Africa

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France's post-colonial days are long gone and yet its influence in Francophone Africa is in tatters.

If production decreases due to El Niño, there will be less food availability, and the income of the most vulnerable households that live and eat on what they produce will be reduced. Credit: Ligia Calderón / FAO

By Mario Lubetkin
SANTIAGO, Sep 1 2023 (IPS)

The climatic phenomenon known as “El Niño” is intensifying its presence worldwide. Projections are not favorable for the countries of the Latin America region. Below-normal rainfall is expected in Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, northern Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, inland Peru, Guyana, and Suriname.

In addition, above-normal precipitation is projected for the northern coast of Peru and Ecuador associated with the “El Niño Costero” phenomenon.

If production decreases due to El Niño, there will be less food availability, and the income of the most vulnerable households that live and eat on what they produce will be reduced.

In case of rainfall deficit, food security will be affected, reducing the cultivated area, with effects on harvests and increased death, malnutrition, and diseases in livestock.

It is critical to act now to reduce potential humanitarian needs. Protecting agriculture will directly impact food security and help prevent the escalation of food crises in the region. Meeting this challenge requires a robust strategy that addresses risks in the broader context of global climate change

On the other hand, excess rainfall associated with El Niño will also lead to crop failure. It will also deteriorate soils, cause death and disease in animals, and damage key infrastructure.

It is critical to act now to reduce potential humanitarian needs. Protecting agriculture will directly impact food security and help prevent the escalation of food crises in the region.

Meeting this challenge requires a robust strategy that addresses risks in the broader context of global climate change.

FAO is implementing proactive actions to reduce potential humanitarian hardship in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador in the Dry Corridor in Central America.

These actions include support for water management, storage, and harvesting; micro-irrigation systems; safe seed storage systems; use of resistant varieties; prophylaxis and livestock feed, among others. In this way, we have protected the 2023 post-harvest agricultural season. A similar program will soon be initiated in Bolivia, Venezuela and Colombia.

In Ecuador, we will be supporting the implementation of drains and mechanisms to evacuate excess water from crops and prevent landslides, as well as providing equipment for seed and crop conservation, conservation of artisanal fishing production, and facilitating vaccination for livestock to mitigate the effects of El Niño Costero.

FAO recently launched a response plan to raise US$36.9 million to assist vulnerable communities in Latin America. The initiative, announced as part of Humanitarian Assistance Month, aims to support 1.16 million people in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela.

Without these efforts to reduce risk and act early, there will be a perpetual need for urgent humanitarian action and a growing risk of deterioration into new emergencies.

With a more coordinated effort by international organizations, governments, the private sector, regional organizations, civil society, and communities, we can cope with events like El Niño and better protect livelihoods and food security, leaving no one behind.

Excerpt:

Mario Lubetkin is FAO Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean

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Flooding in Trinidad's capital of Port of Spain. Climate justice calls for a fair and equitable response to climate change, recognizing the interconnectedness of our world and the shared responsibility we have in protecting it. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

By Kibo Ngowi
JOHANNESBURG, Sep 1 2023 (IPS)

If you’ve never seen a landslide before, it’s a terrifying force of nature. Those who have found themselves in the thick of this phenomenon say the earth beneath your feet suddenly begins to give way, the ground cracks open, and large masses of soil, rocks, and debris come crashing down. It is as if the very ground you stand on is rebelling against the changing climate and its impact on the delicate balance of the environment.

Hari Maya Parajuli, a farmer in Nepal, was unfortunate enough to have a farm in the destructive path of just such a landslide. All her crops and tomato tunnels were destroyed in an instant – a devastating loss for her household. Extreme weather events of this kind are becoming increasingly common. Over the past three decades, the frequency and intensity of hurricanes, floods, droughts, landslides and heatwaves, have increased by 45%, posing severe threats to vulnerable communities and ecosystems worldwide.

Climate justice recognizes that the impacts of climate change are not distributed equally and that the groups that are the most severely affected by the consequences of climate change contribute the least to the underlying causes of the problem

At 43 years of age, Hari lives with her husband’s parents in the Nepali village of Ghatichhina. Her husband and three children left years ago to find work abroad and her parents-in-law are elderly, leaving her with no choice but to take on the labor of maintaining their farm by herself. After the devastating landslide, Hari began going to the Village Development Committee and the local office of the Agricultural Department continuously seeking some form of assistance. But it was in vain.

Hari continues to grow vegetables such as cauliflower, rice and maize and tends to her livestock consisting of one buffalo, one calf and four goats but adverse weather conditions persist in sabotaging her efforts. “It is especially risky during the Monsoon season,” she explains. “Our farm is at the river basin so we are exposed to floods from above and below. The rain has become so erratic that we experience periods of heavy rainfall which cause flooding and other periods of drought which make the land dry and difficult to farm.”

Around 65% of Nepal’s population relies on agriculture as their primary source of income but these extreme weather events contribute to 90% of the country’s crop loss. The UN estimates that climate change could push an additional 130 million people into extreme poverty by 2030 and the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate predicts that failure to address climate change could cost the global economy $23 trillion by 2050.

“It has been around 17 years since my husband went abroad,” Hari says. “He couldn’t find employment in Nepal and we needed money to educate our children and maintain our household. This year I have somehow managed but I don’t think I can continue farming next year. I am not healthy and neither are others in the family. If and when my husband returns, I am planning to open a homestay.”

Hari’s story is just one example of how climate change disproportionately affects the most vulnerable communities, including low-income populations, indigenous peoples, communities of color, and women and children, who contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions but bear the brunt of its consequences.

This is why we need climate justice – the fair and equitable treatment of all individuals and communities, particularly the most vulnerable and marginalized, in the context of addressing and responding to climate change. Climate justice recognizes that the impacts of climate change are not distributed equally and that the groups that are the most severely affected by the consequences of climate change contribute the least to the underlying causes of the problem.

 

The Climate Inclusion Fellowship

Starting in 2022, Accountability Lab (AL) Nepal hosted a Climate Inclusion Fellowship in which they recruited 12 young Nepali women interested in climate justice to reach out to different communities affected by climate change and to amplify the concerns and personal experiences of these communities through creative storytelling methods and mediums.

“Our goal was to build a network of young people who would not only identify the most pressing impacts of climate change, but would also be there to collaboratively uncover solutions to these problems with the people most affected,” explains Prekkshya Bimali, a Program Officer at AL Nepal who managed the fellowship. “We also wanted to take it a step further and connect these communities with the local authorities who have the power to implement these solutions at scale.”

The Climate Inclusion Fellows produced a short film around Hari Maya Parajuli’s experiences to highlight how climate change is deepening gender inequality in rural Nepal. Thousands of Nepali citizens, mostly men, have been forced to migrate in search of better work opportunities largely because climate change has had a devastating effect on male-dominated sectors such as agriculture. This has left scores of women overburdened with the task of maintaining households and raising children while also trying to earn an income.

