Solidarity, not exploitation: we stand with food workers from farm to table

May 1^st is International Workers’ Day, a day to celebrate the strength and sacrifices of workers all over the world. But there are workers who are persistently overlooked: the millions who labour to produce, process and serve people their food, most of whom are in the informal economy. Whether we are talking about peasant farmers in Peru, street vendors in Zimbabwe or gig workers delivering food in India, workers across the food system - in production, processing, distribution or preparation - are essential for bringing food to people's tables and yet they remain among the most exploited workers in the world.

Peasants and landless farmers are often forcefully removed from ancestral lands by industrial agriculture or pushed out due to climate change and eco-destruction and must struggle to survive. Many migrate to become underpaid and undocumented workers in the agriculture industry of wealthier countries. These are the unseen workers who pick fruits, harvest vegetables, and pack meats for far away consumers — often with no healthcare, legal protection, or right to unionise.

In cities, street and market vendors, many of whom are women, face harassment and violence on a daily basis. They provide nutritious and accessible food to low-income communities but are still not recognised as workers providing essential services and typically have no access to any social protections.

Then we have the food delivery workers, dependent on a platform economy governed by algorithms that promises freedom and efficiency but only offers them insecurity, arbitrary penalties and meagre pay.

Food connects us all, but the people producing and supplying it are often rendered invisible. Their labour is considered "unskilled," their struggles are ignored, and their organising is suppressed. In the month when we celebrate International Workers’ Day, we must own up to the human cost of our increasingly corporatised, exploitative and profoundly unequal food system. Every meal is made possible by workers whose rights — to rest, to organise, to live with dignity — are too often denied. The vast majority of food workers in the global South, and many in the global North, don't have access to basic social protections. With retirement pensions, for instance, after decades of hard work, farmers, fishers, farmworkers and food vendors across nearly the entire global South are either completely without a pension or only get paid a pittance.

Food sovereignty cannot be dissociated from labour justice. That means fair wages, healthy and safe working conditions, social protection and collective bargaining. For the millions of workers in the informal economy, it also means ensuring their rights to full legal and social protections and participation in policy-making. This is possible to do, and, for instance, there are examples out there already of global South countries where governments, usually pushed by strong social movements, have enacted public pension systems designed to provide a dignified retirement for small farmers and their families. At the upcoming 113th International Labour Conference in Geneva, governments, workers and employers the world over will be discussing labour standards for both those in the informal economy and those in the platform economy. It is crucial that the needs and interests of food workers, in all their diversity, are front-and-centre in these discussions. Let's fight together for a food system rooted in solidarity, not exploitation!

Photo: May Day in a Zambia market. By StreetNet

When we began selling agroecological produce baskets in 2010—delivering them by bicycle across La Plata, Buenos Aires—we never imagined that within fifteen years, we’d build Argentina’s largest network of small farmer and peasant-led food distribution points. Today, the Landworkers’ Union (Unión de Trabajadores de la Tierra - UTT) brings together over 22,000 food-producing families across 20 provinces. They grow fruits and vegetables, raise livestock, cultivate grains, produce dairy, and run small-scale agro-industries.

At the heart of our success lies a grassroots structure: operational and political decisions are debated in assemblies of elected, mandated delegates. This ensures agreements emerge from collective tension, negotiation, and resolution. We’re not mere distributors—we’re food producers determined to bring nutrition to families’ tables.

Another pillar is workers’ full involvement in food distribution networks. They train in accounting, communication, and logistics, empowering them not only to stock shelves or pack produce bags but also to tell the story behind each vegetable, defend its value, and guarantee its quality.

We’ve diversified distribution to meet community needs: wholesale markets, our own stores, community bulk-buying hubs, fairs, and state partnerships. We also invest collectively in infrastructure—tools, machinery, supplies, and equipped vehicles—to improve production and distribution. These communally owned resources are self-managed by workers nationwide, ensuring every food item, from seed to kitchen, fuels a broader strategy of food sovereignty.

A nationwide mapping lets us adapt to local realities. Not every region needs packing warehouses or stores; the key is flexible, place-based solutions that amplify each area’s strengths.

Simultaneously, we demand concrete policy changes at municipal, provincial, and national levels, fighting for public support of just food systems. We denounce toxic agribusiness while advancing viable alternatives—both small- and large-scale.

