Liberalisation, Gender, and Livelihoods: the Cashew Nut Case in Mozambique and India
Mozambique, India

Netherlands Embassy, Mozambique

Purpose

This study set out to map the changes in cashew production and processing as a result of liberalisation policies in Mozambique and India, and to examine the effects of such changes on livelihoods, employment and labour conditions in the industry.

Liberalisation, Gender, and Livelihoods: the cashew nut case, Working Paper 1: Mozambique Phase 1- The North January - December 2002 Carin Vijfhuizen, Carla Braga, Luis Artur and Nazneen Kanji, February 2003 PDF

Background and use of SL

This project responds to a policy concern that more empirical work is needed to understand the effects of globalisation and economic liberalisation on poverty reduction and gender equality and on livelihood sources and strategies of different groups of people. The framework for the study draws strongly on global value chain analysis, but the authors argue that the question of governance central to this analysis needs to be combined with locally contextualised livelihoods analysis if we are to understand the choices and outcomes of international trade processes for disadvantaged groups. Such an analysis throws up questions about who might gain and lose from global integration as well as from policy efforts, such as fair trade, to promote shorter chains which make more direct links between producers and consumers. For example, local and regional markets - where women and the poorest groups are active and stand to gain more directly - need to be a focus of policy, as well as global markets.

The study found that the cashew industry provides an important source of income and food security for smallholder producers and for low-income groups, particularly women, who work in the processing sector in both Mozambique and India. In Mozambique it was found that liberalisation provided few gains to small farmers, and workers in the processing industry, with large traders in raw nuts benefiting most. Women, in particular, have lost jobs in processing and most workers who lost jobs have not found comparable sources of cash income. Meanwhile it continues to be very difficult to live on agriculture alone. In India, it was found that although the processing sector continues to grow, labour standards and working conditions are deteriorating, particularly for women, who represent the overwhelming majority of workers. The study shows clearly that women’s work in the cashew industry, while essential for survival, does not provide enough income to raise households out of poverty.

In conclusion, the study notes that action at a national level to promote workers’ rights is complex. It should not restrict the livelihood opportunities of the poorest workers through intentional or unintentional protectionism nor raise labour costs to a point where competitiveness is reduced and jobs may be lost. Policies which regulate entire global value chains have to be seriously explored, otherwise the cashew chain is going to remain a clear example of the way in which the international trading system fails to improve the livelihoods of disadvantaged groups.