Another important story the fellows uncovered was that of the Jalari community, an indigenous community in the city of Pokhara whose livelihood is dependent on fishing and has been heavily impacted by climate change. The water level in the lakes of Pokhara Valley has been decreasing for years, which has reduced the number of fish in the lake and forced the Jalari to introduce exotic species to counter the extinction of local species. Additionally, floods and landslides have led to the sedimentation of the lake, which further reduces the water level and pollutes the water itself.

“We don’t talk often enough about the differential impacts brought about by climate change to women, indigenous communities and other minorities,” says Climate Inclusion Fellow Urusha Lamsal. “So it was essential to reach out to these communities to understand the consequences of climate change from their perspective and how they are directly affected.”

Prekkshya explains that the goal of producing the short films on these issues was to amplify the voices of the affected communities and to also create dialogue between these communities and local authorities. “We have started doing public screenings where we also create space for local officials to engage with community members on these issues,” she says. “We have already screened the films in the very places where these issues are being experienced and we’re trying to reach out to as many as many people as we can.”

“These films will serve as an important advocacy tool as we continue to engage with the government on how these issues can be addressed in a way that is conscious of the needs and input of communities such as the Jalari. We are hopeful that these discussions will lead to meaningful change in the lives of the people most affected by climate change.”

 

Green Accountability

“It’s essential that we elevate communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis, especially indigenous communities, in shaping climate finance and solutions, because we won’t be successful without them,” says Grace Sinaga, Communications and Knowledge Management team lead at the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA). “This is something we at the GPSA like to call green accountability.” Accountability Lab is partnering with the GPSA on a new initiative to drive green accountability globally.

Grace goes on to highlight how in Australia, whenever bushfires occur, disaster management experts have found that community led action is more sustainable and effective in the long run. The indigenous people honor their land and understand that the eucalyptus trees need fire in order to reproduce.

Australia’s indigenous peoples have been managing and controlling bushfires in ways that are effective and safe for both their communities and forests such as through cultural burning techniques for centuries. Today, the value of traditional ecological knowledge through indigenous land management experts is recognized by the Australian government and even included in school curricula.

“Unfortunately, indigenous knowledge receives only 1% of climate finance globally, despite safeguarding 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity, and less than 10% of climate funding has been prioritized for local activities,” explains Grace.

“We need to support indigenous peoples and local communities by creating systemic ways for people to have a voice and role in the climate decisions that most impact their lives. Green accountability places citizens and civil society at the heart of climate finance to direct funding, implement solutions and hold decision makers accountable for effective and equitable climate, finance and action.”

Ben Bakalovic, an Operations and Strategy Analyst at the GPSA, warns that we have to be careful because climate finance is a rapidly growing field that everybody wants a stake in, even if they’re not genuinely contributing to the solutions. “For instance, you see a lot of cases of international corporations taking land away from indigenous communities and rich countries claiming they are giving out climate finance when in reality, they’re financing chocolate and ice cream stores across Asia,” he explains.

This is why it’s crucial to have transparency measures that clearly map out what climate finance is, where it is going, who is implementing it, and what kind of impact it is meant to create. These measures would enable the most severely affected communities to better be able to track where climate finance is actually flowing.

“These people must logically be the ones that will be developing and implementing the solutions because local communities have a lot of knowledge that can be used for more effective climate action, both in mitigation and also in adaptation,” says Bakalovic.

“And then lastly, on accountability, it’s just about having governance measures in place that are used for avoiding corruption, have real oversight allowed for monitoring, tracking for effectiveness measurements. And this also really depends on the state and on the global and national levels.”

 

Justice for all

Climate justice is not just an abstract concept; it is a pressing need for humanity’s survival and well-being. The stories of individuals like Hari Maya Parajuli and communities like the Jalari show us how climate change disproportionately affects the most vulnerable among us. As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, it is crucial to recognize that those who contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions are often the ones who bear the heaviest burden.

Efforts like the Climate Inclusion Fellowship and green accountability initiative are steps in the right direction, empowering communities to be part of the solution and ensuring that climate finance reaches those who need it the most. We must continue to amplify the voices of the affected, engage with local authorities, and foster dialogue to bring about meaningful change.

Climate justice calls for a fair and equitable response to climate change, recognizing the interconnectedness of our world and the shared responsibility we have in protecting it. By prioritizing the needs and perspectives of the most vulnerable, we can build a more sustainable and resilient future for all. It is time for action, compassion, and solidarity in the pursuit of climate justice, so that no one is left behind in the face of this global challenge. Let us work together to safeguard our planet and ensure a just and livable world for generations to come.

Kibo Ngowi is Marketing & Communications Officer at Accountability Lab Global

Here are some facts you may not have known about Alain Bongo or better known as Ali Bongo.

Gabura Union, situated in the southwestern region of Bangladesh near the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest, faces a dire threat as scientists predict that it could be submerged by the year 2025 due to the impacts of climate change. This area, characterized by low-lying coastal terrain, is exceptionally vulnerable to sea-level rise and storm surges. The rising sea levels, exacerbated by global warming, have already resulted in significant land erosion and the displacement of local communities. According to scientific studies and reports, including those from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the situation in Gabura Union is dire, and urgent measures are required to mitigate the impending crisis. Efforts to combat this issue include the construction of protective barriers and the promoting of climate-resilient practices, but the challenge remains substantial. The plight of the Gabura Union is a stark reminder of the profound and devastating impacts of climate change, particularly in coastal regions. It underscores the urgency of global efforts to mitigate its effects. Gabura, Satkhira, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

By Mohammad Rakibul Hasan
DHAKA, Sep 1 2023 (IPS)

Bangladesh, a picturesque land of rivers, lush green landscapes, and a vibrant cultural heritage, faces one of its most significant challenges ever — climate change.

Situated in South Asia, with a population of over 160 million people living in an area the size of the US state of Iowa, Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and changing rainfall patterns are already profoundly impacting this nation, with potentially devastating consequences for its people and environment.

The country is a low-lying delta formed by the confluence of several major rivers, including the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna. This geographical feature makes Bangladesh prone to flooding, and as global temperatures rise, the situation only worsens. One of the most immediate and visible impacts of climate change in Bangladesh is the rising sea levels. Approximately 80 percent of the country is less than 5 meters above sea level, and a 1-meter rise in sea level could displace millions of people, submerge vast areas of agricultural land, and inundate significant cities like Dhaka, Chittagong, and Khulna. This poses a severe threat to the country’s economy and social stability.

