Project 1c
Social Protection of Workers in Global Agriculture: The Pineapple Sector in Ghana

Summary
Pineapple production is a flourishing sector, promoted as part of Ghana’s economic diversification policy.  Migrating to work in pineapples can provide households with an important source of income and livelihoods, and potentially a path out of poverty. However, migrant workers also face a number of risks associated with: (a) working in the high value pineapple export sector and (b) their specific employment status as migrant labour.  These risks are affected by the gender of the migrant worker, their household profile, and whether they have migrated with or without dependent household members.

This study will examine how to better manage the risks, and improve the benefits of migration through enhanced social protection for migrant labour in pineapple exports. The hypothesis underlying this project is that labour migration into the pineapple export sector increases the potential incomes of workers and their households, but also exposes them to specific levels of risk and vulnerability associated with export production. Social protection strategies drawing on a combination of access to social assistance and insurance, corporate social responsibility and reciprocity regimes between migrants and their host communities help to promote the livelihoods of migrant workers and their households. But these will vary according to whether workers migrate with dependent household members, or dependent households remain in the source location.

The aim of the project is to assess the comparative risks and vulnerabilities faced by migrant workers in pineapple exports who: (a) migrate with their dependent households and (b) migrate without their dependent households? How should effective social protection be adapted for the two groups?

Key Research Questions

	What are the underlying factors, in weighing up risks and vulnerabilities, behind the decision of workers to migrate internally into the pineapple export sector?
	What are the risks and vulnerabilities faced by internal migrant workers and their households once they have migrated to the pineapple sector, distinguishing those that migrate (a) with their dependent households and (b) without their dependent households?
	How can effective social protection for internal migrant workers in the two groups be developed through a combination of public, private/employer and community provision?
	What role can different actors (global buyers, government, donor agencies, producers, civil society, migrant networks) play in supporting and developing a more integrated social protection strategy for migrant labour?