CALL FOR PROPOSAL

IN-HARVEST SURVEY OF WORKING CONDITIONS ON COFFEE FARMS AND IN COFFEE

COLLECTING JOINT BUSINESS GROUPS (LAMPUNG PROVINCE)
Programme/Project Name (RAS/23/08/NES) – Improving OSH and social
conditions for women and men in coffee farmer
communities in Indonesia and Vietnam
Duration of the contract 15 May – 31 July 2024

I. INTRODUCTION
This research work is being commissioned by the project “Improving OSH and social conditions for
women and men in coffee farmer communities in Indonesia and Vietnam”, implemented by the
International Labour Organization (ILO), in cooperation with Nestlé. Under this regional project, the
ILO and Nestlé have joined hands to promote fundamental principles and rights at work (FPRW)1,
labour law compliance, social protection and gender equality in the coffee supply chains in Indonesia
and Vietnam. End beneficiaries include women and men engaged in the cultivation and collection of
coffee. The regional focus of work in Indonesia lies on South Sumatra where most of the country’s
coffee is grown.

Most coffee in Indonesia is produced by smallholders (> 90%) who drive Indonesia’s coffee export
industry. The working environment on coffee farms and in coffee collecting joint business groups
(Kelompok Usaha Bersama [KUB]) can pose risks to workers’ safety and health which, if not controlled,
can lead to occupational accidents and diseases. Additionally, given deficits in enforcement,
monitoring and awareness, it is likely that workers on coffee farms and in KUBs cannot fully realize yet
their rights regarding other FPRW and the Indonesia Labour Law. The coffee harvesting season can
affect their working conditions further as high workloads need to be managed under time pressure to
achieve harvesting output targets. This increases the risk on farms and in KUBs that workplace safety
and health practices and other FPRW and Labour Code requirements are being disregarded (e.g., lack
of protecting workers against OSH risks, non-adherence to working time and rest period regulations
or hiring practices of young workers). With increased exposure to OSH risks during the harvesting
season, it is more likely that farm workers and collecting workers get injured at work, affecting their
health, well-being and productivity. Deficits in working conditions other than OSH may affect their
productivity as well and can create dissatisfaction among workers with the workplace, which can cause
them to resign and move to another farm or KUB, disrupting work processes and productivity further
as new workers need to be hired.

Against this background, limited availability of data on working conditions on coffee farms and in KUBs
during the coffee harvest has been identified as a key problem, making it difficult to design and
implement measures that address OSH, other FPRW and Labour Law compliance deficits effectively
and ensure responsible and sustainable sourcing practices.

1
The FPRW include: freedom of association and collective bargaining; elimination of all forms of forced or
compulsory labour; the effective abolition of child labour; the elimination of discrimination in respect of
employment and occupation; a safe and health working environment; see: ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work (DECLARATION)

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II. OBJECTIVES
It is the objective of this assignment to survey working conditions on smallholder farms and in KUBs
during the coffee harvest season in Tanggamus District, Lampung Province. Results shall inform the
design of workplace improvement measures to promote OSH, other FPRW and compliance with the
national Labour Law. Results shall also be used to contribute to and influence initiatives at national
and sectoral level that aim to improve working conditions for informal economy workers in
agriculture, including improved access to social protection.

III. TASKS
Under this assignment, the service provider will carry out the following tasks:

Preparation phase
1. Develop detailed workplan;
2. Study relevant literature and surveys, produced by the ILO and other agencies;
3. Finalize, in cooperation with the ILO Vision Zero Fund project team Indonesia and Nestlé, the
survey methodology that is gender sensitive. To include: 1) stratification of survey sample, 2)
development of questions for FGDs and interviews with farm owners, KUB managers, coffee farm
workers, and coffee collecting workers, 3) development of a risk assessment template to identify
workplaces in high risk of violating FPRW.

Implementation phase
1. Implement in-harvest working conditions survey of smallholder farms and KUBs, including:
a. Visits of farms and KUBs;
b. Brief one-on-one interviews with managers (farm owners/managers, KUB
owners/managers) and workers (farm workers, coffee collecting workers);
c. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with coffee farm workers (incl. household members and
seasonal/permanently employed) and coffee collecting workers (seasonal/permanently
employed);
2. Analyse findings, including through a gender lens;
3. Write assessment report.

IV. METHODOLOGY

The proposed survey methodology shall combine desk and field work, with a focus on data collection
on smallholder farms. Survey findings will be analysed and used as baseline data for the design of
working condition improvement actions and monitoring of their impact. The regional focus of the
survey is the Tanggamus district, Lampung province (South Sumatra), Indonesia’s main region for the
cultivation of Robusta coffee.

Survey questions to cover the following topics: OSH, other FPRW (freedom of association and
collective bargaining, indication of forms of compulsory labour, indication of child labour, indication
of discrimination), compliance with national Labour Law requirements (e.g., contracts, compensation
and benefits, working time); social protection coverage.