Alliances with other movements are vital. We weave horizontal and vertical networks to defend food as a right, not a commodity, expanding sector-wide struggles.

This virtuous cycle—the tangible proof that 'it can be done,' active participation, skill-building, and political education—fuels the empowerment of our comrades. When workers collectively confront the limits of capitalist and neoliberal systems, new horizons open: the rights to land, water, affordable, healthy food, and buen vivir[1] cease to be utopian ideals and become non-negotiable demands.

Fifteen years on, the UTT faces new challenges under a neoliberal government imposing brutal austerity, privatising land, and commodifying shared resources. But we’re convinced: grassroots, self-managed initiatives are cracks in the system we can widen. We’ll keep reinventing ourselves as the landworkers’ organisation we are—until we transform everything.

Street vending, especially in urban informal sectors, is a critical source of livelihood in Sri Lanka. Despite their important contributions to society and the local economy and the significant share of street vendors in the country’s workforce, they face numerous challenges, including legal restrictions, forced evictions, and inadequate infrastructure. Women vendors are particularly affected. They tend to be excluded from formal labour markets and face social stigma and heightened vulnerabilities during crises. Urban planners and development authorities often dismiss street vendors and exclude them from urban development programmes due to their informal status, perceived lack of tax contributions, and competition with more powerful retailers.

When the COVID-19 pandemic and the food, fuel and economic crisis rocked Sri Lanka in 2021 and 2022, more people were forced to earn their livelihood from street vending. Despite the hardships during the time, such as financial uncertainty and harassment by local authorities, there was also a growing recognition of the vital role of street vendors in providing affordable food to urban populations.

At the time FIAN Sri Lanka embarked on a process to collaborate with street vendors to enhance their social and legal recognition and to support them to organise collectively with the aim of having street vending formalised, ensuring a safe business environment, accessing credit and market information, as well as accessing social protection and health care. Several advances in strengthening the rights of street workers have since been made.

Human rights training programs have enhanced the awareness of street vendors of their rights and increased their confidence. Forums and platforms have been created through which street vendors advocate for their rights and engage in negotiations with state authorities.

A stronger sense of community has emerged among vendors through cooperative associations and mutual support networks. These associations operate under self-regulated rules, fostering a culture of discipline and respect. So far, three Street Vendor Associations (SVA) have been granted formal recognition under Sri Lanka’s Cooperative Law. Moreover, a National Network of Street Vendor Associations (NNSVA) has been formed. This network brings together all street vendor associations, formal and informal, across the country, and presents a crucial milestone in strengthening their collective voice and representation. NNSVA provides a platform for vendors to access resources, negotiate with authorities, and address common challenges.

Advocacy efforts have led to the initiation of dialogues on legal reforms and the development of policy guidelines and by-laws at the municipal, provincial and national level aimed at institutionalising rights and protection and enabling legal registration and licensing. For example, a street vendor bylaw was unanimously passed by the Bandarawela municipal council in 2023 and ongoing dialogue with housing, urban planning, and city beautification authorities aims to integrate street vending into the municipality’s urban development plans.

Vendors have improved their financial management skills and some vendor associations have established revolving funds for the micro-credit needs of members, improving economic resilience, sustainability and independence. The introduction of simple technological tools, such as WhatsApp groups, has improved communication and daily operations among vendors and customers. Additionally, vendor associations have organised formal conventions and trade fairs to enhance market exposure and advocacy.

Enhanced hygiene and quality standards and strengthened market linkages have also led to greater community acceptance of products sold by vendors. Street vendors have received identity cards, uniforms and health certificates issued by health authorities, further formalising their status and fostering a sense of pride among vendors. The Public Health Inspectors Association developed and validated guidelines for street food vendors. Confrontations between vendors and public health inspectors have been reduced as they now work more closely together. Moreover, health checks are provided to vendors.

The working environment for vendors has improved significantly, with a reduction in forced evictions and harassment by revenue officers. Collaborative partnerships with local authorities have led to the development of fairer policies and regulations, creating a more supportive framework for street vendors. Importantly, vendors have been able to claim a space in food systems governance making their concerns and solutions heard. Collaboration with the National Hawkers Federation in India has provided valuable cross-border learning and knowledge exchange. Relationships have also been built with other actors, including local banks, business chambers, academic institutions and researchers.

