SUPPORTING THE TRANSITION

Priya DeshingkarUniversity of Sussex

OBJECTIVES

To help DFID and donor community to support the poor in the process of transition more holistically

To identify the implications of current livelihood patterns for key development sectors.

The focus on the session is on Jobs, Migration and Women and Girls

ROADMAP OF THE PRESENTATION Emerging patterns in work in the context of demographic shifts, climate change, urbanisation and globalised markets with a focus on women and girls

A discussion of conventional responses and their shortcomings

Discussion of responses that are needed and key entry points for intervention

Implications for different sectors and how DFID advisers can best support the process of change

JOBS IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, POPULATION GROWTH, URBANISATION and GLOBALISATIONCurrent Situation Conventional Approaches

/Responses More pressure on land and/or greater

risks in agriculture Better endowed, migrate or diversify Others are trapped – not enough

capital to migrate or diversify Attractive opportunities in

towns and cities (construction, domestic work, sex work, services, trade);

export manufacturing (garments, shoes); plantations and high value crops

(horticulture, cotton)

Casualisation, fragmentation, layers of intermediaries, piece rate work, high risk, lack of protection or unionisation,

Child Labour endemic in less visible low paid occupations

Stretched households and circular migration

First point of entry for poor migrants in urban areas - slums

Migrants Remittances – internal smaller but flow to more and poorer households

Social Protection for the most vulnerable populations Support rural development and diversification

through technology, microfinance, NRM Decent Work directives but without a realistic

strategy Assumptions that a lack of employment opportunities

and the limited prospects of working one’s way out of poverty “push” people to urban areas.

However urban labour markets may be saturated or stagnant and many end up in precarious and degrading employment

Many arrive to and remain in slums and informal sector jobs which are a manifestation of this incomplete transition

informal sector – characterised as dead-end with limited or no prospects for exits from poverty

Much of today’s urban poverty is simply yesterday’s rural poverty displaced

Rural employment creation programmes Discourage distress migration, directly or indirectly –

81% governments in SSA have negative attitudes

THE TRANSITION IN GHANA Ghana -population of 25 million, 28% below the poverty line.

Agriculture - 30% of GDP, employs 56% of the labour force. North of the country is relatively poor and North-South disparities

appear to have widened. Although livelihoods in the North are highly diversified locally (Dietz et al 2013) migration to other areas is on the increase to access work elsewhere e.g. in plantations, the urban informal sector

The Migrating out of Poverty Survey covering 1200 rural households in five regions of northern and central Ghana shows migration is mainly within the country to rural and urban destinations and occurs for a number of economic and non-economic reasons including youth aspirations and escape from restrictive cultural norms.

For many men migrating to cities their first point of entry is a slum. Research in two slums in Accra, Old Fadama and Nima shows that most work in the informal sector and remit money home which is used for consumption, housing and education.

On the other hand thousands of “kayayei” or poor female porters do not even have the security of a slum dwelling and sleep rough Many of these are widowed, separated or unmarried girls and women who feel the city offers them a better future than remaining in the village.

GHANA contd. But such migration is fraught with risk – sickness, threat of

eviction and injury which compromises its beneficial impacts. For those who sleep rough there is the added risk of sexual abuse and theft

Many of these risks arise from a lack of acceptance and support for poor people’s choices and their livelihood activities.

Policy responses to rural-urban migration are negative with no efforts to provide low-cost housing, access to credit or healthcare.

Kayayei migration is viewed as trafficking and the response is to try and stop it

Ghana is now on its second Decent Work Programme (2011-2015) but improved labour standards are not visible small enterprise in slums

Recent reports indicate that cash transfer projects are in arrears and youth employment programmes have suffered from misappropriation (Ghana Web Aug 2013)

E-waste recycling

Food stall

Old Fadama

RURAL AND URBAN LIVELIHOODS IN INDIA

Sharp regional inequalities persist. Employment patterns shaped by a combination of historical patron-client relationships and emerging opportunities.

For example parts of tribal Rajasthan are known for high rates of child labour in agriculture

In Odisha entire families of adivasis work for part of the year in brick kilns Dalits in rural Bihar have a history of migrating to Punjab for work in irrigated

farms In rural Andhra Pradesh, groups of poor labourers are recruited by “mestris” to

work on construction sites. Many of these occupations have been characterised as neo-bondage by

structuralists because recruitment agents and contractors play an important role in enabling access to labour markets but also in determining the conditions of work and limiting personal freedom.

