2SCALE Thematic Papers Gender Mainstreaming in Agribusiness Partnerships | Page 29

attention during a workshop organized by 2SCALE in 2015. Some specific questions were clarified, such as: Who is collecting these multiple taxes from female farmers? How many women are affected? How often are women taxed? Where are they taxed? And moreover, what can be done to stop this inequality? The participants indicated different ways, including advocacy at both the federal and local government level, to urge them to design and enforce laws and policies that would forbid multiple tax payments. Although taking the issue to the legislative level could be envisioned, this could take a very long time, and there is no guarantee that the regulations would be enforced or that it would be the most effective way to solve the problem. As a way forward, 2SCALE met with the Plateau State Board of Internal Revenue (PSBI), Local Government Area Council (LGAC), and Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) in Nigeria. In November 2015, 2SCALE facilitated a meeting between representatives of PSBI, FIRS, and LGAC and women vegetable farmers from Lamingo and Bokkos. During the interactive session, the Director of Corporate Affairs of PSBI indicated that PSBI was aware of multiple tax payments and willing to stop this practice. According to him, “One of the innovations we are setting up to remove this challenge is the establishment of a Tax Identification Number (TIN), which has been operational for almost two years now.” In March 2016, based on the recommendation of PSBI on the need for TIN for Lamingo and Bokkos women, 2SCALE facilitated registration of TIN for 24 women (15 from Bokkos and nine from Lamingo) as a pilot to test the effectiveness of TIN to resolve multiple payment of taxes and levies. Initial results show the effectiveness of the system for educated women who understand the TIN scheme; results are less encouraging for women with a low education level, who struggle to understand the TIN scheme. Based on the results of this pilot, 2SCALE will combine the introduction of TIN to all women in the vegetable clusters and their sensitization/education on how to use the TIN for single tax/levy payment. Advocacy to Improve Women’s Wages – Rice Partnership, Benin Lalo ESOP is a farmer-owned mill in Lalo, Benin, that purchases rice from small-scale farmer groups for grading and resale. The key step is hand-sorting, to select the best grains for premium markets. Sorting is done mostly by women for very low wages. When starting its support to Lalo rice farmers and ESOP, the 2SCALE team in Benin first examined costs and margins of ESOP and other processors. 2SCALE carried out a study to understand the wage structure and gender-based division of tasks. Sorting is done almost entirely by women, while men are responsible for other tasks such as de-hulling and packaging. Hand-sorting is tedious and time-consuming, but the women earn only 1,250 FCFA (€1.80) per day on average, while ESOP’s male staff earn more than 4,000 FCFA (€6) daily. 2SCALE support enabled UNIRIZ-C cooperative members to increase their production capacity of parboiled rice, improve quality, and better promote their product in a market largely dominated by imported rice – Parboiled Rice Partnership, Benin. Grading accounts for only 6% of processing costs – implying that higher wages for grading activities would not seriously affect the millers’ profitability. The findings were discussed with the ESOP management and with the women employees, first in separate groups and then in a plenary session. The 2SCALE team, which facilitated these discussions, used a soft approach, simply laying out the facts and leaving the decision to the ESOP managers. Lalo ESOP decided to increase the women’s salaries by 50%, from 1,250 to 1,875 FCFA per day. That is still less than €70 per month, and gender disparities remain. But the women are grateful that a first step to improve their situation was made. “The money was so low, we had to borrow often from others just to meet our daily needs,” explains Lucienne Hossou, a rice sorter at ESOP. “That is why most sorters resigned after a few months. With this increase, thanks to 2SCALE, we can breathe a little bit better.” 26