ABSTRACT
Within the rural global South gender inequalities and discrimination result in women having less access to agricultural assets, resources, decision-making, decent work, and education. Within this context, private governance initiatives have expanded within global value chains to address these problems. Non-state actors, including business and civil society organizations, adopt standards, audits, and codes of conduct intended to empower women and address gender inequality. While most research has focused on women agricultural producers, this chapter assesses the role of private standards to address gender disparities in agricultural wage employment. Women’s lack of assets, gender discrimination and stereotypes, and their primary responsibility for domestic and unpaid care work mean that women face few options but to accept precarious employment. Ensuring that women have access to decent work is critical for improving the rights and welfare of women, households, and communities. While private standards can potentially play an important role, I argue that they are inherently limited in their ability to fundamentally address women’s unpaid labor and dismantle the structural inequalities that limit decent work and women’s access to it. I conclude that efforts by the state to advance women’s agency remain critical for addressing these problems.
