Labour relations and working conditions of workers on smallholder cocoa farms in Ghana

Evans Appiah Kissi () and Christian Herzig ()
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Evans Appiah Kissi: University of Kassel
Christian Herzig: Justus Liebig University Giessen

Agriculture and Human Values, 2024, vol. 41, issue 1, No 8, 109-120

Abstract: Abstract The millions of farm workers in the Global South are an important resource for smallholder producers. However, research on their labour organisation is limited. This article focuses on smallholder farm workers in Ghana’s cocoa sector, drawing on insights from qualitative interviews and the concept of bargaining power. We review the labour relations and working conditions of two historical and informally identified labour supply setups (LSSs) in Ghana’s cocoa sector, namely, hired labour and Abusa, a form of landowner–caretaker relations, and identify an imbalance of horizontal power. Further, we analyse the labour relations and working conditions of an emerging and formal LSS in Ghana’s cocoa sector: private labour providers (PLPs). We argue that PLPs are likely to address the imbalance of horizontal power between farm workers and smallholders and bring about significant improvements in the working conditions of farm workers. We also assess the sustainability potential and limitations of PLPs and argue that tensions exist. We contribute to the growing horizontal power perspective by providing avenues for research and policy related to promoting sustained labour rights for farm workers in smallholder agriculture in the Global South.

Keywords: Labour supply; Horizontal power; Bargaining power; Cocoa; Ghana (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10460-023-10470-2

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