African Trade Unions Turn Shared Knowledge into Action for Agricultural Workers

ILO-supported skills and lifelong learning initiatives reached more than 250,000 people in 30 African countries during 2024–25.

More than 50 trade union representatives and labour experts from 20 African countries have gathered in Cairo to build practical strategies that could improve the lives of rural and agricultural workers, whose contribution to food production and national economies is often accompanied by insecure employment, limited social protection and weak representation. The five-day knowledge exchange, running from 31 August to 4 September 2026, is focused on turning shared experiences into national, subregional and regional roadmaps shaped around the different needs of workers and unions across the continent.

The International Labour Organization is leading the initiative through cooperation between its Bureau for Workers' Activities in Geneva and Turin and the ILO Cairo Office. The programme forms part of the EU-funded 'EU for Haya Karima' project and follows a two-week online course delivered by the International Training Centre of the ILO in June 2026. Titled 'Strengthening Social Dialogue for Rural and Agri-Plantation Workers: Trade Union Responses and Strategies,' the exchange treats social protection as one part of a wider decent work agenda that also includes fair wages, safer workplaces, collective bargaining and stronger worker participation.

Rural workers need a stronger place within labour movements

Rural economies keep farms, plantations, food markets and supply chains running, yet many people working within them remain difficult for unions and public institutions to reach because their jobs are informal, seasonal or spread across distant communities. These conditions can leave workers without reliable income protection, workplace safeguards or a meaningful voice in decisions that directly affect their families and livelihoods.

Hilma Mote, Regional Desk Officer for Africa at ILO ACTRAV, told participants that the gathering was about building strategies and strengthening trade union power, not simply completing another training exercise. She called for plantation and rural workers to become more visible, organized, protected and represented, stressing that they should occupy a central place in national union agendas rather than being treated as an afterthought.

Social protection must reflect workers' everyday realities

Sessions during the exchange examine ways to extend social protection coverage while addressing wages, occupational safety and health, child labour and the changing pressures reshaping agricultural employment. Climate change, digitalization and the need for a fair transition are also part of the programme because each can alter how rural people find work, negotiate conditions and protect their incomes.

Marielle Goursat, Social Protection Specialist at the ILO Cairo Office, said universal social protection depends on capable institutions and sustainable financing, as well as genuine social dialogue that gives workers a role in identifying coverage gaps and shaping workable solutions. Egyptian Trade Union Federation Secretary-General Eid Morsal reinforced that message, arguing that comprehensive protection cannot be achieved while rural workers remain outside its reach and that unions cannot become stronger without expanding their membership base.

Participants are studying real trade union experiences from across Africa, including collective bargaining and worker representation in Ghana's shea butter industry, Nigeria's cocoa sector and Tunisia's agricultural workforce. A one-day visit to Egypt's Salhia Company allows the group to connect workshop discussions with the daily realities of agricultural production, employment and supply chains.

Cairo roadmaps will guide action across the continent

Wafaa Abdelkader, Workers' Activities Specialist at the ILO Cairo Office, compared the gathering's spirit of connection to the Nile, which supports communities and livelihoods across Africa. Delegates bring different union traditions and national experiences, yet they share a commitment to making decent work a reality for people whose labour sustains rural economies and helps feed millions.

The roadmaps developed in Cairo are expected to guide organizing, collective bargaining, worker representation and campaigns for wider social protection coverage after participants return home. A follow-up meeting planned for 2027 will review progress, compare experiences and identify approaches that can support further action, allowing unions to learn what worked, where difficulties remained and how successful ideas could be adapted for other countries.

By connecting training with workplace experience and continued review, the initiative gives workers' organizations a clearer route for reaching people who are often excluded from formal labour systems. Stronger rural unions could help agricultural workers speak with greater confidence, secure safer and fairer conditions and take part in shaping more inclusive and resilient economies across Africa.