EMPOWERING WOMEN FOR CHANGE ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020

AGRICULTURAL LABOR PRACTICESPROGRESS UPDATEEMPOWERING WOMENFOR CHANGE
Q1 2020

1EMPOWERING WOMEN FOR CHANGE ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020

CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

International Women’s Day provides a platform
to celebrate women of all ages and backgrounds
and to highlight their great contribution tosociety. For the Agricultural Labor Practices(ALP) team within PMI, celebrating International
Women’s Day means not only embracing
diversity, different skills, cultures, ways ofthinking and sources of experiences. It alsomeans breaking traditional barriers andbecoming more vocal about women’s rights.
What unites us all is our commitment to do thebest we can to maximize impact on the groundand make a positive contribution to people
and communities. However, this International
Women’s Day also reminds us that there is stilla long way to go before gender equality—where
women and men have equal rights and equal
access to opportunities—becomes the norm.

The ALP team is a diverse group of 27, including
14 women living across six countries, fromnine different nationalities, speaking morethan 10 languages.
As inclusion and diversity have been key values
for PMI, this first ALP Progress Update of2020 will focus on our efforts to empower
women for change in our tobacco supply
chain. We will share some of the work we doto enable women to play a more active role intheir communities through awareness-raisingand training, job opportunities, economic
empowerment and social inclusion.

“Providing women and men with equal
opportunities is not only the right thing
to do, it is critical for meeting a wide
range of Sustainable Development Goals.
All businesses benefit from greater
gender equality in their work place,and in PMI operations, we have a deep
commitment to diversity and equalitythat are fundamental for achieving ourcompany’s vision.
With the ALP program, which I had theopportunity to lead for many years, weare focusing on empowering women in
our tobacco supply chain so that they
become agents of change in the fightagainst rural poverty and child labor.
We do this by playing an active role in
improving sustainably, the livelihood andwell-being of families and communities.
Our ultimate goal is to eradicate poverty
and eliminate child labor in our tobacco
supply chain by 2025.”

Laurence Ruffieux 
PMI’s Director Operations Sustainability

Melissa Whiting
PMI’s Head Inclusion & Diversity“Women’s empowerment is an importantenabler of sustainable development. When
women are guaranteed equal rights andopportunities—and when gender norms
and stereotypes that hold women backare overcome—it benefits individuals,
their families, societies and business.
At PMI, we have a clear target to have
40 percent women in management
roles by 2022. We see gender balanceas an important transformative tool tocreating a more collaborative, empathetic,
consumer-centric, higher-performing
organization.
From a broader perspective, large
companies like PMI are in a position
to shape and influence gender norms
given their often-expansive value chains.
Whether it is taking action in the workplace
to reinforce gender equality and women’s
representation in leadership and decisionmaking roles, or supporting womenfarmers who produce raw materials. “
2ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020EMPOWERING WOMEN IN OUR TOBACCO SUPPLY CHAIN
Women and girls have a unique role to play insociety as drivers of progress and powerful
agents of change. They represent half of
the world’s population and, therefore, also
half of its potential. Ensuring the inclusionof women’s talents, skills and experience isessential to expand economic growth, promotesocial development and build stable and justsocieties. But today, gender inequality persists
everywhere: women continue to confront
discrimination, marginalization and exclusion.
The women involved in tobacco farming,
who are at the center of our work in the ALP
program, often face structural and culturalbarriers to equally participate, contributeand be recognized. These obstacles include
gender gaps in earnings, financial inclusion andaccess to credit, ownership of land andproperty, employment segmentation forfemale workers and even opportunities
to receive training or technical support.
Women typically also have to balance theirfinancial contribution to the householdwith domestic responsibilities, whichputs additional constraints on their time.
Additionally, girls usually have higher
dropout rates from schooling which
reinforces gender norms and limits their
possibilities.
This is why, we have been implementing
the ALP program since 2011, where wehave been working to ensure safe and fairworking conditions for all people working on
the farms (the diagram on your right refers to
the five key components of the ALP program).
Since its inception, equality and fair treatment
have been included as a key principle toimplement in all the countries where wesource tobacco.This principle and the whole
ALP Code are based on the labor standardsof the International Labor Organization (ILO)
Declaration on Fundamental Principles andRights at Work and all relevant ILO Conventions.
This principle (provided below) stipulates
that farmers shall ensure fair treatment ofworkers and that there shall be no harassment,
discrimination, physical or mental punishment
or any other form of abuse. Included in this isa measurable standard specifically related to
non-discrimination based on gender, among
other personal characteristics.

