Food is a necessity of life, so it is no wonder that almost half of all people in the world live in a household which is linked to agrifood systems. Throughout the world, people spend on average 25% of their household income on food, both of these facts underline the enormity and necessity of the sector.

The food agriculture sector is characterized by companies that offer a diverse range of agricultural products to the consumer. It has large global supply chains, often in locations where workers face a lack of adequate social protections; this exposes food producers and retailers to negative regulatory and reputational impacts from allegations of egregious labour standards and human rights abuses faced by workers.

Despite living wage being a human right, millions of people in the agricultural sector work in poverty according to the International Labour Organization. These people must have access to a living wage which is defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as follows: Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

The Role of Platform Living Wage Financials (PLWF)

Aside from ensuring the security of the supply of food products globally,  food producers and retailers have an important role in ensuring living wages and/or living income are being paid within their own operations and within their supply chains.

PLFW assesses and engages companies within the food/agriculture and retail sectors on the transparency of their living wage and living income policies, how they engage with stakeholder initiatives and worker unions, their efforts to assess the impact of non-payment of living wages or living income, the integration of assessment findings and how brands track the effectiveness of their programs to culminate in remedy for workers. Each year, we review the public disclosures and hold meetings with our investee companies to evaluate the effectiveness of programs to enable living wages and living income.  Our findings are published annually in our Annual Report.