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is a bustling metropolis known for its vibrant culture and dynamic economy. One of the most striking aspects of Dhaka is its staggering population density. With over 8 million crammed into just 306 square kilometers, Dhaka is one of the world’s most densely populated cities. It fosters a diverse and energetic atmosphere that drives economic growth and cultural exchange but is vulnerable to climate change-induced weather patterns.
Dhaka, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Bangladesh is also experiencing increased extreme weather events such as heatwaves, cyclones, storms, and heavy rainfall. The frequency and intensity of these events have risen in recent years, causing widespread damage to infrastructure, homes, and agricultural land. The cyclone-prone coastal areas are particularly at risk. Climate change alters rainfall patterns in Bangladesh, leading to erratic monsoons and prolonged dry spells. These changes affect crop production, causing food insecurity for many. Additionally, altered river flows disrupt livelihoods dependent on fishing and agriculture. Agriculture is the backbone of Bangladesh’s economy, employing nearly half its workforce and contributing significantly to its GDP. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, and increased salinity in coastal areas reduce crop yields and make traditional farming practices unsustainable. This has far-reaching consequences for food security nationally and globally, as Bangladesh exports rice and other agricultural products.

Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, a bustling metropolis known for its vibrant culture and dynamic economy, is also vulnerable to the impacts of climate change-induced weather patterns.

Dhaka City has significant infrastructural and environmental pressures, including traffic congestion and pollution, which the city grapples with daily. Climate change has added another layer of complexity to Dhaka’s demographic dynamics. Rising sea levels, more frequent cyclones, and erratic weather patterns have made life increasingly precarious in climate-prone areas of Bangladesh. As a result, a steady influx of people from these regions is migrating to Dhaka in search of employment opportunities. The city, already bursting at the seams, needs help accommodating this influx, leading to informal settlements and overburdened public services. This influx highlights the urgent need for sustainable urban planning, climate resilience, and job creation efforts in Dhaka to address the challenges posed by its population density and climate-induced migration. Dhaka, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

A case study of Gabura, a union of Satkhira District, Bangladesh, adjacent to the Sundarbans, comprises twelve villages and an island near the mainland, the most vulnerable places in Bangladesh. It is home to more than 35 thousand people that was washed out by cyclone Aila in 2009. Hundreds of people, cattle, trees, and wild animals drowned and died in the water. Many people went to the nearest cyclone centers to survive, but many survived by climbing the trees or standing on the roofs of houses made of wood. Even after the cyclones, people were too poor to rebuild their homes and lived on the dams for over two years.

The study noted that along with the flood, the cyclone brought seawater that caused permanent salinity. Regular water sources were damaged, and crop fields created food insecurity. The land became barren, and trees couldn’t sustain themselves due to soil salinity.

Flooding also impacts the region. Because of the geographical setting, Bangladesh receives and drains a massive volume of upstream water. The flows of significant rivers originate from the Himalayas; due to the temperature rise, melting glaciers cause floods, and areas become waterlogged. Floodwaters seep into supplies used for drinking and washing, and latrines are washed away, allowing raw sewage to increase the threat of diseases such as cholera.

The Mawa area, situated in the Munshiganj district near Dhaka, Bangladesh, is grappling with a critical issue of river erosion. The region is flanked by several major rivers, including the Padma and the Arial Khan, which have been eroding their banks at an alarming rate. River erosion in this area has become a persistent threat, causing the loss of valuable agricultural land, homesteads, and infrastructure. This ongoing erosion has led to the displacement of many families who have seen their homes and livelihoods washed away by the relentless force of the rivers. Efforts to combat this issue often involve the construction of dams and other protective measures. Still, the battle against river erosion remains an ongoing and challenging struggle for the communities in the Mawa area. Addressing this problem requires comprehensive strategies that consider both short-term relief and long-term sustainable solutions to mitigate the devastating impact of river erosion on the region’s residents and their way of life. Mawa, Munshiganj, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

 

Climate migration from the Sundarbans area to major cities in Bangladesh, particularly Dhaka, has been a growing phenomenon driven by the adverse effects of climate change. The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the world’s largest mangrove forest, faces rising sea levels, increased salinity, and more frequent cyclones due to climate change. As these environmental pressures intensify, many residents of this ecologically sensitive region are compelled to leave their homes for better opportunities and safety. Dhaka, the country’s economic hub, attracts a significant portion of these climate migrants. Satkhira, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Women in developing countries like Bangladesh mostly live in poverty and natural disasters. These are making them more vulnerable, affecting their livelihoods and security. In general, women are responsible for household work. The impact of climate change around coastline areas of Bangladesh has made women more prone to poverty. 

The effect of climate change impacts indirectly on people, especially women and children.

Physical vulnerability may include death, injury, diseases, physical abuse, chronic malnutrition, and forced labor. Social vulnerability includes loss of parents and family, internal displacement, risk of being trafficked, loss of property and assets, and lack of educational opportunities.

Women contribute to both household maintenance and work in agriculture. “Up to 43% of rural women devote their time to aquaculture and agriculture, which are spheres likely to be affected by weather variability” (Hanifia et al. 2022), and when catastrophes hit either in rural coastal areas, income declines directly affect women’s agency, quality of their diet, and wealth and this in turn impacts the children. 

Southwestern Bangladesh grapples with a significant scarcity of safe drinking water. The region is prone to salinity intrusion due to its proximity to the Bay of Bengal, making the groundwater increasingly salty and undrinkable. This situation has dire consequences for the local population, as access to clean and safe drinking water is essential for human health and well-being. Many communities in Satkhira are forced to rely on rainwater harvesting systems and surface water, which can be contaminated, leading to waterborne diseases. Addressing the issue of safe drinking water scarcity in Satkhira requires innovative solutions, including desalination technologies and improved water management practices, to ensure that the residents have access to a vital resource for their daily lives. Satkhira, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Safe drinking water sources have become scarce in coastal areas because of groundwater salinity. Women and children must collect drinking water from distant places, and even many cases, they collect water crossing rivers. Frequent cyclone hits, food shortages, and inadequate water supply make women’s lives difficult, and as a result, school dropout rates and child marriage rates are high across the coastline. Malnourishment and diseases also impair learning. Extreme climate change-related disasters threaten school buildings and educational materials. For example, cyclones Sidr and Aila caused massive damage to school buildings and wiped out teaching materials around Sundarbans and its locality.

