The cotton supply chain at the community level is under strain in Pakistan, the fifth largest producer in the world, with production under multi-dimensional stress wherein the smallholder farmers, farmworkers, and workers and businesses along much of the supply chain do not partake of the success and abundance of the cotton success story.
- The report, Mapping of the cotton supply chain at the community level in Pakistan: A report on selected districts in Punjab and Sindh Provinces, was commissioned by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY intended to better understand the socio-economic context and the status of fundamental principles and rights at work in select cotton producing communities, and to seek opportunities for their improvement through evidence-based recommendations, details multiple factors that show decent work deficits compounded by a general lack of knowledge and limited, though increasing incrementally, the application of fundamental principles and rights at work in the cotton growing communities in the five districts surveyed in Punjab and Sindh Provinces.
- Cotton farms in Pakistan contribute significantly to the GDP, generate critical foreign exchange for the country, feed raw material to the critical textile and garment industry. Yet, cotton production is under multi-dimensional stress brought about collectively by factors ranging from low yields to low government support, to outdated farming methods on many of the farms, to constant fragmentation of farm land from one generation to the next, to the palpable impact of climatic change.
- Pakistan’s agriculture sector is critical to the country’s economic and human resource growth. Policies and initiatives, including social protection measures, are being introduced to support the sector further, but implementation is weak.
- Policies and initiatives do not always benefit the most marginalised farmers and farmworkers. They continue to rely on dependency-inducing informal credit providers as they ponder and then switch from cotton to other more profitable crops, such as wheat and sugarcane—following their peers.
Forced labour or compulsory labour: The report highlights certain prevailing practices that make the workers vulnerable to conditions of forced labour. The practice of providing advance payments (peshgi) from informal sources to workers and farmers is reported as a common practice.
- At times the borrowers are not able to pay back in time, which rolls over their loan payment to the next cycle, and increases the commission they end up paying. In the case of farmers, the rollover binds them to the lender (usually the village or market traders, the beoparis and arthis), taking away their freedom to seek a better sale option for their crop. The practice of peshgi is associated with bonded labour in Pakistan.
- The findings confirm that workers in the cottage industry and power loom industry units witnessed and experienced forced overtime and threats in case of non-compliance.
- This practice points to coercion, intimidation and threats and excessive or mandatory overtime, which are indicators of forced labour.
- The findings do not address whether the element of “involuntariness” in undertaking the work was involved on part of the workers.
Child labour: Although children were not among the key informants in the survey, there is evidence of their involvement in child labour.
- The report findings make it clear that school dropout rates increase during harvesting because girls are involved in harvesting, and boys in sowing the seeds.
- Besides, application of chemical sprays by children below 18 years of age is prohibited by provincial laws in Punjab and Sindh Provinces and according to ILO Conventions on child labour. Children’s mere presence in the area will cause them harm.
- It is also likely that children are involved in hazardous work in the industrial units: Adult key respondents in the cottage industry and power loom units surveyed confirmed the presence of children 15 to 17 years of age. Although it could be legal for this group of children to be working because of their age, it is also possible that their work was hazardous and illegal.
