An overview of social dialogue and decent work in the horticultural sector in Niger

Promoting agriculture

Niger, a Sahelian country three-quarters of which is desert, has succeeded in turning a natural constraint into an economic opportunity. Thanks to off-season crops grown for eight months of the year, the country has established itself as the region’s leading producer and exporter of vegetables, with gross horticultural production exceeding 5.8 million tonnes per year.

The Nigerien onion, whose ‘Violet de Galmi’ variety is protected by the African Intellectual Property Organisation (OAPI), alone generates estimated export revenue of 80 billion CFA francs, supplying the markets of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin and Nigeria.

This agricultural momentum stems from a strong political commitment. As early as 2011, the Nigerien government launched the 3N Initiative (‘Nigeriens Feed Nigeriens’), a policy comprising several key programmes:

• the Small-scale Irrigation Strategy in Niger (SPIN),
• the National Food Security Policy (PNSN), which aims to strengthen the country’s food sovereignty and support agricultural producers.

Interministerial Committee for Social Dialogue

On the social and institutional front, Niger has also made significant strides. The country ratified ILO Convention No. 144 on tripartite consultation in 2018, and Convention No. 154 on collective bargaining as early as 1985. It has a Labour Code enshrining the fundamental rights of workers, an Inter-professional Collective Agreement revised in 2012, and a social dialogue framework structured around several bodies: the National Council for Social Dialogue (CNDS), the Consultative Commission on Labour and Employment (CCTE) and the National Labour Council. In 2015, the government launched a national dialogue on social protection, establishing a dedicated inter-ministerial committee.

Producer organisations, for their part, have gradually become organised at national level, with active umbrella organisations such as ANFO for the onion sector, FCMN-Niya for market gardening, and FUGPN Mooriben for farmers’ groups. These organisations have contributed to the emergence of cross-sectoral consultation frameworks, in line with the guidelines of ILO Recommendation No. 204 on the formalisation of the informal economy.

The challenges of existing policies

Despite these advances, the horticultural sector – a mainstay of Niger’s rural economy – remains on the margins of existing social protection and social dialogue mechanisms.

More than 50 per cent of Niger’s population, estimated at over 17 million people, are engaged in off-season farming. These workers, 37.25 per cent of whom are women, work in largely informal conditions, without a sector-specific collective agreement, without their own trade union representation and without social protection tailored to their specific circumstances: seasonal work, exposure to chemical inputs, variable working hours and limited access to occupational healthcare.

The Labour Code, whilst theoretically applicable to all employees, does not specifically address agricultural work. The Inter-professional Collective Agreement does not cover the particular concerns of the informal horticultural sector. And whilst the CNT-Niger has undertaken pioneering initiatives to extend rights to workers in other informal sectors – such as construction, transport and domestic work – the horticultural sector has not yet been the subject of a similar initiative.

It is precisely to fill this gap that our two organisations have undertaken this study.

A contribution to advocacy

This study draws on a wide range of institutional sources: the ILO, the FAO, the National Institute of Statistics of Niger (INS Niger), the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, RECA and the BCEAO; its findings were validated at a multi-stakeholder workshop in Niamey, attended by representatives of the government, employers’ organisations, trade unions and professionals from the sector.

What the study contributes

Beyond the assessment, the study provides several analytical tools:

• A participatory mapping of value chains in the horticultural sector, with a focus on the onion supply chain
• An analysis of the four pillars of decent work (employment, rights, social protection, social dialogue) as applied to the onion supply chain, identifying opportunities, challenges and levers for action.
• A SPECTRED analysis of the benefits of OHADA cooperative law for agricultural producers organised into co-operatives.
• A clause-by-clause review of the legislative framework to identify existing provisions that could be utilised for the benefit of horticultural workers.

Recommendations

The study does not stop at simply setting out the facts. It sets out nine recommendations, formulated in a spirit of partnership with national stakeholders:

• Create the conditions for producers to be effectively represented within existing trade union confederations.
• Revise the Niger Labour Code to incorporate the specific characteristics of the agricultural sector and the principles of decent work.
• Update the Inter-professional Collective Agreement to better take into account informal and seasonal workers, women and young people.
• Establish trade union monitoring bodies to follow up on ILO recommendations.
• Strengthen the capacity of social dialogue representatives regarding developments in international standards.
• Work with producer organisations and cooperatives to establish village-level bodies responsible for education and monitoring decent work.
• Promote multi-stakeholder consultation to ensure that all sectors are represented in negotiations.
• Produce up-to-date and reliable data on decent work in agriculture.
• Document the informal social dialogue frameworks already in place within agricultural supply chains.

An initiative formed part of a long-term partnership

This publication forms part of CNV Internationaal’s long-term commitment to its trade union partners in West Africa. Through the Dialogue@work programme, CNV Internationaal supports the CNT-Niger and other trade union organisations in five countries in the sub-region: Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Senegal, on the themes of inclusive social dialogue, youth employability, gender equality and corporate social responsibility. This report complements a series of comparable sectoral analyses in the region, includinga study on the horticultural sector in Senegal, published in 2024

Together, these studies form a shared evidence base to guide trade union advocacy, support legislative reforms and inform future support programmes.

Find the full report on the current state of social dialogue and decent work in the horticultural sector in Niger