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The survey methodology shall consist of:

1. Visits of farms and KUBs: to include:

 Observation: gathered through workplace walk-throughs, with focus on OSH conditions (incl.
machine safety, electrical and fire safety, chemical safety, worker protection, worker
accommodation, welfare facilities) and indication of child labour;
 Interviews with management and workers: brief one-on-one interviews with management
representatives and workers from farms and KUBs, conducted during the workplace visits;

2. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs): FGDs with farm and coffee collecting workers, who work for the
farms and KUBs that are covered by the sample;

3. Categorisation of findings: to allow to differentiate between 1) observations that indicate risks

of FPRW violation, requiring further investigation and risk mitigation measures, 2) confirmed
issues (collected information does suffice to establish the issue as one that requires concrete
remediation action), and 3) good practices (no improvement action required).

Furthermore, during workplace visits, interviews and FGDs, the service provider shall aim to identify
gender perspectives and differences2 (for example in relation to exposure to OSH risks which may
impact women and men workers differently) and incorporate those in the final report.

The final report shall include a glossary with definitions of terminology used in the report, including
ILO indicators to identify FPRW risks and issues.

The survey sample size has been determined in proportion to the number of farm households grouped
under 4C Certification Unit in Tanggamus district, Lampung province.

In total, 60 workers from coffee farms and KUBs shall be interviewed through FGDs and 235
workplaces visited (including 230 farms and 3 KUBs) across the target district as per sampling in the
table below. It is suggested that for the organization of the FGDs a community-based approach will be
applied, whereby participants per FGD group will all come from the same coffee farmer community.

Table 1: Sample structure

4C Certification Unit / No. of coffee farm No. of farms and KUBs to be visited
Tanggamus District workers and workers
from KUBs
Farm visits KUB visits
interviewed through
FGDs

2
For more information, see: ILO VZF Gender Brief (2021) https://vzf.ilo.org/wp-
content/uploads/2021/08/Thematic-brief-2-Vision-Zero-Fund-approach-to-gender-equality.pdf and ILO/SIDA
Guidelines for gender mainstreaming in occupational safety and health (2013)
https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/safety-and-health-at-work/resources-
library/publications/WCMS_324653/lang--en/index.htm

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 Unit 1 - Tanggamus 12 53 1
Unit 2 - Tanggamus 12 50 1
Unit 3 - Tanggamus 12 56 1
Unit 4 - Tanggamus 12 43
Unit 5 – Tanggamus 12 28
230 3
Total 60
233

Other sample stratification criteria shall include:

Gender ratio male: female (50:50) to be applied (as far as possible) for:
 Interviews with management representatives (farm owners and KUB managers)
 FGD participants from a smallholder farm
 FGD participants from a KUB

The service provider, upon selection and finalization of the contracting process, will be provided with
detailed information for sample compilation, including workplace location, contacts, and farm size.
Out of this pool, the service provider will select randomly the workplaces to be surveyed and develop
the survey implementation plan (it is recommended that the number of selected workplaces exceeds
the sample size by 10% as contingency).

The service provider shall conduct the workplace visits, one-on-one interviews and FGDs in a manner
that encourages both management representatives and workers to cooperate and share information.
It is the survey’s main purpose to collect data that allow to gain an insight into the working conditions
found on farms and in KUBs during the harvesting season as well as understand better the problems
and challenges faced by workers in accessing their FPRW and labour law rights. The survey is not an
assessment or audit but first and foremost a data collection exercise to guide the supply chain to
improve compliance and sustainability.

The service provider will work closely with the ILO Vision Zero Fund project team in Indonesia and ILO
technical experts in designing the survey questions and finalizing the survey methodology, including
technical input from Nestlé field practitioners and Nestlé head office experts.

V. DELIVERABLES & TIMELINES

Deliverables Timelines for submission

I. Inception phase By 29 May 2024
a/ Kick-off meeting minutes
b/ Inception report in English to include:
- Detailed work plan
- Description of survey instruments, incl. questions for interviews
and FGDs and workplace visit structure
- Sampling structure
- Draft report outline
II. Implementation phase (field survey) By 30 June 2024

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a/ Implementation of FGDs - FGD transcripts in Indonesian and English
b/ Implementation of workplace visits (including brief interviews with
management and workers) – PPT with preliminary findings (in English
and Indonesian)
III. Report preparation phase By 31 July 2024
a/ Final survey report (in English)
b/PPT with key findings (in English and Indonesian)

VI. TIME FRAME

This assignment shall be implemented between 15 May and 31 July 2024.

VII. REQUIREMENTS / TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES FOR SERVICE PROVIDER

 Strong knowledge on international standards and national legal and policy frameworks that define
a safe and healthy working environment, respect for FPRW and adherence with applicable laws,
including the ILO’s Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the Indonesian Labour Law, the
Indonesian OSH Law, social protection legislation;
 Experienced in conducting surveys on working conditions in workplaces in agriculture (experience
in the coffee supply chain an advantage);
 Strong methodological skills, incl. structuring of survey samples, use of data organization and
analysis software, approaches and methods to conduct qualitative surveys in rural communities,
taking into consideration the gender dimension;
 Excellent report English writing skills;
 Service provider should be an independent entity (not affiliated to a certification scheme),
authorized to conduct research in Indonesia.

VIII. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION

 Interested consultant/consultancy firms shall submit technical and financial proposals to Ms.
Hermawaty Misnan at e-mail: hermawaty@ilo.org, by 30 April 2024, 17.00 Jakarta time at the
latest.