The Hindu Business Line : Wilting workers

Dangerous Dogs’ warns one signage, while a more telling one that is strategically placed at the entry announces, ‘Private Property Keep Off’. As I approached the gated horticultural firm, the sight of sentinels armed with assault rifles and accompanied by ferocious dogs welcomed me. Inside the Oserian Horticultural Firm, a 450-acre flower Mecca located in Kenya’s scenic Rift Valley province, an army of workers dressed in green khaki uniform, gloves and transparent headgear were engaged in disparate chores. The workers are part of Kenya’s KSh 70.3-billion horticulture industry — acknowledged as the world’s largest exporter of cut flowers to the European Union. In 2007, the industry raked in more foreign exchange than tourism. The traditional leading forex earner managed to raise only KSh 65.4 billion last year.

Biggest earner

“We (the horticultural industry) are now Kenya’s biggest earner of hard currency and we have a right to feel vindicated after years of perverse publicity,” says a delighted Carol Andrews of Oserian. Employing two million workers directly, 80 per cent of whom are small-scale farmers, the horticultural industry is a sector that is largely self-regulated, with little interference from the government.

Shocking conditions

According to the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), most employees are non-unionised. Furthermore, most farms do not conduct the prescribed training in occupational health. Even safety committees are not in place. “Workers are not allowed to join trade unions, there are no health and safety committees and employees suffer from diseases as a result of chemicals,” states Stephen Ouma, Executive Director, KHRC.

Anne Mwanthi, Associate Professor of Community Health, Department of Health Sciences, University of Nairobi (UON), adds that more than 150 types of pesticides — including organo-chlorines andorgano-phosphates — were imported by Kenya last year and perilously put to use. “The condition of workers on the flower farms is pathetic. Exposure to agro-chemicals remains a major occupational health hazard,” she says.

However, the worst hit amongst the workers are the women, many of whom bear the burden of single-handedly running their households. A study carried out by Dr Kilome Mwanthi and Dr Philip Otieno of the Sociology Department, UON, titled Beauty and the Agony, says the phenomenon of single-parenthood is common on the ubiquitous flower farms. According to the study, “Because the unit of the traditional family is non-existent, most households are headed by single women, willing to engage in sexual liaisons with their male supervisors so as to safeguard their jobs. This is because they are desperate or hope to get monetary compensation in return.”

Invariably, the labour structure has routinely been censored for being gender insensitive. According to Muthoni Wanyeki, Executive Director, African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), a pan-African NGO that documents issues engaging women, power relations in the horticultural sector overtly discriminate against women. “If you look at the horticultural sector in general it is apparent that the entire senior and middle management are inordinately packed with men. How then do you expect women to have a fair and impartial hearing with regard to their concerns?” she says.

The depressing rate of unemployment intensifies the discrimination with horticultural firms engaging workers on a temporary basis and workers willing to work for less. “As a union, there is very little we can do to force a company to employ workers on a permanent basis. In a free market such as ours, demand for labour will be dependent on the availability of work. And because of the high levels of unemployment, workers often agree to be paid below the official average wage,” says Francis Atwoli, Secretary General of both the Central Organisation of Trade Union (COTU) and the Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union (PAWA). Most horticulture workers would not bother to fight for their rights by approaching the central labour office, as it is located in far-off Nairobi.

“As a result an aggrieved woman will weigh whether or not to travel to Nairobi, almost 200 km away. It would require her to pay for her journey to make an official complaint. She would prefer to utilise her meagre pay for her family’s upkeep. Normally, it’s a choice between the devil and deep blue sea,” elaborates Muthoni.

Superfluous accusations

Wages for flower workers are about $50-145 a month. As expected, the top guns running the sector believe the accusations are superfluous. “We are not exploiting the jobless situation in Kenya. We pay our workers three to four times the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and that compares favourably with wages in some countries in Europe such as Turkey and Spain,” responds Dicky Evans, Chief Executive Officer, Homegrown Kenya Ltd, the country’s third biggest exporter of cut flowers.

Allaying fears that harmful chemicals are used on the farms, Evans says, “Our farms are regularly inspected by 16 local and international auditing and accrediting agencies, including Ethical Trading System, Britain Retail Consortium and a host of supermarket chains.” As Carol takes me around the Oserian flower farm, I wonder if she would allow me to chat with some of the workers. “Sure, take your pick,” she says. But on second thoughts she counsels that Loise Njambi, 32, would fit the bill. “How are the working conditions,” I ask. “Good, very good,” replies Njambi. Then I recall that Carol is just within earshot. As I wave goodbye to my host, the glaring signage, ‘Private Property Keep Off’ menacingly stares back.

One can understand why.

Women’s Feature Service

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