricultural workers and help solve the food crisis.

Kenya is not the only country affected by GE. US corporations have been contaminating Africa with unapproved traits for years. Who should pay? The Bio-safety act of 2008 needs to be amended and continuously regulated, in order to ensure fair trade and labor practices in Africa.

You CAN make a difference. For further information and how to take action, email The Kenya Biodiversity Coalition at kbioc@anaw.org.

by Yu-Lan Duggan, Communications Officer, ILRF

In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, which prohibited employers from discriminating against an employee based on his/her gender and stipulated that an employee should be paid the same amount in wages for the same work performed by an employee of the opposite sex.  While the Equal Pay Act seemed like a huge step forward in women’s rights at the time, forty-six years later, female workers are still fighting to achieve true equality in the workplace on national Equal Pay Day.

In the US, according to a new analysis released by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the median weekly income for men is higher than those of women in almost all occupations.  Even in the highest ten paying professions for women, a woman’s salary consists of only 86% of a man’s salary in the same position.  This has significant consequences for women, as the salary that a female worker is paid today considerably impacts the amount of social security benefits she will receive later in life and the retirement money she will be able to rely on due to the contribution she will be able to make to her 401K plans.

Internationally, female workers are often struggling to obtain a living wage that will barely keep them out of poverty, let alone demand for equal pay.  That is the case for Amanda Camacho, a Colombian cut flower worker who has worked on the same flower plantation for 14 years, not out of loyalty, but as a strategy to work towards better conditions for all the workers at her plantation.  According to Amanda, “I chose to take action because I am tired of the humiliations from my employers.”  In honor of Mother’s Day, the International Labor Rights Forum, in conjunction with USLEAP and Jobs with Justice South Florida, will be hosting a Mother’s Day Speaking Tour during which Amanda will be sharing her incredible stories with us.  If you’re in the DC, NYC, or Chicago area, click here to see where Amanda will be speaking near you!

So what can we do to help female workers around the world achieve justice and fair pay? 

In 2003, ILRF started the Fairness in Flowers campaign to help female workers like Amanda fight for a safe working environment free from sexual harassment, a decent living wage, and safeguards to protect their health in the global cut flower industry.  To support mothers like Amanda this Mother’s Day, you can purchase a raffle ticket to ILRF’s Mother’s Day Raffle, where you can win a dozen rose bouquet produced on farms with strong labor standards, and your contribution will support initiatives such as the Mother’s Day Speaking Tour.  

In terms of policy, while the Obama Administration gave female workers in the US some hope by signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law on January 29th, you can tell Congress to step up and help women achieve equality faster by encouraging them to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.  Studies have shown that female workers who belong to a union are more likely to receive better pay and benefits, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Internationally, Congress must also ensure that anti-discrimination provisions and strong labor protection for workers are included in US trade agreements with other nations in order to protect female and male workers on both sides of the agreement.  US Congress should also consider ratifying ILO Convention 111, which prohibits discrimination of any form in the workplace.  Given that US law has already been deemed to be in compliance with ILO Convention 111, no changes would have to be made to any US legislation, and the passage of ILO Convention 111 would signal to the world that the US is indeed serious about ensuring equality for all.