“Consumers are increasingly seeking out responsibly sourced brands that can prove their commitment to social and environmental sustainability. Promoting fair labor practices and ensuring that workers have dignity and respect is an essential pillar of responsible sourcing” Meg Phillips, Head of Programs Koltiva.
The use of digital traceability can be crucial in eradicating human rights violations across various industries, particularly in agriculture. It can boost transparency, accountability, verification, collaboration, and consumer empowerment, promoting human rights and a more sustainable and just supply chain.
With digital traceability, it becomes easier to identify and address issues such as labor abuse by enhancing transparency throughout the supply chain. It enables monitoring working conditions, tracking the movement of goods and materials, and ensuring fair payment for workers.
Digital Traceability can promote collaboration among stakeholders, such as governments, civil society organizations, and companies, in addressing human rights concerns. Through sharing information and best practices, coordinating efforts to tackle specific issues, and forming partnerships, digital traceability can help to promote human rights across the supply chain.
At Koltiva, we support agribusinesses in implementing fair labor practices, promoting decent work opportunities for adults, and improving the economic prospects of farming communities, by providing training and coaching that raises awareness about worker health and safety, forced labor, and child labor.
Additionally, our traceability platform, KoltiTrace, assists multinational companies and MSMEs in addressing and documenting labor concerns through an integrated cloud network, allowing for better coordination between brands, suppliers, and smallholder producers. We collect Producers’ data regarding their profiles and family.
We gather data from producers and their households, including producers’ data profile, family members and hired workers, family members in school, average daily work, family members & hired workers activities, children's age, and school attendance.
This data can be analyzed and displayed on a dashboard, allowing agribusinesses and other stakeholders to make informed decisions and track progress toward sustainability goals. Additionally, the platform can facilitate communication between producers and agribusinesses, enabling them to collaborate more effectively and build stronger relationships based on transparency and trust.
“Protecting the rights of workers is a shared responsibility that transcends borders and industries. Eradicating child labor and promoting fair labor practices is not only a moral obligation, but also essential for building a sustainable future. Koltiva’s digital solutions hold the key to facilitating collaboration from all stakeholders to drive collective action and address these human rights issues within global value chains” said Phillips.
On the other side, traceability on ePayment also plays a crucial role in promoting fair and sustainable agricultural practices. ePayment systems help ensure that workers are paid fairly and on time, reducing the risk of labor exploitation and improving workers' well-being. Digital payments can reduce the need for cash transactions, often associated with exploitation and abuse, such as wage theft and forced labor.
At Koltiva, our eWallet feature KoltiPay also support cashless payment with various benefit for producers, traders, input shop owner, and agribusinesses. Our KoltiPay allows workers with access to financial services, i.e., ePPOB, eLoans, and crop transactions, to receive premium payments. It helps workers to save money and access financial services, improving their economic situation and reducing their vulnerability to exploitation.
By integrating labor well-being metrics into traceability platforms, stakeholders can track and monitor the impact of their efforts to improve working conditions and promote decent work opportunities for adults in the agricultural sector.
Read more about how we empower rural communities to prevent labor abuses with our boots on the ground: Read Here. Cultivating Prosperity: Protecting Rural Workers from Forced Labor and Child Labor