“When my husband, Ruhul Amin Seikh, goes fishing, I wait for him by the river’s edge. Some days, when I do not feel sick, I join him in our small boat. I can barely support my husband as I am aging and suffering from diseases. Our children are separated (from us). They have their families and are no longer able to provide for us. The forest is no longer providing us with food. After spending hours in the river, my husband returns with a few fish. We can hardly sell fish for 80 Taka (1 USD) daily. We starve or eat once (a day) as we grow older. Water is saltier than ever; our house is still broken after the cyclone, and now the coronavirus is killing us. We have almost no food for the coming days. We remain hungry; we remain thirsty.” – Fatema Khatun. Gabura, Satkhira, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

 

“We are left with one bucket of rice and some vegetables for our 21 family members. Since the virus hit, we are no longer allowed to go fishing. In the last seven months, I entered the jungle for only seven days. My sons are trying to work as laborers now. But there is very little work now. Our lands went into the river, and with every passing year, calamities are hitting us hard. There is little drinkable water left in the area, and now the devastation of this pandemic is going to kill us with the scarcity of food. Our children are hungry all the time. When again will we be able to eat a proper meal? We do not have any idea.”– Motiar Rahman Gazi, 60 years old, has a big family to feed. But the pandemic hit this already vulnerable family in Ahsasuni at the Bay of Bengal hard. The river has flooded their land, and now their survival depends on the other work they can find for a living. The scientists forecasted that the whole coastal belt of Bangladesh around the Sundarbans will be under seawater by 2050. Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

The coastal areas of Bangladesh have completely different geophysical features from the other parts of the country. It also has socio-political patterns that are not seen in the rest of the country, which elevates risks and vulnerabilities of the people who live across the coastline territories.

The coastline brings challenges for earning income. Thus, the poverty margin accelerates many risks and human security factors immediately impacting its inhabitants, as do frequent natural catastrophes. 

“A vast river network, a dynamic estuarine system, and a drainage basin intersect the coastal zone, which made coastal ecosystem as a potential source of natural resources, diversified fauna, and flora composition, though there also have an immense risk of natural disasters,” Shamsuddoha and Chowdhury (2007) noted.

Every year people are displaced from the coastal areas of Sundarbans. The tidal floods and cyclones bring seawater to destroy sweet water sources such as ponds, rivers, and land groundwater. Over the last two decades, the increase in salinity has been high. Paddy and various vegetable fields have failed, and this has resulted in food scarcity exacerbating many diseases. The International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research Bangladesh (ICDDRB) researchers have noticed an alarmingly high rate of miscarriages in the small village of Chakaria, near Cox’s Bazaar, on the east coast of Bangladesh (Haider, 2019). Studies and research on the other part of the coastal areas around Sundarbans on fertility and uterus cancer that may be linked to climate change and salinity rise are underway because there is evidence that consuming saline water harms the skin, menstruation, and, more seriously, unborn children.

The Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) reports have indicated the increasing ferocity of weather patterns throughout the years, documenting the environmental and social impacts of each disaster.

 

“After eleven days of cyclone Amphan, my daughter was born. We had no electricity, no food, and no drop of drinking water. My husband could not go fishing in the river because of the lockdown in coronavirus. Since then, my husband could hardly manage permission to enter the jungle. I got married when I was 15 in the aftermath of another cyclone. Every year, at least twice, our house has been destroyed in cyclones, tornados, or storms. We suffered terribly from drinking water as every year salinity is increasing. Now, my husband and I eat once daily. During the lockdown, I hardly ate as there was no food. My youngest child is now six months old; she is severely underweight. What could we do? I must first give food to my father-in-law and mother-in-law, who are in their nineties. And then I feed our children; if we have something left, my husband and I will have it. There is nothing in our food storage. Today, we only have one kilogram of rice, a few onions, garlic, and vegetable leaves. I have nothing to cook tomorrow.” – Marzina Begum. Satkhira, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

People around coastlines near Sundarbans constantly search for food, catching excessively young shrimps from rivers and degrading the marine ecology and biodiversity. As the places around coastlines are affected by salinity due to climate change, people’s usual professions are replaced by alternatives to survive in hostile conditions. Due to the lack of work opportunities, women have no choice but to catch baby shrimp from coastal rivers; they sell them in the local market. A significant number of agents work for big shrimp firms that buy undersized shrimps.

Fishing communities in Bangladesh report that the availability of many local species has declined with riverbeds’ silting up, temperature changes, and earlier flooding. Communities are coping by selling labor, migrating, and borrowing money from lenders. The unemployment rate has increased as local peasants lose their jobs due to the scarcity of agricultural land. Shrimp farming needs much less labor than agriculture. As a result, many migrate to wealthier areas, while others depend on Sundarbans’ forest resources. 

 

“I am the only earning member of my family. My husband left me. I live with my mother, who is in her sixties and cannot walk properly. We lost our home during cyclone Bulbul. Since then, we have been sheltering in a temporary house made of a Gol leaf for over a year. When six months ago cyclone Amphan hit, I thought of fleeing our village. If I catch fish, we will eat. Since corona, there is a restriction, and we cannot enter the forest like before. My family has nothing to eat tomorrow. We are just surviving with little or no food.” – Fatima Banu. Satkhira, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

 

“Six months ago, during cyclone Amphan, I lost all domestic cattle. Since then, I have continued living in our wrecked house all alone. My children have left for the city to find a job. They could not manage to come (back) since the lockdown. I started to raise animals again and protect them all the time. The river is coming close; I might lose my destroyed home someday. I used to work at people’s houses in return for food. When I could not assist with any household chores, I went fishing. There is no work in this locality; we hardly catch fish. I have little left to eat. How am I going to survive with so much struggle? I do not know.” – Helena Begum. Satkhira, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

The government has invested in constructing cyclone shelters and early warning systems, reducing the loss of life during cyclones and storms. Efforts are underway to promote climate-resilient agricultural practices, including developing drought-resistant crop varieties and better water management. Expanding access to renewable energy sources, such as solar power, in rural areas reduces the pressure on traditional biomass fuels, mitigating deforestation minimizes the stress on conventional biomass fuels and mitigates.

Bangladesh has sought international support and partnerships to fund and implement climate adaptation projects, including efforts to protect coastal areas from sea-level rise. The country’s efforts to adapt and mitigate the impacts of climate change are commendable, but the scale of the problem requires sustained international cooperation and support. The world must recognize that Bangladesh is not alone in this battle; the consequences of climate change here are harbingers of what may come in other vulnerable regions if global action is not taken promptly. To protect this beautiful nation and its people, we must act decisively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support those on the front lines of climate change, like Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to its adverse effects. The key challenges are rising sea levels, increased salinity in coastal areas, more frequent cyclones, and erratic rainfall patterns. These impacts lead to displacement, food and water scarcity, and significant economic losses, especially in agriculture and fisheries. Bangladesh actively pursues climate adaptation and mitigation strategies to mitigate these effects and build resilience. However, the road ahead remains challenging as the country grapples with climate change’s consequences. It underscores the urgent need for global cooperation to combat climate change and support vulnerable nations like Bangladesh to adapt to this rapidly evolving environmental crisis. Satkhira, Bangladesh Credit: Mohammad Rakibul Hasan

Mohammad Rakibul Hasan is a documentary photographer/filmmaker and visual artist. He was nominated for many international awards and won hundreds of photographic competitions worldwide, including the Lucie Award, the Oscar of Photography, the Human Rights Press Award, and the Allard Prize. His photographs have been published and exhibited internationally. He is based in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Note: Research for this article comes from:

• Hanifia S.M. Manzoor Ahmed, Menon NIDHIYA, and Quisumbingc AGNES. 2022. ‘The impact of climate change on children’s nutritional status in coastal Bangladesh.’ Science Direct Volume 294, February 2022.
• Shamsuddoha, Md. and Chowdhury, Reazul. 2007. ‘Climate Change Impact and Disaster Vulnerabilities in the Coastal Areas of Bangladesh.’ 
• Haider, Reaz. 2019. ‘Climate Change-Induced Salinity Affecting Soil Across Coastal Bangladesh.’ Reliefweb [online].
• Asian Disaster Reduction Center. 2007. ‘Bangladesh: Tropical Cyclone.’  IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Excerpt:

Bangladesh faces one of its most significant challenges ever — climate change. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and changing rainfall patterns are already profoundly impacting this nation.

