A roadmap for negotiating living wages in the banana industry of Côte d’Ivoire has been signed by banana companies, workers unions, retailers, state actors and ILO under framework of Decent Work and Shared Responsibility. The approval of the agreement marks the end of a three-year programme to prepare the Ivorian industry for collective bargaining to close gaps between actual remuneration for workers and living wages, led by Banana Link and co-financed by the IDH and six European retailers.
Côte d’Ivoire is the largest African banana exporter, representing 2% of the global export market bananas.[1] It is the fourth largest supplier to the EU, with over 300,000 tonnes imported in 2023.[2] Key destinations for Ivorian bananas are France, Belgium and the UK – together representing three of the four European countries who have already made public commitments to implement living wages in their banana supply chains.
Three years ago, the Banana Link-led process began with a series of trade union capacity building workshops for women and men workers’ leaders, enabling them to collaborate on wage data validation with the Ivorian research institute CIRES. Last year, a key milestone was celebrated when all ten workers unions active in the Ivorian banana industry came together to form the first national union federation. Simultaneously, the two trade associations representing Ivorian banana companies collaborated for the first time, with support from producers’ association Afruibana. Earlier this year, a bipartite working group was established between the trade union federation – FETBACI – and all the national companies. The working group was tasked with designing a national collective bargaining agreement for the sector by 2026 which covers decent work and living wages. In parallel, a process to establish a framework for decent price commitments on the part of retailers – the foundation on which the pillars of decent work and living wages are constructed – is being developed.
In September 2024, Afruibana and it’s two Ivorian producer association members, OCAB and OBAM-CI, organised a follow up series of visits and meetings which brought together representatives of the whole value chain in Abidjan. Workers were represented by FETBACI and the IUF-UITA, at an event which benefited from the participation of all Ivorian producers, along with major European retailers including Lidl France, and Britain’s largest retailer, Tesco, together with Fairtrade Africa, Banana Link, the World Banana Forum Secretariat/FAO, the ILO and COLEAD and the National Employers’ Confederation CGECI and representatives from the Ivorian ministries of agriculture, trade and labour and members of the National Assembly, who publicly expressed their support.
The Ivorian industry generates 12,974 direct jobs in the West African nation, where 23% of roles are occupied by women workers – a proportion markedly higher than in many banana exporting nations in Central and Latin America. Producers association Afruibana presents a national industry that is committed to sustainability, aiming to grow its share of the European market through widespread transitions agroecological practices. In addition, the industry is strongly committed to social dialogue and investment in workers and their communities, they say. While the world’s top three banana exporters globally – Ecuador, the Philippines and Guatemala – all feature on the ITUCs top ten worst countries for workers, Côte d’Ivoire is among the few banana exporting nations bucking the trend, with a relatively stable rating of 3, only surpassed by Ghana and the Dominican Republic who were more highly ranked for labour conditions.
[1] FAO BANANA Market Review Preliminary results 2023
[2] CIRAD Fruitrop based on Eurostat figures
