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Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the Horticulture Global Value Chain

By , on June 01, 2002

This paper is based on a case study of one sector - horticulture - drawing on the
specific examples of fruit exports from Chile and South Africa to the United Kingdom. It uses the horticultural value chain to explore inter-connected employment, social risks, and social protection for informal workers in the sector. Horticulture has rapidly expanded through the process of globalisation.
Technological innovation in the sector has facilitated the year round rotation of exports from developing and developed countries to meet changing global consumption patterns. The distribution segment of this value chain is highly concentrated and capital intensive. Increasingly, traditional wholesale markets in
the sector are being replaced by integrated value chains dominated by large supermarkets. Yet the production end is very heterogeneous, with a large number of fragmented producers supplying high quality produce at different points of the year. Many of the risks arising from agricultural production and competitive global markets are born by these producers. The only buffer they have within the chain is the flexible use of informal labour.

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Citation Information

Barrientos, Armando, and Barrientos, Stephanie W. Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the Horticulture Global Value Chain. Social Protection Discussion Paper Series, (0216), . The World Bank, 2002. Barrientos, A., and Barrientos, S. W. (2002). Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the Horticulture Global Value Chain. Social Protection Discussion Paper Series, (0216), . Barrientos, Armando, and Barrientos, Stephanie W. "Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the Horticulture Global Value Chain." Social Protection Discussion Paper Series, The World Bank, 2002, .Barrientos Armando, and Barrientos Stephanie W. "Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the Horticulture Global Value Chain." Social Protection Discussion Paper Series , no. 0216 (2002). Barrientos, A, and Barrientos, S W 2002, 'Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the Horticulture Global Value Chain', Social Protection Discussion Paper Series, (0216), . Armando Barrientos, and Stephanie W Barrientos, 'Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the Horticulture Global Value Chain' (2002) Social Protection Discussion Paper Series Barrientos A., and Barrientos S. W. Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the Horticulture Global Value Chain. Social Protection Discussion Paper Series. 2002(0216). Barrientos, Armando, and Barrientos, Stephanie W. Extending Social Protection to Informal Workers in the Horticulture Global Value Chain. Social Protection Discussion Paper Series. 2002, (0216), .

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