Floods in Kenya's Turkana County, Lodwar town. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS.

By Kennedy Mugochi
NAIROBI, Sep 1 2023 (IPS)

As an African, I have seen first-hand the devastating effects of climate change. I have met communities displaced by floods in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. I have spoken to farmers from Northern Kenya who have lost their crops to drought. These experiences have made me acutely aware of how urgent it is to address the climate crisis.

In fact, the world stands perilously close to breaching the threshold of a 1.5C degree temperature rise, beyond which unimaginably catastrophic and irreversible climate impacts will ravage Africa and the world. Yet, the rich countries that caused this crisis are still refusing to give up their addiction to fossil fuels and are still short-changing the Global South on the funding needed for climate action.

 

A crucial opportunity to tackle these challenges

Next week, African leaders have a crucial opportunity to tackle these challenges. The Africa Climate Summit, hosted by the government of Kenya from September 4 to 6, will bring together heads of state and ministers, as well as representatives from civil society and the private sector.

The summit is the moment for African leaders and civil society to agree on a strong action platform, not only for pan-African measures but also for global decisions due to be taken at the UN global climate summit (COP28) this November.

 

Achieving a robust common agenda depends on three key factors:

A people-centered approach: The summit must put the needs of the people at the heart of its deliberations. The voices and needs of women, youth, Indigenous people, and others most vulnerable to climate impacts must be given priority over those of foreign companies and donors.

A justice approach: This means making sure that the benefits and costs of climate action are equitably distributed. Both within countries, so that women, informal workers, Indigenous people, and other vulnerable groups don’t lose out. And between countries, so that rich countries, which have done most to cause the crisis, shoulder more of the burden than developing countries. These two principles of justice should underpin the summit’s outcomes.

A collaborative approach: The summit must be a genuine collaborative effort between governments, civil society, and the progressive private sector. Only by working together can we achieve the necessary changes. Too much influence by particular interest groups will likely compromise the summit’s outcomes.

However daunting as it may appear, I appeal to African leaders to take a united approach during the summit that will benefit the people of Africa in the long run.

 

Three vital areas for the summit to produce clear outcomes:

Firstly, Africa and the world must rapidly transition away from fossil fuels. African governments and foreign donors and investors must put an immediate stop to the expansion of the fossil fuel industry and ensure that no new fossil fuel projects are financed, licensed, or constructed. Foreign partners must help finance a managed and just phase-out of existing fossil capacity.

Secondly, divert investments and subsidies from fossil fuels to Africa’s vast renewable energy potential. But the priority should be to spur inclusive, gender-transformative and sustainable development within Africa, not to satisfy the appetites of foreign countries and companies. As Hivos has demonstrated in its ENERGIA program, decentralized, community-owned, renewable energy solutions are key to create opportunities and jobs for women, small and micro businesses, youth, farmers and other economically marginalized groups.

Lastly, the summit must loudly redouble Africa’s calls for a transformation of the global climate finance system. Africa needs massively increased, non-debt creating finance for adaptation and loss and damage, as well as for the energy and food transitions. And we need more democratic and inclusive institutions to govern climate finance. This means not only giving governments of developing countries a fair say, but also bringing most-affected communities to the table. A portion of global and national funding should be set aside for local communities to directly access and manage.

The African Climate Summit is a critical opportunity for African leaders to take action on climate change. I urge them to seize this opportunity and make bold commitments to protect the planet and its people.

Together, we can build a fairer, more sustainable future for Africa and the world.

Excerpt:

Kennedy Mugochi is Director of Hivos East Africa

By Elias Yousif
WASHINGTON DC, Sep 1 2023 (IPS)

In what has become an all too familiar phenomenon, U.S.-trained security personnel have been implicated in the July 26th coup that deposed Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.

It is the fifth such putsch in the Sahel since 2020, and just the latest to, once again, upend Washington’s expansive counterterror operations in the region that seems to depend on questionable military partners.

As the Biden administration wrestles with how to respond, it should consider how this latest military takeover reflects on years of U.S. security cooperation in the Sahel and the efficacy of the approach that has defined U.S. engagement with the region.

Overview of U.S. Assistance to Niger and the Sahel

Over the last decade, U.S. security cooperation in the Sahel, and the western Sahel in particular, has grown substantially, reflecting widespread concern about the surge in Islamist militancy in the region.

A mix of armed groups, including those with affiliations with Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, have proliferated in the region over the years, carrying out opportunistic attacks, engaging in illicit economic activity, and posing acute challenges to state authority.

Elias Yousif

The United States has responded to perceived threats in the region by investing heavily in its own counterterror operations and security assistance programs, amounting to more than $3.3 billion in military aid to the Sahel over the last two decades.

Programs like the Trans-Sahara Partnership Initiative, Department of Defense building partner capacity programs, and numerous foreign military training operations have been central pillars of the U.S. approach to the region.

Despite being paired with significant amounts of economic and humanitarian assistance, they have anchored bilateral relations between Washington and its Sahelian partners.

Between FY2001 and FY2021, the United States provided the countries of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and Senegal at least $995 million in direct security assistance, a figure which likely excludes much of the aid provided through large but opaque Department of Defense capacity building programs.

And between FY2001 and FY2020, the United States provided training to at least 86 thousand trainees in these countries, including 17,643 from Niger.

Substantial Aid But Little Progress

Unfortunately, this assistance has not resulted in commensurate improvements in the security landscape or acted as an effective bulwark against civil-military strife. Whatever tactical advances U.S. assistance has contributed to, on the part of Sahelian security forces, the presence, activity, and power of sub-state armed groups has continued to grow.

Terrorism-related activity in the region has increased by more than 2,000 percent over the past decade and a half, while militant organizations have pursued increasingly bold operations and pseudo-state activities.

At the same time, U.S. security assistance activities have provided material support to military officers who have both engaged in grave human rights abuses or who have gone on to support the overthrow of civilian governments.

In just the last three years, the Sahel has seen five coups, two each in Mali and Burkina Faso and now one in Niger, each of which has involved or implicated officers that received U.S. military training.

Unsurprisingly, these military coups have reflected poorly on U.S. security assistance efforts and exposed severe shortcomings in Washington’s approach to the region.