Since 2011, PMI has been implementing the Agricultural Labor
Practices (ALP) program to eliminate child labor and other laborabuses and to achieve safe and fair working conditions and a decent
livelihood for all farmers contracted to supply tobacco.

THE ALP PROGRAM COMPRISESFIVE ELEMENTS

1
2
3
4

The ALP Code to be followed by over 335,000 farmers whom
we source tobacco from.

5

Collaboration and partnerships with civil society organizations,
governments and the private sector on initiatives to address
systemic issues.

Training for PMI’s Leaf Sustainable Agriculture teams, suppliers,
farmers and workers about the Code and how to address any
gaps when applying it.
Internal monitoring by over 2,800 ﬁeld technicians, solving
problems and communicating PMI’s expectations during theirregular visits to farms.
External assessments by Control Union, a specialist supply
chain auditor, to independently evaluate the implementationof the ALP program.

3

ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020

In 2018, we evolved our ALP program andinitiated a “Step Change” approach, with theobjective of solving the root causes of themost prevalent and persistent issues that keepsurfacing in our tobacco supply chain. We saw
an opportunity to strengthen our approach byleveraging what we have learned so far—that
the role of women is instrumental to improving
household economic conditions, as well as
addressing child labor and other social issues.
Therefore, we included women’s empowerment
as one of ten principles (see principle excerpt
below) for the “Step Change” approach and,in 2019, we began implementing ambitious
action plans in several priority countries inline with those principles.

INVOLVING WOMEN THROUGHOUT
THE ALP JOURNEY“Women are positive agents of change
but they can also be a vulnerable group in
many rural environments. We empower
women to play an active role in improving
the household economic condition but
also in enhancing the overall wellbeingof their children, and maintaining a safe
work environment”

CHANGEFor more information, please refer to:Step Change Principles

Women are at the heart of the implementationof our ALP program. They are involved as
ALP coordinators, field technicians, farmers,
workers or family members in tobacco growing.
To make sure women can become agents ofchange within their families and communities, wehave mapped key activities (see the infographic
below) where women can have an active role.

local traditions, does not happen overnight.
But we commit to adjusting and enhancing
current initiatives, setting up new approaches,

TO EXPLORE HOW THIS WORKS IN
PRACTICE, WE WILL TAKE A TRIP
AROUND THE WORLD.

TRAININGEMPOWERING

including collaborating with new stakeholders
and partners that bring different perspectives,
until true and sustainable change occurs.

TURKEYINDIAMONITORING
BRAZILPAKISTANINDONESIAOur key activities range from conducting
focused women’s training, hiring female
field technicians to perform farm-by-farmmonitoring and empowering women throughentrepreneurial opportunities to bring positivechange in the households and communities.
Of course, putting this system in place,across all sourcing countries, and helping
communities to rethink their mindsets and

MALAWI
ARGENTINA

4

ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020

1. Targeted training
Since the beginning of the ALP program,training and awareness-raising have been key
components to ensure fair working conditions
and sustainable agricultural practices. Initially,
the training was focused on raising awarenesson the ALP Code requirements, informing
farmers and workers of PMI’s expectations
and of their rights and obligations. This has
now evolved and today the focus is on adapting
the training methodology and approach to be
more effective and targeted, using real life
examples and creative delivery methods. The
objective is to ultimately achieve behavioral
change and have a positive impact on thecommunities.
Women are known for being more open tolearning and changing, especially when it
comes to issues related to their children’swell-being and safety in general. When they are
engaged in awareness-raising programs, theyextend learnings to their families and influencethem toward a safer and more inclusive work
environment without child labor.

Turkey“… The training made us feel special. On
behalf of all the women participants I
would like to thank the initiators andtrainers of ALP program.”

In 2019, our three suppliers in Turkey with thesupport of a local NGO, introduced a training for
women involved in tobacco-growing activities.
The objective of the training was twofold: toraise awareness on the mental and physicalconsequences of child labor (especially when
performing hazardous tasks) and to train
the participants on the importance of safe
working practices.
The expected outcome is to achieve behavioral
change that would ultimately lead to a safe
work environment and the reduction of childlabor incidences.
53 sessions were delivered across 17 villages
reaching 1,111 women. The majority ofparticipants stated they will implement thelearnings in the next crop cycle. Many statedthat this was the first time they had attended awomen’s training, and they felt “visible” and that
their contribution to tobacco production wasrecognized. We will assess the effectiveness ofthe training next season to understand if the
training has achieved the desired outcome.

