Improving safety and health in Madagascar lychee and textile supply chains - A Vision Zero Fund project

The Vision Zero Fund project in Madagascar seeks to increase public and private collective action aimed at fostering and enhancing concrete occupational health and safety (OHS) prevention activities in companies operating in the global textile and lychee supply chains.

The textile supply chain

In Madagascar, textile exports have been increasing steadily since 2015 and currently represent 25% of the country's exports. The sector creates 105,000 direct jobs or 30% of formal employment. The sector's working conditions are the same as those found in the textile industry in most developing countries, i. e. piecework pay that can create forced labour conditions, conflicting labour relations, repetition of fixed-term contracts, and discrimination against women in terms of wages. In addition, most companies in the sector operate under the Free Trade Zones (Free Companies) regime, which derogates from the Labour Code in a number of respects, including night work for women and overtime. With regard to occupational safety and health, protection measures and emergency care are clearly inadequate and occupational diseases are largely unknown.