Getting from policies to employment - Lessons learned from the EU and ILO STRENGTHEN Project
Several ILO specialists presented their research on the EU-funded ILO STRENGTHEN Project at a conference in Brussels.
9 October 2019
Four senior researchers at the ILO presented different case studies for the STRENGTHEN project, which aims to develop tools and methods for assessing the impact of sector and trade policies on employment globally, and in nine developing countries. These tools are then disseminated to local experts to build capacities for a positive impact on employment of sectoral and trade policies.
These presentations included key findings on the agricultural, infrastructure and energy sectors in developing countries such as Benin, Rwanda, the Philippines, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, with case studies on specific products such as cocoa and tea.
According to David Cheong, Co-Project Manager of STRENGTHEN at the ILO, the findings of this research show that in industries such as cocoa in Ghana, due to the capital-intensive nature of the industry, the employment potential is not so high. However, a positive finding is that this sector actually creates relatively high-quality formal jobs, leading to better working conditions.
On the tea industry in Rwanda, Maikel Lieuw-Kie-Song, also Co-Project Manager of STRENGTHEN, explained that there is untapped potential for huge employment creation opportunities in tea export value chains. Mr Lieuw-Kie-Song also laid out some recommendations for the sector, including developing processing techniques, improving farming techniques and mobilising investment from the private sector.
These recommendations would enable more domestic employment creation, and would have a multiplying effect on job creation in export value chains. Finally, Ms Claudia Vasquez also gave similar presentation on export supply chains in Guatemala.
In another presentation, Mathieu Charpe, ILO senior economist, laid out the findings on job creation in the manufacturing industry and its multiplying effect on job creation in service industries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The STRENGHTEN report entitled Local Multipliers in a selection of Sub-Saharan countries shows that in many sub-Saharan African countries, for example in Ghana and Rwanda, for every tradeable job (manufacturing) created, five or six additional nontradable jobs (services) are created. This finding far exceeds expectations, and shows the huge potential for investment and job creation, in certain sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure and energy.
Overall, all speakers highlighted the employment creation potential in the refinement of many techniques to improve yield and productivity. In turn, this can promote employment creation in service industries across the global supply chain of many agricultural products, as well as in the infrastructure and energy sectors.
These presentations included key findings on the agricultural, infrastructure and energy sectors in developing countries such as Benin, Rwanda, the Philippines, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, with case studies on specific products such as cocoa and tea.
According to David Cheong, Co-Project Manager of STRENGTHEN at the ILO, the findings of this research show that in industries such as cocoa in Ghana, due to the capital-intensive nature of the industry, the employment potential is not so high. However, a positive finding is that this sector actually creates relatively high-quality formal jobs, leading to better working conditions.
On the tea industry in Rwanda, Maikel Lieuw-Kie-Song, also Co-Project Manager of STRENGTHEN, explained that there is untapped potential for huge employment creation opportunities in tea export value chains. Mr Lieuw-Kie-Song also laid out some recommendations for the sector, including developing processing techniques, improving farming techniques and mobilising investment from the private sector.
These recommendations would enable more domestic employment creation, and would have a multiplying effect on job creation in export value chains. Finally, Ms Claudia Vasquez also gave similar presentation on export supply chains in Guatemala.
In another presentation, Mathieu Charpe, ILO senior economist, laid out the findings on job creation in the manufacturing industry and its multiplying effect on job creation in service industries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The STRENGHTEN report entitled Local Multipliers in a selection of Sub-Saharan countries shows that in many sub-Saharan African countries, for example in Ghana and Rwanda, for every tradeable job (manufacturing) created, five or six additional nontradable jobs (services) are created. This finding far exceeds expectations, and shows the huge potential for investment and job creation, in certain sectors such as agriculture, infrastructure and energy.
Overall, all speakers highlighted the employment creation potential in the refinement of many techniques to improve yield and productivity. In turn, this can promote employment creation in service industries across the global supply chain of many agricultural products, as well as in the infrastructure and energy sectors.