Although it would be difficult to identify a causal relationship between U.S. training and coup propensity on the part of recipients, repeated putsches by U.S.-backed forces show a lack of discretion in how the United States selects its security partners.

Indeed, the behavior of many of these U.S.-trained forces is far from unpredictable, especially in places where military figures have long played outsized political roles.

More robust, in-depth, and multidisciplinary pre-assessments should better inform the selection of U.S. security assistance beneficiaries and partners, and policymakers should have the courage to use that information to decline invitations to engage in security cooperation when the risk is too high.

More broadly, the highly securitized nature of U.S. engagement with the region places significant emphasis on addressing the symptoms of insecurity and distracts from other lines of effort aimed at issues of governance, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution.

Moreover, the rhetorical and political emphasis Washington has placed on counterterrorism, in addition to overshadowing significant humanitarian and development investments, can also risk securitizing local politics and elevating the political saliency of military leaders over their civilian counterparts.

Indeed, in nearly all of the most recent coups, their military leaders have cited militancy and counterterror imperatives as justification for removing civilian leaders. Without a greater emphasis on governance, civil-military reforms, and defense institution building as a prerequisite to combat-oriented assistance, the United States risks perpetuating conflict and political instability.

Finally, when U.S.-backed security forces engage in coups or grave human rights violations, the United States should be unequivocal in its response. Too frequently, the United States has been willing to voice rhetorical condemnation while discreetly sustaining security cooperation activities.

Invoking the need to address terrorism or the infiltration of other competing powers in the region, the familiar turning of the United States’ blind eye in the Sahel has both undermined any meaningful commitment to conditionality in U.S. assistance and sent a troubling signal about the consequences of predatory behavior on the part of U.S. security partners.

The United States should re-orient its strategic calculus and right size how it weighs the risks of shedding abusive security partners against the risks of continuing to partner with forces undermining good governance and human rights.

Elias Yousif is a Research Analyst with the Stimson Center’s Conventional Defense Program. His research focuses on the global arms trade and arms control, issues related to remote warfare and use of force, and international security cooperation and child-soldiers prevention. Prior to joining the Stimson Center, Elias was the Deputy Director of the Security Assistance Monitor at the Center for International Policy where he analyzed the impact of U.S. arms transfer and security assistance programs on international security, U.S. foreign policy, and global human rights practices.

Source: Stimson Center

IPS UN Bureau

 

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Mushroom workers rally, Sunnyside, Washington, April 18, 2023. Credit: Peter Costantini

By Peter Costantini
SEATTLE, USA, Aug 31 2023 (IPS)

The Yakima River runs southeast from the Cascade Mountains through central Washington state to merge with the Columbia a little north of Oregon. From the small city of Yakima on down, its course broadens from a winding canyon into a wide valley bounded by austere low ridges of gray-green sagebrush and tawny grasses. In mid-April, the new leaves of the willows and cottonwoods light up the riverbanks with luminous chartreuse.

“De colores, de colores se visten los campos en la primavera …”
“Colors, the fields are clothed with colors in the spring …”
(From an old farm workers song)

The valley beyond the river bottom was once mostly semi-arid rangeland punctuated by basalt cliffs. But as irrigation systems spread across it in the early 20th Century, it morphed into rich farmlands. Expanses of vineyards stretch across the valley and climb the hills. One part of the Yakima Valley Highway has been renamed “Wine Country Road”, and at intersections, signs point to wineries and tasting rooms.

Tall frameworks of wood and wire stand waiting for hop vines to grow up them. The Yakima Valley produces more than three-quarters of the hops grown in the United States. Apple and pear orchards are beginning to bloom. In fields of corn and beans, the first green shoots are just poking up.

The town of Sunnyside drapes over a hill about 30 miles southeast of Yakima city. The town’s 16 thousand residents are 86 percent Hispanic, and Yakima County is over 52 percent, in a country where the Hispanic population is approaching one-fifth of the total and growing.

Yearly per capita income in Sunnyside is $15,570 and the poverty rate is 18.6 percent, compared with $43,817 and 9.9 percent for the state of Washington. That means that average yearly income here is a bit more than one-third that of the state, and poverty is almost twice as high. [U.S. Census Bureau. “QuickFacts”]

 

Sign at mushroom workers rally, Sunnyside, Washington, April 18, 2023. Credit: Peter Costantini

 

At the south end of town, across Interstate 82, Midvale Road is lined with industrial processing and service facilities: warehouses, pipelines, silos, and tanks for dairy, candy, feed, fertilizer and equipment. At the end of this agribusiness stronghold, rows of long white structures looking like opaque greenhouses are identified by a sign: “Windmill Farms”. Inside, on multi-level bins in windowless, climate-controlled rooms, mushrooms are growing. The delivery trucks parked outside the farm still have “Ostrom Farms”, the name of the previous owners, painted on their sides.

Over a year ago, Ostrom workers began to raise complaints about working conditions, wages, and management, working with organizers from the United Farm Workers union. Getting no response, they voted overwhelmingly to form a union to bargain with the company. Ostrom responded by laying off all its workers and selling the farm to Windmill Farms, which is controlled by an investment firm

Along the road outside the mushroom farm one April afternoon, workers, their families, and their supporters walk a picket line. Crimson flags bearing a black Aztec eagle on a white circle flutter in a stiff wind. Red, white, blue and green undulate as well: a young boy hoists an American flag as an older man waves the Mexican tricolor. Homemade signs say “We Feed You” and “La Union Es La Fuerza” (“The union is strength”), and “Queremos unión – Protesta (“We want a union – Protest).

From a portable sound system, the Mexican ranchera (country) music of Joan Sebastian and Los Tigres del Norte lends an upbeat accordion and guitar cadence to the proceedings.

These mushroom workers are picketing Windmill Farms to demand that it right some flagrant wrongs that Ostrom Farms, the former owner, inflicted on them before selling the farm. The new owners, they say, have not remedied the problems.

Over a year ago, Ostrom workers began to raise complaints about working conditions, wages, and management, working with organizers from the United Farm Workers union. Getting no response, they voted overwhelmingly to form a union to bargain with the company. Ostrom responded by laying off all its workers and selling the farm to Windmill Farms, which is controlled by an investment firm. Windmill told the former workers that they could reapply to work there, but would have to accept restrictions on their workplace rights.

Before the sale, Ostrom had replaced most of its workers, who were predominantly Hispanic women living in the area, with male “guest workers” brought in from Mexico on H-2A temporary agricultural visas. They have limited labor rights and can easily be fired and deported. A few of the original workers were hired back, but some not at their old jobs.

The demonstrators are demanding that Windmill rehire workers who were fired, address their grievances, recognize their union and bargain a contract with it. Members of other unions have come from around the state to show solidarity.

