Fyffes to start gender equality programs at sites worldwide
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Fyffes, Coral Cables, Fla., has committed to implementing gender equality programs across 100% of its owned sites in Latin America by 2025 and 50% of its suppliers’ sites by 2030.
This announcement comes on International Women’s Day, March 8.
Global agricultural supply chains are a major employer of women, yet many women face significant gender inequalities on a regular basis, such as a lower status at home and in the workplace, harassment, violence and discrimination, according to a news release.
A key goal of the Fyffes sustainability strategy is to create a more inclusive workplace with women as equal partners with men.
“The impact of COVID-19 has been challenging for our workers,” Stella Davis, Fyffes sustainability manager, said in the release. “We are aware that women have been disproportionately affected economically, and that the pandemic has meant additional stress and uncertainty for families in terms of budgeting, family planning and health care, among other household responsibilities.”
Davis said Fyffes wants to empower all of its workers to improve their communications skills and tackle serious issues such as domestic violence, which has spiked worldwide during the pandemic.
“That’s why we are thrilled to be able to offer all our workers—male, female and managers—the opportunity to complete the HERessentials program, which provides the tools to be more resilient during these difficult times.”
In 2019, in line with the company’s “Enriching People’s Lives” sustainability pillar, Fyffes established its first gender equality program to address these challenges at its melon farms in Honduras and pineapple operation in Costa Rica.
The program was developed in partnership with The Sustainable Trade Initiative and BSR, a global nonprofit organization, and was delivered by local partners Asociación Empresarial para el Desarrollo and Fundación Hondureña de Responsabilidad Social Empresarial.
Fyffes is expanding the program with the help of retailer Lidl GB and longstanding partner The Sustainable Trade Initiative, both of which have supported the project with money and ideas from the start.
Fyffes will launch HERessentials, a new digital gender empowerment program created by BSR’s HERProject, enabling Fyffes to scale up its gender equality program and reach more workers across farms.
Lidl GB is a signatory of the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles, and partnering with this Fyffes program is one part of putting that signature into action, Amali Bunter, head of responsible sourcing and ethical trade at Lidl GB, said in the release.
“It’s a sad reality that women remain more vulnerable to human rights violations, which is why as an organization, we are taking several steps to promote gender equality, both within our workforce and our wider supply chain,” Bunter said.
In May, Fyffes will launch the HERessentials digital tool in its Anexco pineapple and Esmeralda banana farms in Costa Rica and then extend it to other Fyffes farms in Costa Rica, followed by Belize in the third quarter of 2021.
The program will continue to expand to more locations until 2030.
