Private Standards, Trade and Poverty: GlobalGAP and Horticultural Employment in Senegal

Abstract

Abstract There is a growing body of literature that analyses the implications of private food standards for developing countries. Most of this literature has focused on the trade effects of standards and on the effects on exporters and producers. Very few studies have looked at the effect of standards for workers in export supply chains – although this is important for poverty reduction. In this paper, we use original panel data from surveys among workers in the horticultural export industry in Senegal to analyse the effects of GlobalGAP certification of exporter–producer companies on the employment conditions of workers in these companies. The results suggest that GlobalGAP certification is associated with an increase in workers’ daily wages and with longer employment periods. We put forward different explanations for the mechanism through which these effects on employment conditions can emerge.