The president of the United Farm Workers, Teresa Romero, has come up from California. She addresses the crowd in Spanish:

“We’re here today fighting for all of you. But we can’t do this without the leadership, that you’ve demonstrated. It’s not easy. Many of you have been fired for demanding your rights. But we’re going to keep fighting for the workers who are still inside and who are afraid. And the fear they feel is very justified because many of you were fired. … Here we are and we’re not leaving! Thanks to all who are supporting us from outside of the farm workers movement, but who realize how hard it is for workers in the fields to organize.”

She ends her speech with “¡Sí, se puede!” (“Yes we can!”), the traditional farm workers grito. And the crowd continues cheering, “¡Sí, se puede!”.

Next, an animated man with a goatee and sunglasses smiles at the assembly. José Martínez is one of the leaders in forming the union. He was fired by Ostrom, but then rehired by Windmill. His Spanish is hoarse and passionate:

“I want to send a very clear message to the company: we don’t want to destroy you. The only thing we want is that you treat us with dignity, equality and respect as human beings. And to have a union, that’s what we’re fighting for. Thanks to all of you who have come from different places to support our cause. We won’t leave until we reach this goal. ¡Viva la causa! ¡Viva César Chávez! ¡Viva la unión! ¡Siempre pa’adelante!” (“Long live the cause! Long live Cesar Chavez! Long live the Union! Always forward!”)

Daniela Barajas was fired by Ostrom but found a job with a different company. She tells the crowd in Spanish:

“We’ve just begun to fight. Although I haven’t worked in the mushroom farm more than a year – I was one of those who was fired – I continue supporting the people who are there [and] those who don’t have jobs to feed their families. They have a right to better treatment at work. And we’re not going away until they recognize a union there..”

Her speech is echoed by chants of: “¿Que queremos? ¡Unión!” (“What do we want? Union!”).

The union’s Secretary of Civic Action, Juanito Marcial, drove over with some other workers from the Seattle area to offer solidarity to the mushroom workers. The Chateau Sainte Michelle winery there, where he works, is the site of the United Farm Workers’ first contract in the state. Workers won it in 1995 after an eight-year struggle, and it remains in force. Most of the UFW’s membership, however, is in California where the union began.

Marcial recalls that history in Spanish: “We’re here, the comrades who work at Sainte Michelle under a union contract. And I want to tell you that we now have an average of 27 years, the only agricultural site that has a [UFW] contract [in Washington], and that we’re enjoying various benefits for workers. We’re saying to you, comrades, that this is just the first step, we can’t weaken. Hasta la victoria siempre! (Until victory always!)”

The UFW regional director, Victoria Ruddy, closes the rally by thanking the workers for a year of struggle. “As don José says, ‘¡No vamos a parar hasta ganar unión!’” (‘We won’t stop until we win a union!’) And the crowd ambles over to a nearby park for a picnic.

 

“Yes, we can! The union is strength!” UFW rally, Sunnyside, Washington, April 18, 2023. Credit: Peter Costantini

 

New bosses, but still no union

“Yes, we can! The union is strength!” UFW rally, Sunnyside, Washington, April 18, 2023. Photo: Peter Costantini

Sign at mushroom workers rally, Sunnyside, Washington, April 18, 2023. Photo: Peter Costantini

The road that led the mushroom workers to their April 18 rally outside of Windmill Farms was riddled with corporate switchbacks and legal potholes.

In 2019, Ostrom Mushrooms closed a mushroom farm in western Washington state, laid off more than 200 workers, and moved its operations to Sunnyside. The firm received generous public subsidies from different levels of government for construction of a new $60 million plant.

In Sunnyside, Ostrom hired a new workforce varying between 200 and 300 workers. Most were local Hispanic women. At that time, CEO Travis Wood complained of a shortage of labor despite the advantages of year-round work and controlled-climate conditions inside the facility.

“In mid-2021,” The Washington State Attorney General found, “Ostrom hired new management to improve its production. [It] believed Ostrom needed to replace its largely female workforce because [women] had childcare obligations and could not work late hours or weekends. … [M]anagement decided to replace its domestic workforce with workers from the H-2A guest worker program.”

Consequently, Ostrom employees elected a leadership committee to raise issues about wages and working conditions with management. They began to consult with United Farm Workers organizers and the non-profit Columbia Legal Services.

In June 2022, the workers submitted a petition to Ostrom calling for “fair pay, safe working conditions, and respect”. It alleged that managers had threatened and bullied workers, instituted mandatory overtime shifts and raised production quotas to excessive levels. Workers were overworked and undervalued, said Ostrom worker Joceline Castillo. But Ostrom stonewalled the petition.

Meanwhile, in August 2022, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a civil complaint against Ostrom under state laws. Ferguson accused Ostrom of discrimination and unfair employment practices based on employees’ sex, citizenship, or immigration status, and of retaliating against employees who opposed these violations. Ostrom had gone ahead and replaced most of its local female workers with male “guest” workers brought in from Mexico, whose H-2A temporary visas give them fewer labor protections. However, the H-2A program requires that the employer first demonstrate that it cannot hire enough workers from the local workforce, which was evidently not the case.

The complaint also charged Ostrom with “engaging in unfair and deceptive practices … by misleading actual and prospective domestic pickers with regard to job eligibility requirements, wages, and availability of employment.”

However, Ferguson was unable to directly address retaliation against union organizing or the use of H-2A workers to replace resident workers. These issues fall under federal law, while the state attorney general can enforce only state laws.

The National Labor Relations Act, the 1935 federal statute that regulates union organizing and collective bargaining, excludes farm workers and domestic workers from its coverage. So the Ostrom workers were not able to go through formal legal procedures for union recognition or to invoke the law’s protection against retaliation for union organizing.

Nevertheless, in September 2022 the workers announced their vote, held under UFW auspices: 70 percent chose to form a union. They asked management to sit down and bargain on wages and working conditions. Ostrom refused.

The Ostrom workers and UFW organizers upped the ante in their campaign by marshalling community support. They organized periodic informational pickets at the Ostrom farm in Sunnyside. And in a reprise of the farm worker boycotts of the 1960s and 1970s, they began in November to picket outside of a supermarket in Seattle. They asked consumers not to buy Ostrom mushrooms, but instead to seek out mushrooms from two unionized farms in California.

In November, the State Department of Labor & Industries responded to a complaint and found working conditions at Ostrom that could cause injuries to workers. The agency fined the grower only $4,000, but also investigated another complaint.

Then on February 14, the campaign hit a roadblock. According to the UFW, Ostrom Mushroom Farms management held a company-wide meeting to tell all its workers that they were fired immediately. As of that midnight, Ostrom’s facility would be sold to Greenwood Mushroom Sunnyside IA, LLC, a new entity owned by Windmill Farms. Based in Ashburn, Ontario, Canada, Windmill also uses the Greenwood Mushrooms label at farms in Ontario and Pennsylvania. In turn, Windmill is owned by Instar Asset Management, a Toronto-based private equity firm.

