Opportunity for collaborative action in Karnataka’s supply chains

India is a global agricultural powerhouse, ranking among the world’s leading producers of several commodities such as sugar, coffee and spices. At the same time, some workers in these supply chains, particularly migrant workers and their families, can face issues related to wages, living and working conditions, forced labour and child rights.

As in many large and complex agricultural systems, these challenges, often linked to interconnected root causes, include long-standing cycles of poverty, weak worker voice, limited access to education, informality in recruitment and payment practices, and gaps in management systems across production landscapes.

Addressing these challenges requires coordinated and sustained efforts across multiple stakeholders, including companies, civil society, producers, government actors and worker communities.

In partnership with International Resources for Fairer Trade, Proforest is applying its Smart-Mix approach in Karnataka to better understand and address salient human rights risks in sugar, coffee and spice supply chains. 

The approach has involved engaging diverse stakeholders, analysing root causes, mapping existing efforts and identifying practical collaborative actions to address underlying drivers, mapping existing initiatives and identifying practical opportunities for collective action to improve outcomes for workers, children and agricultural communities.

Building on this, Proforest and partners in India are now exploring opportunities to advance a collaborative action plan focused on key underlying drivers:

• Improving access to education for the children of migrant workers
• Strengthening labour management systems in mills and plantations linked to hiring models
• Reducing workers’ vulnerabilities and strengthening workers’ voice
• Supporting responsible agricultural practices & chemical management
• Increasing sustainable livelihoods across origin and destination states

Proforest brings technical expertise, local partnerships and a collaborative delivery model to support meaningful progress on complex human rights challenges in agricultural supply chains.

 Through work already undertaken in India, Proforest is convening companies, international organisations, grassroots civil society actors and technical experts who can form the foundation of a long-term platform for positive impact in Karnataka.