McCormick+Schmitz Handbook for value chain research on - PACA

15. Working with public agencies
The title of this chapter recognises that you will need to work with public agencies in the
course of your <strong>research</strong>. The reasons are obvious: first, public agencies provide data on
trade, production and employment; the importance and limitation of this data source was
discussed in previous chapters. Second, public agencies influence the earning
opportunities of home-workers, directly or indirectly. This occurs in numerous ways,
through regulations (e.g. registration requirements), policies (e.g. trade policy), direct
assistance (e.g. provision of training) or harassment (e.g. extracting bribes). And there are
numerous public actors, ranging from municipal organs, to national ministries, to
international (multilateral) organisations like the ILO or the Commission of the European
Union. Their importance to you will depend on the questions you are trying to answer
and the specific context in which ‘your’ home-workers are operating. General guidelines
on what to cover and how to conduct the <strong>research</strong> are there<strong>for</strong>e hard to give. The purpose
of this chapter is to give some examples of issues on which you may need to work with
public agencies. As in previous chapters, keep in mind that these issues should be
<strong>research</strong>ed on the basis of various sources; in other words do not just collect data and
views in public agencies but also from those affected by their action.
• What are the registration requirements <strong>for</strong> home-workers? What are the costs and
benefits of registration?
[Readers: please provide examples of registration requirements in the locality you
are familiar with and indicate which public agencies provide in<strong>for</strong>mation to deal
with the above questions. DM/HS]
• How are home-workers considered in local labour legislation? Are there labour laws
that push women into homeworking?
A key question is whether and how homeworkers are treated in local labour
legislation. Are they classified as independent contractors, employees, in<strong>for</strong>mal
workers, or – more likely - are they simply ignored? If homeworking is common
in your area, there will probably be someone in the Ministry of Labour (or its
equivalent) who can point you to the relevant legislation and explain
homeworkers’ rights under the law.
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