For many developing countries, declining revenues from traditional commodities and the opportunities of
a globalized market have led to the adoption of high-value agricultural exports to diversify production and
achieve national growth and development. Over the last decade, these exports have generated significant
amounts of foreign exchange, contributed to upgrade agricultural production skills, and created
substantial opportunities for waged employment and self-employment. In many countries, diversification
into high-value agricultural exports has become a key means of linking the world's rural poor to global
product markets. Women in particular have been able to profit from these new labor market opportunities
both as smallholders and as wage employees. The growth in women's participation in these industries
raises important questions for international financial institutions such as the World Bank.
As the Bank's new Rural Development Strategy acknowledges, to achieve effective poverty reduction and
sensitive economic growth, gender issues and actions need to be mainstreamed in the rural development
process. This report provides a cross-industry approach to the analysis of gender and trade in high-value
agriculture (HVA), reviewing a range of empirical studies on five agriculture commodities: cut flowers,
fresh fruits and vegetables, vanilla, and poultry. We explore what we know about the conditions and
quality of female employment by comparing the production structure across commodities and regions.
The report demonstrates that, while high-value agriculture can be an engine of growth for developing
countries, it is not always a pathway toward enhanced welfare and social well-being. At times,
employment is empowering for women, but it also is characterized by several shortcomings, from
occupational segregation and environmental health issues to gender-based constraints in rural farming
systems.
The Bank's objectives to combat poverty and inequality as stated in the new rural strategy necessitate the
promotion of propoor yet socially responsible growth. High-value agriculture commodities can help fulfill
this mission. They offer substantial opportunities for countries to generate foreign exchange as well as
new opportunities for women to enter the labor force. However, while it is important that the Bank
support countries' entering these markets, it also must ensure that export growth does not come at the
expense of rural women and their families. Negative repercussions can be alleviated and averted through
effective worker training, as well as the enforcement of national and international labor protections and
codes of conduct.