Updates on our Work

Over the past year, I did a number of quick market studies in different countries in Africa. I experienced that it is relatively easy to get data, for example with a simple survey tool like KOBO. However, when analyzing the data I encountered a number of challenges that you may recognize.

1 What is the product quality?

Comparing prices between markets A and B seems easy, but are we referring to the same product quality? Often quality is not  clearly defined, so it needs some investigation to find out which quality is referred to.  Also, quality over time is often different: an average tomato in the high season is often of better quality than in the low season.

2 What is the variety of the product? 

For instance, one can take the price of a generic product like potatoes. But one can also look into specific varieties Some varieties of e.g. potatoes, coffee or rice have a much better price than others.

3 What is the weight or volume measurement used?

Ideally, measurements would be in kilograms, however in rural Africa often other measures are used like bowls, buckets, or bags. The size of these measurements is likely to differ between places as well as the extent to which they are filled. This may also vary between the dry and wet season. For some crops, like coffee, it becomes even more complicated as one bag of red berries, dried coffee, washed coffee, green coffee and roasted coffee all have different weights, due to their different  moisture content.

4 At what time of the day do we visit the buyer?

While prices for farmers are likely to be stable during the day, traders often face changing prices during a market day. Prices tend to be higher at the beginning of the day and lower towards the closing of the market. This applies especially to wholesale markets for more perishable products, which traders do not want to take back to their warehouses.  

5. When comparing prices do we take into account (embedded) services provided by the buyer?

Especially the location of collection of the product (e.g. farm gate, warehouse, in town) and payment conditions (e.g. pre-finance, cash payment, delayed payment) will result in different offers even if the price offered is the same.    

So, it is good to keep these issues in mind when gathering price data or comparing prices. This will provide a better basis for calculating profitability in different parts of the value chain.

For more information, please contact andre.vording@fairandsustainable.nl

On Thursday 11 July 2019, Fair & Sustainable consultant Jochem Schneemann delivered a guest lecture about the business case of gender interventions at the Maastricht School of Management (MSM). Participants were 30 professionals from 16 countries – who followed the 2-weeks MBA summer course in Global Value Chains and Sustainability. Jochem presented the results of a study last year in Ethiopia where his team assessed the costs and benefits of gender interventions in flower farms.

The study was commissioned by IDH – the Sustainable Trade Initiative, with project partners:  the Ethiopian Horticulture Producers and Exporters Association (EHPEA), the Floriculture Sustainability Initiative (FSI) and Business for Social Responsibility -BSR.
The gender interventions undertaken by the flower farms consisted of:
(1) Establishing gender committees
(2) Review of the Human Resources policy, including code of conduct on gender based violence, a grievance system and a chapter on gender equality
(3) Training of managers, staff and gender committee members on equal rights, gender sensitive management, role & responsibilities of the gender committee, hygiene and sanitation, nutrition and family planning.

One of the outstanding results of gender work in the Ethiopian flower sector was that workers paid more respect to each other, women got more confidence and felt more safe at the work floor. The figure below features the good gender and labour practices (on the left) that were identified at the selected flower farms, and business benefits (on the right).

After the presentation the participants discussed about questions, such as:

• Do you see a gender gap in your sector/company? Can you explain?  Why is there (not) a gap?
• What is the dominant thinking about gender (gap) in your organization or sector ?
• What is being done to address gender in your sector? Is there a gender policy/are there gender interventions?  What is your opinion about it? 

It came out that in most organizations, men have the majority of positions at management level, that women often get paid less for the same position. Which is a global phenomenon. There was debate as to whether a quota or fixed percentage of men and women at management positions should be aimed for.

Jochem’s response: “Discussion showed that there are pro’s and con’s for a quota, but this often remains a long debate. More fundamental is that companies ensure a level playing field for all staff with regard to opportunities. This requires companies to identify the capacities and aspirations of their (female and male) employees, and making investments in women, so they can realise their ambition and reach the same level and positions as men.”

Consensus existed that business arguments would make the best chance to convince executives to commit and pay attention to gender equality. Overall, it was a lively debate and open exchange across a large diversity of backgrounds and nationalities. MSM has invited Jochem for another guest lecture on 11^th of December 2019.

For more information: jochem.schneemann@fairandsustainable.nl.