Hazelnuts

Since 2011, Nestlé has been working with the FLA to assess labor practices in the Turkish hazelnut sector. Working with our suppliers Olam Progida, Balsu and Yavuz, the Turkish Government and local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), we have implemented remedial activities to bring systemic improvements in labor standards to the sector. We have now shifted our approach from audits, which told us little about the effect of interventions, to a social impact assessment (pdf, 6Mb) of our actions and activities around training, renovations and summer schools for children. During 2020, we also conducted an impact assessment focused specifically on the impact that COVID-19 has had on hazelnut farmers and their communities.

We have followed the FLA report’s recommendations to train workers in their places of origin during the quieter months, when participants have more time and energy, and in the harvest areas where workers need guidance on issues such as wages, working hours and occupational health and safety. This recommendation helped us to reach more workers and led to considerable increases in the numbers of contracts and certifications of labor brokers in 2019 and 2020.

We carried out several remedial actions in Turkey in 2020, including:

• Training 4454 farmers, workers, traders and labor brokers on workers’ rights and child labor.
• 716 children benefiting from our activities to address child labor in hazelnut orchards.
• Agreeing formal contracts before harvest with 366 workers, farmers and labor brokers.
• 165 workers benefiting from improved accommodation facilities.
• 589 workers benefiting from improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions.
• 58 587 personal protective equipment kits, including first aid and sanitary kits, hats, gloves, masks, t-shirts and belt bags, were distributed to farmers and workers.

Lack of awareness of workers’ rights is a serious issue in our hazelnut supply chain. Balsu, one of our key hazelnut suppliers in Turkey, is working with local authorities, universities, the Turkish Employment Agency and the Agriculture Ministry to provide essential training to workers and labor contractors.

The program takes participants through key aspects of living conditions workers are entitled to, such as shelter, hygiene, sanitation and nutrition. Working conditions are also covered, with participants trained on their rights around wages, working hours, contracts, social security, and grievance and support procedures. There is a particular focus on preventing child labor in hazelnut harvesting and on the implementation of contracts for workers in which their rights are clearly stated.

Following this, our supplier Olam Progida has developed legal contracts between farm owners, labor contractors and seasonal migrant workers. The contracts mark a transformational change in the hazelnut supply chain by improving the working conditions of migrant workers and protecting their labor rights, which presents a significant challenge in Turkey. Olam Progida is implementing this project in cooperation with Turkey’s Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services. Once the process is completed, workers’ employment rights will be protected by registered legal contracts from the National Employment Agency. 

The stipulation for workers’ dates of birth to be provided during the registration process will also help to eliminate child labor, as having contracts in place will enable potential underage workers to be identified. In 2020, contracts were signed between 964 workers, 155 farmers and 14 labor contractors in our supply chain.

Due to lack of educational resources and facilities, the children of seasonal agricultural workers often suffer academically, especially during busy harvest periods. Since 2012, we have worked with the International Labour Organization and the Turkish Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services on the summer schools project. Initially launched in the province of Ordu in the eastern Black Sea region, the project has since expanded. Our summer schools are designed to help eliminate child labor from the hazelnut supply chain in Turkey, in line with the government’s National Employment Strategy (2014–2023).

The FLA’s study showed us that our efforts targeting child labor have proved fruitful. In particular, villages with summer schools have seen a fall in the number of children engaged in child labor compared to those without. Training on labor rights and responsible recruitment raised awareness within the labor community and led to the certification of labor brokers, as well as the application of contracts between farmers, workers and labor brokers, a previously unknown practice for the traditionally informal agricultural sector.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most schools were replaced by online formal education. The Ministry of National Education and local authorities decided that a safe space could only be provided for children within walking distance of their household to avoid public transportation during the pandemic. Under these conditions, a limited number of safe areas were created and a few children were able to attend school.

As well as giving the children much-needed education, our summer schools raise awareness about child labor among teachers and local villagers.

In general, there is a lack of awareness of social and agricultural issues among people in the hazelnut production process, especially around gender-based employment relations and child labor. There is also a need to help people boost their income. 

The Women on the Road program which was led by one of our suppliers, Olam Progida, impacted 581 women and 365 men. The project aims to emphasize the important role women play in the supply chain and empower them through training and leaflets about their rights. The information was focused on occupational health and safety rules, reproductive health rights and child rights. Leaflets were prepared in Turkish and Kurdish and were distributed during the harvest period.

Gender stereotypes are common among workers in our hazelnut supply chain. However, when roles and responsibilities are guided by gender, rather than by skill and ambition, girls immediately find themselves disadvantaged in education and training.

Our supplier Olam Progida set up a project to provide a neutral environment in which girls could learn and play alongside boys, participating in traditionally male-dominated activities such as football, drama and chess. The aim was to break down gender stereotypes and offer the children a safe space to prevent them from working on farms during the harvest.

With many hazelnut harvest workers being seasonal migrants, there is a need to ensure they have adequate living conditions. As part of our responsible hazelnut sourcing program with our Tier 1 supplier Yavuz Gida, we have improved living conditions for workers.

In partnership with local village heads in Ordu Kestane village, in 2019, we restored a building that we then expanded in 2020 to act as living areas during the harvest for up to 130 seasonal migrant workers. For the rest of the year, it serves as a social recreation center for local villagers.

We also installed two fountains in Kurudere village in the western Black Sea region, which provide access to clean water to 400 seasonal workers and villagers during the harvesting season. These fountains are located in the central area of the village where workers can benefit from them on their way to work.