Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Telephone: (251 11) Fax : (251 11) website : www. africa-union.org

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1 AFRICAN UNION UNION AFRICAINE UNIÃO AFRICANA Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA P. O. Box 3243 Telephone: (251 11) Fax : (251 11) website : www. africa-union.org WORKSHOP FOR MAINSTREAMING SOCIAL PROTECTION PLAN FOR THE INFORMAL ECONOMY AND RURAL WORKERS IN THE AU COMPREHENSIVE AFRICA AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS (CAADP) Nairobi, October 2013 DRAFT CONCEPT NOTE Social Security and Social Protection for the Rural Workers: A key Leverage to Unleash the Potential of Agriculture in Africa and of the CAADP. 1

2 I. Introduction/Background The AU Leaders have expressed their concern and interest with regards the promotion of the people in the rural sector and the informal economy. This political will and engagement is enshrined in specific policy instruments. The CAADP is the central AU policy devoted to the rural economy and agriculture development. Agriculture in its broad definition is well and unanimously recognized as the most important sector in terms of its contribution to employment and economic growth 1. Social security is the protection which society provides for its members against the economic and social distress that otherwise would be caused by substantial reduction or ceasing of earnings resulting from sickness, maternity, employment injury, unemployment, invalidity, old age, and death; the provision of medical care; and the provision of subsidies for families and children. The strategies for providing social security include the preventive, mitigating, and coping aspects. The Ouagadougou 2004 Plan of Action on employment Promotion and Poverty Alleviation recognizes the particular needs of the working poor populations in Africa and dedicated the Key Priority Area 4 to Improving and strengthening the existing social protection schemes and extending it to workers and their families currently excluded, as well as occupational safety, health and hygiene. The Social Policy Framework for Africa underlines the importance of accelerating the implementation of the above Key priority area in order to achieve a sustainable and inclusive growth through social protection. Youth and Child Charters, as well as Protocol on Women emphasize the criticality of the access to social protection services for these specific vulnerable groups faced with numerous insecurities and vulnerabilities in the world of work. It is well know that child labour sometimes associated with human trafficking is predominant in the agriculture and rural activities. The AU has adopted the Social Protection Plan for the Informal Economy and Rural Workers (SPIREWORK) during the 15 th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly (Addis Ababa, January 2011). It is observed that the social protection coverage of the rural workers is very low, if any. Social Protection is also one of the strategic missing links in the continental policies in rural development and agriculture. The relevancy of the SPIREWORK with respect to the AU CAADP could be perceived through its contribution to productive and competitive agriculture. SPIREWOK offers an opportunity to address the specific needs of the people engaged in rural agricultural and non agricultural work. The challenge is how to ensure the effective implementation of the SPIREWORK at all levels, in particular at national level, to extend social protection coverage for the rural 1 2 nd and 3 rd Follow-Up Report on the Implementation of the Ouagadougou 2004 Declaration and Plan of action on Employment Promotion and Poverty Alleviation, African Union, 2008 and 2011 Report of the Committee of Experts of the 5 th Joint Annual Meetings of the AU Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Economy, Planning and Economic Development, Addis Ababa, March

3 workers and members of their families. Other challenges related to human trafficking, in particular of women and children, and child labour in the rural and agriculture sector 2. Under CAADP, Africa s governments have further identified four continent-wide entry points, or pillars, for investment and action in pursuing increased and sustainable productivity in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and livestock management. These are: Pillar 1 Extending the area under sustainable land and water management; Pillar 2 Improving market access through improved rural infrastructure and traderelated interventions; Pillar 3 Increasing food supply and reducing hunger across the region by increasing small holder productivity and improving the response to food emergencies; and Pillar 4 Improving agricultural research and systems to disseminate appropriate new technologies as well as increasing the support to help farmers adopt them. While not being implicitly among the above entry-points, Social Protection has the potential to ensure the development of human capital as enabler to reach the four entrypoints. The implementation of the AU SPIREWORK could leverage on the existing AUC specialized structures intervening in rural development such as the IBAR (Nairobi), the Intra African Phytosanitary Council (Yaoundé), and the NEPAD through its Programmes on the CAADP, Fishing and Women Economic Empowerment. These structures provide scientific and institutional support to the workers in agriculture, livestock, agro processing and forestry. The African Platform for Social Protection (APSP) is partnering with the AUC on the mainstreaming of SPIREWORK into the CAADP and will bring to the initiative its expertise, network and financial support. At the global level, SPIREWORK links with the ILO standards such the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention 184, 2001, the Plantations Convention 110, 1958 (coffee, tea, sugarcane, rubber, bananas, cocoa, coconuts, groundnuts, cotton, tobacco, citrus, palm oil, cinchona or pineapple), and the Convention 141 on Rural Workers' Organizations. The poverty rate is higher in the population of agricultural workers (more than 60%) who also face food insecurity. The poverty line distribution of the rural workers is crucial for the design of social protection mix (tax-funded social assistance or safety net mechanisms vs contributory social insurance mechanisms) for different categories of rural workers. The income of agricultural worker is affected at various levels by specific characters of the agricultural market such us information asymmetries, and imperfect functioning of complementary (production inputs, transport, land and credit), incomplete markets, high transaction costs, etc. 2 AU Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, AU Plan of Action on Human Trafficking, 3