Video documentaries and case stories have highlighted successes and challenges, garnering public support for street vendors and influencing policy making.

To strengthen and ensure that these achievements are sustainable, street vendors are planning to further institutionalise their networks and increase their advocacy for policy reforms, including calling for a national policy to safeguard the rights of street vendors. They also plan to expand their membership and coverage, facilitate regular capacity development workshops – including tailored trainings for women vendors – and engage with business chambers to create vendor-friendly economic policies.

Informal cross-border trade (ICBT) – sometimes called “unrecorded,” “small-scale” – refers to the movement of goods across national borders without formal customs declaration or full compliance with regulatory procedures. Although often overlooked in official statistics, ICBT plays a critical role in many regions’ food systems and in linking small-scale farmers to urban—and even international—markets.

The lack of “formal declaration” should not be interpreted as a lack of taxation from authorities: as it often happens with vendors who work in the informal economy, taxes and regulations are applied to them in a less than transparent manner, leaving room for harassment, corruption and violence against workers - particularly women. According to StreetNet’s latest data, women make up 70% of small-scale, cross-border traders in Africa.

In many border-region cities, formal importers don’t serve small towns or remote areas. Informal traders step in to fill gaps in supply, ensuring consistent access to staple foods during lean seasons. One estimate, cited by a study by the Africa Center for Trade, Integration and Development, is that ICBT plays a part in providing livelihoods to some 43% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population, including the vulnerable, especially women. ICBT plays a key role in terms of food security: in West Africa, for instance, ICBT in staple foods represents around 30% of the total regional trade. ICBT can take place through official border posts, as well as along porous, insecure borders. In such regions, access to food is even more critical and informal cross-border traders represent a lifeline.

StreetNet promotes and advocates for a worker-centric formalisation process, including for informal cross-border traders. There are a series of key principles pertaining to a just and non-punitive formalisation of workers in the informal economy:

In the context of ICBT, this means, essentially that small-scale traders need to have access to transparent information about cross-border regulation, are protected from violence and harassment from state or border authorities (especially the confiscation of goods), and that everything related to goods and customs duties is carried out at a single point on the border (the so-called one-stop shop). A virtuous example of the implementation of such policies is the South African Simplified Trade Regimes (STRS), where traders that sell up to 2000 USD of goods are entitled to a significantly lower bureaucratic burden.

A critical point is the inclusion of the organisation of workers’ representatives in negotiations with authorities such as the government or border police.

What does that look like in practice? A formalised, just, and equitable system of cross-border trade can dramatically improve food supply chains while transforming the lives of the border communities that sustain them. For small-scale traders greater legal recognition and simplified procedure procedures mean they can transport perishable goods like fruits, vegetables, and grains more safely and efficiently, reducing spoilage and loss. In brief: better lives for traders mean more food security for everyone.

One example comes from Cote d’Ivoire. “Since the end of 2022, following the conclusion of the project with StreetNet, conditions for traders at this border have improved considerably, particularly in Burkina Faso, where customs harassment has decreased” recounts Marcelline Adopo, president of our affiliate in Côte d’Ivoire FETTEI-CI. “However, Côte d'Ivoire continues to pose some challenges due to occasional harassment and procedural difficulties. During the development phase of the project, traders set up a focal point between the two countries. To travel, traders need only present a national identity document and an up-to-date vaccination booklet, which has simplified travel and business activities”. FETTEI-CI organises many food vendors, several of which trade across borders with neighbouring countries.

With reduced corruption and clearer rules, traders no longer need to resort to covert routes, improving both their safety and the quality of the food that reaches markets. Border communities benefit from increased food availability, fairer prices, and more stable incomes, which in turn supports better nutrition, health and community lives. In regions where informal trade is the backbone of food distribution, especially in some regions of West Africa, workers-led formalisation nurtures food security and resilience from the ground up.

[1] Translates to "good living," is a philosophy and way of life rooted in indigenous wisdom in South America. It emphasises a harmonious relationship with nature and community, advocating for a model of development that prioritises ecological balance and social justice over relentless economic growth.