The fired Ostrom workers were told they could reapply for jobs under the new management. But they would have to fill out new applications, possibly accept different jobs, and sign arbitration agreements that forbade suing the employer or unionizing.

The Windmill and former Ostrom workers, including those now unemployed, pushed ahead with their campaign. Some of the original workers who were rehired complained that they ended up in worse jobs with lower pay.

Under Windmill Farms management, working conditions were still “pretty bad”, according to workers committee leader José Martínez, who had worked at Ostrom for three years. “They want you to go fast” to meet an hourly quota of picking 50 pounds of mushrooms, he told me. “They put you on probation for 90 days. If you don’t make [the quota] they’re gonna let you go.” The biggest problem, though, is that “there’s no communication with them. Sometimes one supervisor comes and tells you one thing, and then another one comes after and changes the whole thing.” If the company recognizes the union, he said, “everything is gonna be fine.”

Shortly after the rally, though, Martínez was fired by Windmill, which claimed he wasn’t meeting production demands. But he suspected he may have been fired because of his pro-union activism.

Finally on May 16, the Washington State Attorney General’s Office announced that Ostrom and Greenwood had signed a consent decree. Ostrom agreed to pay $3.4 million into a fund to compensate workers who suffered discrimination or retaliation for reporting it – over 170 may be eligible. In the agreement, Greenwood agreed to discontinue the “unfair and discriminatory employment practices” identified under Ostrom, and established a framework for compliance training and monitoring to prevent future violations.

“Ostrom’s systematic discrimination was calculated to force out female and Washington-based employees,” Ferguson said in a statement. “I want to thank the workers who spoke out against this discrimination in the face of so much danger and stood up for their rights. My team fought for them and today we secured an important victory.”

Beyond substantial compensation for the workers, the settlement avoided a drawn-out court battle. But because it was based on state law, it could not compel recognition of the union or rehiring by Windmill of the fired workers, nor could it address the prohibited use of H-2A temporary workers to replace resident workers.

A worker still employed by Windmill, Isela Cabrera, commented: “I am very happy for my coworkers who experienced humiliations and retaliations by Ostrom management.” She said that she hoped the consent decree would help begin to improve conditions, “as this new management continues to commit favoritism and retaliation. We want our fired friends to get their jobs back and for Windmill Farms to recognize our union.”

UFW President Romero explained to me that one focus of the union campaign will be on persuading Instar’s investors, some of which may be union pension funds, to pressure Windmill Farms to recognize the union.

The state branch of the AFL-CIO, the main national labor confederation, announced the formation of a solidarity committee. Its president, April Sims, emphasized: “All workers deserve fair treatment at work and the freedom to join together to negotiate for better wages and working conditions. Workers at Windmill Farms are getting neither of those things. We stand in solidarity with these brave mushroom workers and we will fight side-by-side until we win a union contract at Windmill Farms.”

On August 10, the U.S. Department of Labor announced fines totaling some $74,000 and awards of unpaid wages amounting to over $59,000 to compensate 62 H-2A temporary workers at Ostrom who had been underpaid and misled about housing and meals. But did not announce any action against Ostrom for claiming that they could not find enough local workers, as the H-2A program requires, while simultaneously firing large numbers of them.

 

Windmill Farms, Sunnyside, Washington, April 14, 2023. Credit: Peter Costantini

 

Catching a national wave of union organizing

The Ostrom / Windmill campaign joins a nascent national upswelling of union organizing across many industries. These initiatives, however, are swimming against half a century of anti-labor riptides.

Union membership in the U.S. in 2022 was 10.1 percent of wage and salary workers, with only 6.0 percent in the private sector, a post-WWII nadir. In 1955, 33.2 percent were unionized, more than three times as many. Union activists are frequently though illegally fired for organizing, and bargaining requirements for employers are often poorly enforced.

Agricultural and domestic workers were excluded from national labor protection laws in the 1930s, a relic of Jim Crow segregation that has never been remedied. The low-wage workers in those two fields at the time were mostly Black, Mexican or Filipino. Today they are mainly Hispanic, and among those most in need of strong labor protections.

If the former Ostrom workers had been in an industry other than agriculture or domestic work, they would have been covered by a federal law that protects worker efforts to unionize and forbids retaliation. And if rules had been enforced requiring businesses to show a dearth of local workers before hiring H-2A “guest” workers, the resident Ostrom workers could not have been legally replaced.

Despite these obstacles, a labor resurgence seems to be gaining momentum nationally. Mainly in low-wage service industries, most visibly at major employers like Starbucks and Amazon, organizing drives are making headlines. A 2022 Gallup opinion poll found that 71 percent of the U.S. public approve of labor unions, up from 48 percent in 2010 and 64 percent before the pandemic.

The Ostrom / Windmill campaign is also a protagonist in the renewed activism among agricultural workers. The United Farm Workers, founded in the early 1960s in California, reached a zenith in the later 1960s and 1970s, when it won numerous contracts and improved conditions in the fields. Its boycotts of grapes, lettuce and wine focused national attention on the widespread exploitation and abuse of farmworkers.

On the political front, the UFW spearheaded major improvements in labor laws, mainly in California. In 1975, a union campaign won the state’s approval of the landmark Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which recognized farm workers’ right to organize.

Over the next two decades the UFW’s organizing waned and membership shrank. But in this century, membership has reportedly doubled and the union has spearheaded new campaigns for farm worker rights and against wage theft and sexual harassment.

Recently, Washington state’s Democratic government passed legislation guaranteeing farm workers at least the state minimum wage, which is currently $15.74 per hour, and time-and-a-half overtime pay for more than 40 hours weekly beginning January 1, 2024.

The 1995 UFW contract won by workers at the Chateau Sainte Michelle winery is still in force today. And the Sunnyside workers are urging consumers to buy mushrooms grown on two unionized California farms. According to the UFW, over three-quarters of the fresh mushroom industry in California is unionized, as are thousands of workers on vegetable, berry, winery, tomato, and dairy farms.

Other independent unions as well have successfully organized farm workers in recent years, including Familias Unidas por la Justicia (Families United for Justice) in Washington state, and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in Florida.

That black Aztec eagle in a white circle on a crimson flag may have to soar long and high outside of Windmill Farms and its owners’ offices to win a contract there. And many unions may have to walk picket lines outside of other farms, stores, and warehouses – and also city halls, statehouses and Congress – to ensure safe work environments and a decent living for all human beings who do “essential” work.

Yet despite the barriers erected against them, agricultural laborers are pursuing new strategies with old-fashioned grit to defend their workplace rights and build collective power.

“¡No, no, no nos moverán! Como un árbol firme junto al río, ¡no nos moverán!”
“We shall not, we shall not be moved! Just like a tree that’s standing by the water, we shall not be moved!”
(From an old farm workers song)

See also
Longer version with references: Americas Program – Mushroom workers want a union

About the author: Americas Program – Our People

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