Farm to Factory Gendered Employment: The Case of Blue Skies Outgrower Scheme in Ghana

Abstract

Since the 1980s, a neoliberal paradigm has guided agricultural policy formulation in Africa with an unflinching preference for the commercialization of agriculture through the incorporation of smallholder farmers into global circuits of accumulation via outgrower arrangements. The paradigm has claimed that the promotion of integrated value chains will create jobs and enhance incomes in agrarian areas. This article assesses the manner in which men and women are positioned differentially in the outgrower value chains in terms of employment benefits. Drawing on interviews, the article explores the employment pattern in the outgrower value chain system and the structural dynamics that lead to benefits, or otherwise, for men and women in Ghana’s largest fruit-processing company, Blue Skies, and its outgrower farms. This study finds that many jobs were created along the value chain for men and women, but that men have occupied the high-earning echelon of the value chain as outgrowers, as well as more secure positions as permanent staff in the factory, women have largely been employed as disposable casual workers in these two spaces.

Land Deals, Labour and Everyday Politics

“…Presently, what exists are internal welfare-oriented associations principally established for permanent workers. This is similar to other contexts of commercial and plantation agriculture in Ghana where these welfare associations focus more on social and financial contributions to assist members during social ceremonies than engaging in core labour demands [ 49 ]. Not only are they isolated from agricultural unions, but they are also removed from the state in several ways.…”

Labour Casualisation and Youth Employment in Ghana’s Formal Private Sector

“…Data were drawn from previous research under the Land and Agriculture Commercialisation in Africa (LACA) Ghana Country Project, which was conducted between 2013 and 2015. This project examined different agricultural commercialisation models and their implications for employment, labour, land, and gender relations (see Torvikey, Yaro and Teye 2016). During the period, company officials and workers were interviewed.…”

“…5 The company has built an extensive supply chain with 150 smallholder farmers, from whom it obtains the bulk of its fruits for processing. The inclusion of smallholder farmers in the supply chain also has an impact on youth employment in farming communities (Torvikey et al 2016).…”

Land, Gender, and Class Relations in Ghana’s Cassava Frontier

“…The indigenous community has its land relations and structure, which have transformed over the years due to the introduction of commodity production about a century ago. It is also important to note that cassava production for food in the area became part of the export commodity production structure (Torvikey, 2019). The Volta Region is described as a patrilineal inheritance society with a strong place for the matrikin (Kumekpor, 1974; Nukunya, 1969).…”