4 Productive, protected, secure and fairly remunerated employment can be decisive in fighting against the hunger challenge, represents a key driver for long term food security, sustainable and inclusive growth. Rural working conditions are often poor and access to social protection is limited, as well they often are not organized enough to be empowered to participate in national or regional social dialogue process. Public works programmes (PWPs) are an important source of social protection in the rural developing world. Seasonal agricultural labour availability, the skewed nature of land holding and the lack of flexibility in labour markets result in significant involuntary unemployment in developing countries rural areas. PWPs can ameliorate the situation of the poor people in rural areas by providing them with cash and food. However, such PWPs are not insulated from the local rural power structure. In addition, public provision promised and designed for the purpose of social protection, creates its own new politics. Local political and power structures may prevent poor households from accessing public provision. The Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS), perhaps the most famous PWP in the developing world, in the Indian state of Maharashtra, seeks to guarantee the right of 100 days work for every rural household a year A reliable SPIREWOK for Rural Workers require an accurate social protection data system (collection, analysis, dissemination) at national level to understand fully the situation in rural areas. Rural worker is defined as one who does manual work in rural areas in agricultural and/or non-agricultural occupation (including primary processing facilities) in return for wages in cash or kind, or partly in cash and partly in kind agricultural occupations, selfemployed or salaried workers. They include: permanent / full-time, prevalence of multiple job-holding and casual work arrangements, in casual or temporary work seasonal, migrant, workers (those paid per unit of work) small farmers who often undertake paid agricultural employment to supplement their farm incomes indigenous and piece-rate Rural Workers cover the workers in the following sub sectors: Agriculture Livestock Fishing Forestry Food Processing 4

5 As workers, they have specific needs for Health, Employment and Income Security, Food and Nutritional Security, Life and Accident Security, as well as for Old Age Security. II. Objectives: a. Inform AU key actors of rural development and agriculture on the AU SPIREWORK, and sensitize them on the interaction between the social protection of rural workers, their work environment and professional activity b. Highlight the role of SPIREWORK as means to improve productivity of agriculture, and improve competitiveness of African agriculture in the global trade (avoid the non tariff barriers of social clauses) c. Inform the relevant AUC actors on the AU Policy instruments targeting the informal economy and rural workers d. Discuss/exchange on modalities and mechanisms for aligning/mainstreaming SPIREWORK in CAADP e. Outline a Framework for SPIREWORK Mainstreaming in the AU CAADP f. Experience exchange on social protection policies and measures for the rural workers and members of their families III. Expected Outcomes a. Outline of a Framework for SPIREWORK Mainstreaming in the AU CAADP and its implementation in the rural settings through its mainstreaming in the CAADP processes b. Building of operational relationships between the AUC Departments, the IBAR, Yaoundé and NEPAD as the backbone for the implementation of SPIREWORK in the rural settings IV. Agenda Items: a. AU CAADP, as related to access of the rural workers and members of their families to social protection schemes, b. AU Policies and programmes on social development and social protection c. AU Advocacy and Communication Campaign on the Social Protection Plan for the Informal Economy and Rural Workers (SPIREWORK) d. Kenya experience in agriculture (small holders and multinational companies in the/coffee/flowers, etc.), ministry of agriculture and fishing e. NEPAD programme on agriculture development and fishing f. Mainstream of SPIREWORK in CAADP V. Working Documents a. The AU CAADP b. The Ouagadougou 2004 Declaration and Plan of Action, and the Follow-Up Mechanism c. The AU Social Policy Framework for Africa d. NEPAD Programmes e. The AU social Protection Plan for Informal economy and Rural Workers 5

6 VI. Participants The meeting will gather participants from the AUC Departments of Social Affairs, Rural Economy, Gender, the Pan African Parliament as a force for policy change, the NEPAD, IBAR, the Intra African Phytosanitary Council (Yaoundé) and the Communication Directorate. It will allow participation of Kenyan structures concerned by the issue, such as the ministries in charge of finance, labour, gender, agriculture, trade, the social security institutions, professional organizations of rural workers and employers, rural cooperatives, multinational companies, agriculture/livestock/forestry/fishing training institutions. In addition 5 Member States CAADP Champions will be invited to designate two representatives: one from the Ministry of Labour and one from the Ministry of Agriculture and the 5 Farmers Organizations representing the 5 AU Regions will be invited. RECs will be invited to the meeting. The African Platform for Social Protection (APSP) will participate as partner providing technical and financial input to the initiative. International partners will be invited. In addition to the members of the AUC-UN Agencies Sub cluster on Employment and Social Protection, UNWOMEN, WFP, WHO, etc), the, EU, World Bank, AfDB, DFID, USAID, etc will invited. V. Date: October 2013 VII. VIII. Venue: IBAR, Nairobi (KENYA) Further Information: Further information can be obtained at the following persons: Oumar DIOP, SPO, Employment: DiopO@africa-union.org Laila Lokosang, DREA, Lokosangl@africa-union.org Sewnet Mulushoa, Assistant: SewnetM@africa-union.org 6