“… We learned how to protect
ourselves from the risks that may
occur during tobacco cultivation.”

5

ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020

BrazilArgentina

Indonesia

Pakistan

The first “+Campo Rosa” was introduced in
Parana, Brazil, in 2017, with the objective totrain participants on farm safety, while alsoraising awareness on breast cancer (fromwhich the program takes its name).

Following the success of the “+Campo Rosa”
in Brazil, the approach was expanded toArgentina through the “+Chacra” program.
The trainings take place on the ground, on
the tobacco farms, and is addressed to female
farmers and farmers’ wives and daughters. In
2019, 494 women were trained on farm safety
and the importance of schooling for children.
The initiative aims to make a positive change
by recognizing women’s role in tobacco farms
and communities to promote safe and fairworking conditions and contribute to childlabor elimination.

In Indonesia, we launched “Kids Day and
Women’s Training” in 2018. The program
has now reached over 19,000 women in 23
areas where we source tobacco and clove,
especially in Java, Bali and Sulawesi. The
participants actively participated, raisingquestions on good agricultural practices
and the ALP Code, sharing stories and giving
solutions. The feedback was very positive
and the participants showed an interest in
furthering their learning.

In 2019, we introduced training to 63 young
girls, aged 14-17, with the objective to help
them develop new vocational skills such as
tailoring. This gave them an alternative toworking on tobacco during the summer school
break. Following the positive feedback andthe success of this initiative, in 2020, it will
be expanded to reach over 200 girls.

For more information, please take a look at
the 4th 2019 ALP Progress Update (link).

6

ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020

2. Farm-by-farm monitoring

Pakistan

3. Empower

Field technicians in all countries where wesource tobacco verify farmers’ complianceto the ALP Code by conducting farm-by-farmmonitoring. They engage with farmers andworkers to ensure that practices that are
not aligned with the Code are identified andaddressed.

Cultural paradigms in Pakistan lead to malefield technicians not being able to directly
engage with women on the farm. This is why, in
2019, PMI’s local affiliate made the decision to
deploy a team of 10 women (“ALP Monitors”)
to raise awareness on the ALP standards. In
2019, the team engaged with over 250 womenacross 250 farms mostly through house
visits. During follow-up visits, they recorded
significant improvements achieved so far withrespect to the ALP requirements. The mostimportant progress was identified in the areasof safe working practices in tobacco growing.

Research has proven that a greater percentageof women’s income is reinvested in theirfamilies and communities1 . Women are indeed
more likely to spend their income on longterm investments like education, health andhousehold services. Taking this into accountfor our ALP program, we have been testing
and rolling out entrepreneurial activities for
women involved in tobacco farming in various
countries.

Since the beginning, hiring female fieldtechnicians has been a focus of our strategy
despite the fact that this role has been
traditionally performed by men. This is due
to agronomy being predominantly a male
profession as well as the various challenges
that women face as field technicians. Thisremains a key priority for us because we value
the additional gender sensitive insights andexpertise that female field technicians canbring to the team, particularly in engaging
openly with female farmers, workers andfamily members.

In addition to improving working conditions
on the farms, they also conducted healthand hygiene awareness-raising campaigns
and distributed over 1,500 sanitation andhygiene kits at homes. This work improved
sanitation and hygiene practices not only on
the farms but also at home.

1. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/02/7-myth-busting-reasons-we-should-be-investing-in-women/
2. https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/cooperatives/news/WCMS_607265/lang--en/index.htm

Malawi
Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs)
are a proven methodology to enabling women
to play an active role in improving household
economic conditions and enhancing families’
overall well-being. VSLAs are groups of women
who save together and take small loans fromthose savings. The purpose is to provide simple
savings and loan facilities in a community that

does not have easy access to formal financial
services.
In Malawi, we started rolling out VSLAs towomen farmers and workers in 2015. Basedon the learnings, we partnered with a numberof organizations to transform their scope tobecome more entrepreneurial. This means
supporting them with financial literacy andentrepreneurial training, seed funding, opening
their own bank accounts, providing access tocapital and then connecting them to potential
business opportunities. Over 4,300 women,
constituting 257 groups, were given theopportunity to participate in this initiative,
improving their families’ households income—income that can be invested in family needs
or school costs for their children.
In a country where child labor can be considered
as a systemic issue, with ILO estimating its
prevalence at 38 percent2 , we decided toinclude an additional prerequisite for women7

ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020

to be able to benefit from this initiative: thesignature of a “no child labor” pledge. This
formalizes their commitment to not involve
children in hazardous tobacco tasks andbecome advocates for children’s rights andwell-being in their communities. Recent impact
evaluation of the initiative demonstrated that

