Consumers increasingly look for a commitment to social and labor standards from both producers and retailers. Thus, exporters from Central America and the Dominican Republic can improve their competitive position by embracing and demonstrating a commitment to such standards.

Supported by the U.S. Department of Labor, CULTIVAR aims to raise labor standard compliance and increase the competitiveness of targeted agricultural sectors in Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. The four-year, multistakeholder project will bring together the main stakeholders in key agricultural sectors to improve working conditions on farms—with an emphasis on health and safety—and increase workers’ awareness about their rights and increase their capacity to use the appropriate mechanisms to exercise them. As part of the process, the project will also seek to strengthen the social dialogue on the importance of compliance with national and international labor standards for the region’s competitiveness.

Project activities will include training for rural employers and workers in three topics: national labor law; how to identify and document labor conditions; and mechanisms for raising issues and presenting claims at the farm level and with appropriate authorities. CULTIVAR will be shaped by local communities seeking advice from national actors on project priorities, but working primarily through community-based, multistakeholder committees to develop and implement training—piloting the initiative in one or two agriculture communities in each country.

The project will engage a range of socially responsible brands and retailers as well as international trade unions and nongovernmental organizations in order to build support for the project goals and seek their advice and encouragement of their local counterparts’ participation. This group will encourage their suppliers’ compliance with national and international labor standards and benefit from the replicable best practice solutions to improving sourcing practices identified by the project.