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Seed companies join forces to provide better labor conditions in India

Founding partners BASF, Syngenta, and Arisa announced today that HM.CLAUSE, Enza Zaden, and SeedWorks have signed on as partners in the Wage Improvements in Seed Hybrids (WISH) project. Initiated in 2022, WISH focuses on addressing minimum wage compliance issues and child labor issues in India's vegetable seed sector. The project is co-funded with a Dutch Enterprise Agency (RVO) grant.

From the beginning of the project, increasing commitment from various companies within the Indian vegetable seed industry was identified as a key factor for success. Addressing the challenge of labor conditions requires broad stakeholder collaboration, including local officials, farmers, and companies of all types. This shared commitment is critical to improving labor conditions and ensuring minimum wage compliance in one of the world's most significant vegetable seed markets.

"When seed companies unite for industry-wide transformation, aligning on, for example, production practices which consider the realities faced by seed, this collaboration, necessary for industry-wide change, can empower seed growers to pay fair wages, improve labor rights and nurture dignity and equity for those working in seed supply chains," said Sandra Claassen, Director of Arisa.

The WISH project comprises two phases. Phase one, completed in 2023, focused on baseline survey research intended to better understand the status of child labor and minimum wage compliance issues in seed production locations in India where BASF and Syngenta are active, specifically the Karnataka and Maharashtra regions.

Phase two, currently underway, is focused on implementing meaningful changes across multiple focus areas, from awareness raising, training, and capacity building, to stakeholder engagement, networking, and scaling up best practices, to advocacy on a local and international level. The project's founding partners have achieved several important milestones in phase two over the past 18 months.

Source: Nuhems

For more information:
Enza Zaden
info@enzazaden.com
enzazaden.com

HM.CLAUSE
http://www.hmclause.com/

Syngenta
www.syngenta.com

BASF
basf.com

Seedworks
https://www.seedworks.com/

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