Better conditions for women
The world is waking up to the gender disparities that have prevented women from equal participation in the workforce and gainful employment. Studies show that increasing women's involvement in business processes makes for higher productivity, greater profitability and increased social impact. So why do these gender-based constraints still remain in the palm-oil industry?
Women are particularly vulnerable to taxing labor conditions on plantations, and face greater health risks than men due to the nature of their jobs, such as spraying pesticides and applying fertilizers.
In addition, women in plantations are vulnerable to harassment and sexual abuse, especially when steps have not been taken by companies to address systemic gaps that allow such incidents to occur.
These hardships are further compounded by policies that hinder their ability to take up certain jobs, often due to inflexible working hours and lack of child support.
This ultimately constrains them to unpaid care work.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has worked closely with its members to establish a practical guidance that provides strategies and tools to companies on how to assess, mitigate and develop an action plan to be more gender-inclusive within their workforce.
The guidance also refers to specific indicators of the 2018 RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C) and 2019 RSPO Independent Smallholder (ISH) standard for compliance purposes.
However, we will only see real change when more members of the industry commit to this common goal with a change in perspective of female workers. We implore the industry to start now by taking the following simple, but effective, steps.
First, change begins within an organization by acknowledging the gaps and discrepancies that restrict the involvement and contribution of women in the workplace. Their contributions are often viewed as secondary, and unseen work such as domestic chores and childcare is not supported. This is in addition to their contracted jobs such as picking loose fruit, application of fertilizers, etc.
Inadequate access to financial literacy programs and training and lack of flexibility in working hours make meeting their standard quotas of work difficult, particularly during pregnancy.
Plantation owners need to offer more flexibility, create alternative employment for pregnant women, and sensitize men on redistributing domestic unpaid care so that companies can also reap the benefits of enhanced reputation, reduced staff turnover, and an increased talent pool, lower recruitment and turnover costs, increase innovation, and provide opportunities for diverse perspectives in the workforce and management.
Second, gender discrimination and violence in this day and age should not be tolerated. Companies should adopt a zerotolerance policy for gender-based violence and facilitate access to counseling and health facilities for victims. Women should also be trained to oversee female personnel, which not only reduces the risk of harassment, but also creates career-development opportunities.
Our experience has shown that organizations that have taken strides to improve women's positions on their plantations have benefited as a result. The Perkumpulan Pekebun Swadaya Kelapa Sawit Rokan Hulu (PPSKS-Rohul) project in the Riau province of Indonesia recruited a large number of female field facilitators to guide other women in safe farming practices and financial management. They even conducted a novel health and nutrition training program to improve knowledge on food accessibility and intake.
As women are largely contracted for casual work at plantations, they are not afforded employment rights and face unstable income. This, paired with low education levels and scarcity of opportunities, results in low interest in skilled and higher-paid positions. By encouraging women to apply for leadership, middle-management or non-traditional jobs, companies can enjoy increased loyalty and higher motivation in work as well as more knowledgeable and financially literate employees, as in the case of the Riau project.