“Prior to receiving training, I was only
selling tomatoes and never used to
calculate profit as I was only using moneyas it came...”The wife of a tobacco farmer in Lilongwe
used the money generated from salesof produce (such as maize, soy, peanuts,
beans) to buy and sell dried fish. Thiswas done on a small scale, and she
only managed to make profits of about
Malawian Kwachas (MK) 500. Throughthe VSLA partnership, she was able
to borrow MK100k, which she used
to expand her dried fish business anddiversified with secondhand clothes. She
managed to make a profit of MK60k andwas able to repay her loan in full. She’s
now in the second cycle and borrowed
MK50k while preparing herself for the
trading season starting in April.

the participants were able to make a profit andimprove families’ livelihoods through activities
such as growing and selling vegetable crops
or preparing and selling goods (e.g., soap,
shoes and clothes). Below are some recent
testimonials from members

India
In some places, access to basic feminine
sanitation and toilet facilities can become an
obstacle for girls to attend school.
With this in mind, PMI has funded, since 2015,
the refurbishment of 60 schools reaching over
5,000 children in India. A key element of thework was the provision of separate toilets

between boys and girls. This led to an increasein school enrollment, with an additional 182
girl pupils enrolled across 12 schools in 2018(57 percent of the total new students). We
will continue to track the impact and reportin future editorials. For more information on
our ALP program in India, see:
ALP Progress Update, Q3/2019

A single mother from Kasungu West,
who has no allegiance to tobacco and istrading in grains (such as maize, beans andsoy), had managed to save an amount of
MK 500k as business capital. She used
the money for her children’s school feesin the beginning of the season leaving
her with no additional money to invest
in her business. The opportunity fromthe VSLAs partner provided her witha loan of MK50k to continue with herbusiness. She was not only able to repay
within the stipulated period, but she also
made a profit of MK250k. She is now inthe second cycle and hopes to expand
her business and further increase profits.

8

ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020

Indonesia
In Palar, Klaten, in Indonesia, our supplierintroduced two pilot projects for farmers’ wives
to generate additional income: establishingsewing businesses and small-scale ginger
gardening.
Starting July 2019, 10 women were trainedon sewing skills, learning how to sew clothes
that they could then use for their household
or sell for additional income. The flexibility ofthis activity means that women integrate it
alongside their tobacco activities during crop
season. At the end of the training, our supplierprovided the participants with sewing machines
to help them establish their microbusinesses.
The second project is a crop diversification
initiative introduced to support womento cultivate ginger in their backyards. This
involved 46 families who each received input
packs with the necessary planting material,
including organic fertilizers. Our local partner
provides training and full assistance fromtransplanting to harvesting. Women could
choose to participate in the program as
individuals or in a group.
In addition to the above initiatives, womenparticipate in community awareness-raising
to preserve the village environment througha “waste bank” program. The program is led
by a local expert in waste management andrecycling, leading to the establishment of 17
units of waste collecting points in different
villages. Each woman was provided with asavings account, where the value of the waste
collected is recorded and the cumulative value
is shared amongst the women.

9ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE CHANGE

International Women’s Day not only allows us to celebrateaccomplishments; it also reminds us that there is still a lotof work to be done. In order to further strengthen andexpand the gender component of our ALP program, we
identified key actions that we will undertake. We will startby assessing the impact of the current initiatives throughexternal verification and targeted benchmarks. We will takethe learnings to scale those that are effective, improve thosethat are less impactful and pilot innovative approaches andprojects to overcome cultural norms and barriers. Lastly,
we will reinforce our due diligence and overall approach by
applying a gender lens to our monitoring and data collection,
inspired by the UN Women Empowerment Principles.
We believe that these steps will enrich our approach, strengthen
the foundations and build the momentum necessary to achievesustainable progress. We are passionate and committed tomaking our vision—to empower women for change—a reality.
Stay tuned for our next ALP Progress Update on PMI’s
work to eliminate child labor, which will be published inrecognition of the World Day Against Child Labor in June.

10EMPOWERING WOMEN FOR CHANGE ALP PROGRESS UPDATE | Q1 2020

We welcome your feedback. If you have comments or suggestions,please contact sustainability@pmi.com

Headquarters

Operations Center

Philip Morris International Inc.
120 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017-5579
USA

Philip Morris Products S.A.
Avenue de Rhodanie 50
1007 Lausanne
Switzerland

www.pmi.com

www.pmi.com

11