Workers are recruited against advances either at source or destination. The advances help migrants to smooth consumption, repay debts, spend on weddings and health.

Policy approaches to regulate agents and provide protection to poor construction workers in countries such as India are weak and poorly implemented. E.g. millions of rupees in unpaid CESS (Deshingkar 2009)

Little recognition of the poverty reducing potential of such employment. Growing evidence that such employment can put workers on an upward trajectory even if it is not a fast exit from poverty

JOBS IN THE CONTEXT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, POPULATION GROWTH AND URBANISATIONUrren

What Needs To Be Donet situation

Entry Points

Recognise and support the multilocality of livelihoods

Recognise the complexity of drivers of mobility – youth aspirations, escaping political and social persecution (recent research in Ethiopia, Tz, Kenya and Malawi)

Recognise and support enterprise in informal settlements

Recognise transformative potential of informal sector jobs and remittances from poor migrants

Create conditions for productive use of remittances in rural areas

Better equip people, esp youth to migrate – better/current job information, vocational training

Provide resources and incentives that can support multiple livelihood choices, not just agr

Provide support at destination – improve access to low-cost housing, healthcare, portability of rights

Improve labour standards in the informal sector through collaborative work with CSOs to regulate intermediaries, improve transparency

Improve access to saving and remittance schemes especially for youth (15-24 years)

What about women and girls?Current situation Conventional

Responses/Approaches

More women and girls in work as traditional occupations for men erode

Social norms and low levels of education limit job prospects in rural areas to low paid, home-based work, petty trade and farm labour

Better paid but risky jobs emerging in urban areas for poor and poorly educated women and girls e.g. sex work

Jobs more attractive than rural work where women may earn half as much as men

Market intermediaries and agents enable access to such markets but scope for exploitation and abuse

Data a big problem as occupations less visible and part-time

Improve understanding of gendered work patterns and disadvantages faced by women

Target sectors such as domestic work and sex work where women and girls are often victims of exploitation and abuse

Stop the trafficking of women and girls and regulate market intermediaries

Stop child labour Implement decent work

standards

Migrant Domestic Workers from Indonesia in Singapore

Indonesia is one of the largest suppliers of female migrants in domestic work.

By 2006 2.7 million Indonesians were working overseas and a majority were females with little or no education.

Research in Singapore under the Migrating out of Poverty Consortium shows that despite the precarious and unregulated nature of recruitment and employment processes, with employers and agents exercising a great deal of power over workers, 66 per cent of the migrants in the sample of 201 said that remittances had contributed to the education of their children.

Other productive and livelihood enhancing use of remittances, such as investing in land and housing (39%), health (10%), enterprise (9%) and debt repayment (3%) were also reported in addition to improved consumption being reported 73% of respondents.

However, the impacts of such migration on poverty would be significantly faster and greater if the industry could be better regulated

Women and GirlsWhat Needs To Be Done Entry Points

Recognise the hazy boundaries between forced and voluntary work

Recognise agency in women and girls’ decisions to enter certain types of work such as sex work and domestic work

Recognise the facilitative role played by agents in enabling those without resources to access other labour markets – here too improve regulation

Improve data on less visible and part-time occupations –

Move away from controlling occupations such as domestic work and sex work but improve action to prevent exploitation and abuse through better regulation of agents and

employers in collaboration with watch dogs

Education of girls and women on risks and rights

Improve data collection on women’s occupations through collaboration between data agencies and those who work at the grass roots level

RURAL URBAN

People, resources, ideas

FORMAL/

REGULATED

UNREGULATED/

UNDOCUMENTED

Traditional

Farming

Livestock

Trade

Manufacturing

Commerical Farming

Trade and Services

(Electricians, Plumbers,

shops)

Wage Labour

Formal employment

Trade

Industry

Nonfarm labour (e.g. constructio

n)

Sex Work

Domestic Work

Access to credit

Improve awareness of rights, recognise agency, support people’s choices

Brokers Agents

and Brokers

Reduce opportunities for exploitation but recognise facilitative role

THANK YOU