Hivos seeking Nominations for Producer of the Year Award

Deadline: 25 March 2020

Hivos in collaboration with the Kenya Flower Council, Uganda Flowers Exporters Association and other stakeholders will convene the first ever “Producer of the Year Award” (POYA) as a platform to demonstrate the role of front runner farms (in horticulture) and the impact of better engendered workplace policies on business and changing the state of women workers.

POYA strives to amplify the stories of change that organisations and farms are creating through entrenching better working conditions, culture and practices that serve to respect women worker rights and overall labor rights. Open to all horticultural farms, the award ceremony seeks to celebrate change across the spectrum of issues under decent work.

This year the award ceremony will take place on June 2nd, 2020 during the International Flower Trade Expo (IFTEX), in Nairobi and is organized under the theme: Equality blooms business: celebrating gender equality and decent work for women in horticulture.

This award ceremony is borne out of the realisation that several corporate entities and organisations have consistently and eagerly integrated gender awareness approaches within their policies.

The awards will be under five categories:

• Model farm award – exemplary in all aspects under listed categories
• Leading employer in female leadership
• Leading farm in employee safety and maternal welfare
• Leading employer in fair wages and wage equality
• Exemplary employee leader/educator

Eligibility Criteria

• These awards are open to all horticultural farms in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia to self-nominate. Nomination will be reviewed and followed by a verification exercise that will involve a visit to the farm, interviews with select staff and workers and non-confidential document verification.
• Only eligible farms that have met the basic criteria under each award will be considered. Any farm seeking nomination needs to have met the basic threshold below:
  • Is a producer of horticultural products with a presence in any of the 5 East African countries: Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Tanzania.
  • Has at least 100 employees (exception given to Rwanda farms).
  • Can demonstrate a commitment to ensure continued awareness creation on gender equality, decent work and sexual harassment prevention that involve both management and non-management staff in the past 18 months.
  • Has an effective gender committee that has clear performance structures.
  • Has adopted an anti-sexual harassment policy with clear grievance and reporting mechanisms / structures.
  • Can submit demonstrable changes to policy and employee satisfaction as a result of a commitment to gender equality.
  • Has submitted a duly completed nomination form before the stipulated deadline.
  • Has received a rating of at least 40% by their workers – satisfaction with the company practices and culture in enhancing female leadership, safety and security at work, fair work conditions etc. This satisfaction rate will be determined after the independent verification exercise.

Category Specific Eligibility and Criteria

Under the desired nominated category, the farm needs to show a demonstrable and exemplary result and change in the area for which they have been nominated, that is:

• Model farm award – exemplary in all award focus areas (exemplary gender committee). Under this category, a model farm is one that:
  • Has an active gender committee with clear performance structures.
  • Can exhibit demonstrable changes to policy and employee satisfaction as a result of a commitment to gender equality.
  • Shows demonstrable achievements in every area under the POYA Awards.
  • Has a progressive, operational anti-sexual harassment policy and clear redress mechanisms.
  • Can demonstrate a decrease in sexual harassment incidences since implementation.
  • Shows commitment to anti-sexual harassment training/sensitization/awareness across all job levels of their workers.
    • NB: This category is only open to farms engaged with any of the Women@Work Campaign partners in your respective country
  • Leading employer in female leadership
  • The farm can demonstrate a commitment to supporting women’s leadership e.g. leadership training for their women workers.
  • The farm has women’s leadership as a priority across all levels of management.
• Leading employer in employee safety and maternal welfare
  • The farm has met all the minimum requirements of employee safety as stipulated within international and national labor standards. This includes protective wear and safety procedures that all relevant employees have been made aware of.
  • The farm has an exemplary support system and structure for maternal protections before and after birth as well as maternity leave for pregnant workers.
• Leading employer in fair wages and wage equality .
  • The farm can demonstrate a commitment to wage equality with all workers being paid equally for work of equal value.
• Exemplary employee leader/educator
  • An employee (from any job group) nominated by their farm who has shown exemplary leadership qualities and a commitment to cascade knowledge on labor rights and sexual harassment to other workers.

How to Apply

For more information, visit https://east-africa.hivos.org/news/call-for-nominations-producer-of-the-year-award/