A/HRC/13/33 III. Protecting workers in the agricultural sector A. The challenges 10. There are more than 450 million waged agricultural workers globally, composing 40 per cent of the agricultural workforce.18 Fundamental rights at work are frequently violated in the agricultural sector. Less than 20 per cent of agricultural workers have access to basic social protection and about 70 per cent of child labour in the world is in agriculture, representing approximately 132 million girls and boys aged 5 to 14. Bonded labour practices are perpetuated from one generation to the next. Since much of waged employment is in the informal sector, national labour legislation is unable to ensure the right to a minimum wage or to protect women from discrimination. 11. Collective bargaining is crucially important for agricultural workers, both because knowledge and enforcement of the law tend to be weak in rural areas and because labour legislation frequently treats the agricultural sector differently from other sectors with regard to issues such as working time, overtime pay, or leave.19 Yet, despite the relatively high level of ratification of ILO Convention No. 11 (1921) on the Rights of Association and Combination of Agricultural Workers, collective bargaining and social dialogue are often entirely absent. In part, this is attributable to the difficulties waged agricultural workers face in organizing themselves. But it stems also from subcontracting and outsourcing practices, the result of which is that the actual employer has no formal relationship with the worker. 12. As agricultural labour is increasingly casualized, as contract farming develops, and as small farmers increasingly work on farms or plantations to supplement their basic incomes, the distinction between waged workers and farmers is breaking down. Tenants and share-croppers also form intermediate categories: tenants pay a fixed rent in cash, in kind, in labour, or by a combination of these; sharecroppers pay rent in kind consisting of an agreed share of the produce; and certain agricultural workers are remunerated by a share of the produce.20 The blurring of the distinctions between these different categories often leads to situations in which the legal framework applicable to the relationship between the food producer and the food buyer is difficult to determine, and in which the rights and obligations of the parties are unclear. This challenge must be met by the regulator. B. The role of States in protecting the right to food 13. States must protect the right to food of agricultural workers by discharging their obligations under international labour legislation. Specific instruments that concern agricultural workers include ILO Conventions, No. 99 (1951) on Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery in Agriculture21 and No. 110 (1958) on Conditions of Employment of Plantation Workers, supplemented by its Protocol of 1982, and recommendation No. 110 (1958) on 18 19 20 21 6 Peter Hurst, Agricultural workers and their contribution to sustainable agriculture and rural development, FAO-ILO-IUF, 2005, p. 2. International Labour Office (ILO), Promotion of rural employment for poverty reduction, International Labour Conference, 97th Session, 2008, para. 295. Specific instruments, such as ILO recommendation No. 132 (1968) on the Improvement of Conditions of Life and Work of Tenants, Share-croppers and Similar Categories of Agricultural Workers, seek to protect these groups. See also the accompanying recommendation No. 89 (1951) on Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery in Agriculture. GE.09-17776