Ergon was commissioned (2010) by the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) to identify whether the working conditions of smallholder cotton producers and workers met BCI’s decent work criteria, with a particular focus on the situation of women.
The work was carried out in Mali, one of BCI’s pilot regions for growing Better Cotton.
Ergon’s tasks involved:
• Recruiting a local consultant in Mali to capture local expertise
• Developing focus group discussion frameworks for different categories of producers and workers (e.g. large scale farms, small-scale farms, farms with only family labour)
• Conducting in the field Focus Group Discussions with men and women cotton producers in the Koutiala district of Mali.
• Interviewing key local stakeholders
Our report (in French) to BCI made recommendations on practical, accessible and inclusive training provision to cotton producers (for example on representation of women), the type of producer support that is needed and how current practices can be altered to fulfill decent working conditions for all those involved in cotton production in the area.
