比利时超市致力于2027年在香蕉领域生活工资

News article 7 Dec 2022

Five major retailers in Belgium have joined forces to commit to a living wage for banana workers throughout their international supply chains. The coalition of retailers aims to到2027年底，在比利时市场上出售的集体香蕉量，缩小了生活工资差距。

7 December 2022, Brussels, Belgium– The commitment to ensure a living wage for banana workers was signed with the support of IDH at the生活工资Summittoday by retailers Colruyt Group, Delhaize, Aldi, Lidl Belgium and Luxemburg and Jumbo. This represents a major step for the Belgian market and adds to the efforts of similar commitments from German and Dutch retailers.

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The banana – bestseller in the fruit section

香蕉是世界各地超市中最常见的水果之一。热带水果在比利时家庭支出中有很大的份额，每个比利时都在消费2021年每年7.8公斤香蕉. These bananas are mainly being produced in countries such as Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Colombia. In top-exporting countries where estimates of prevailing wages are available, banana plantation workers tend not to earn the wages needed to meet their basic needs.

Why action is needed now

A living wage ensures that, in a particular time and place, the remuneration received by a worker is sufficient to afford a decent standard of living for the worker and their family. Elements of a decent standard of living include food, water, housing, education, healthcare, transport, and other essential needs (including provision for unexpected events). As such, closing the gap between the current wage and the required living wage improves a workers’ standard of living.

The planet now has over 8 billion people.随着人口的增长集中在世界上最贫穷的国家中，消除贫困，消除饥饿和营养不良，并增加对健康和教育系统的覆盖范围非常重要。Living wages are a key element to lift people out of poverty. This coalition’s commitment is therefore a milestone, showing that major market competitors are willing to work together on pre-competitive solutions that contribute to the realization of different sustainable development goals like ‘No Poverty’ (1), Zero Hunger (2), Good Health and Wellbeing (3), Quality Education (4), Gender Equality (5), Clean Water and Sanitation (6), Decent Work and Economic Growth (8), and Reduced Inequalities (10).

Combined efforts for bigger impact

Realizing living wages is complex and requires the involvement of several actors active in a certain supply chain and sector. Therefore, working together on a topic like living wages makes sense. The Belgian retailers will use the coalition to set joint objectives, exchange knowledge and learnings, align on approaches and timings, monitor progress, and initiate joint action on the ground, where possible.

According to the supermarkets involved, working together towards closing the living wage gap on banana plantations and farms significantly increases potential impact for workers on the ground.

在食品系统转型方面，协作方法更有效，因为各方的影响可能受到限制，尤其是当买家拥有较小的市场份额并且供应商将收成出售给多个买家时

IDH的Astrid Baeten说

为了最大化其行动的影响，比利时零售商还将与其他现有的生活工资联盟（例如荷兰零售业对生活工资的承诺and theGerman Retailers Working Group on Living Wages and Living Income. These commitments have been signed in 2019 and 2020 respectively, have also set joint objectives and work according to the same principles of the IDH Roadmap on Living Wages. This way ensuring a coherent and aligned approach and Implementation within the sector.

How to work towards the realization of this commitment

To implement the changes needed to live up to their commitment, the retailers have agreed to work according to the he IDH Roadmap on Living Wages and make use of the corresponding tools. They will calculate the living wage gap in their supply chains on a yearly basis using the IDH Salary Matrix. Next to analyzing and adapt where possible their individual company processes and procurement practices, the coalition members will work in partnership with other retail initiatives, suppliers, producers, and stakeholders like NGO’s, certifiers, and trade unions to achieve their goals. The retailers will report on a yearly basis on the progress of this commitment.