According to a seminar, the topic of human rights has become a major problem in Asia’s food supply chain since some workers are required to work in inadequate conditions and are paid unfair wages.
The first sustainable business accelerator in Thailand, Sal Forest, hosted a lecture last week that examined human rights issues and developments in Asia’s food supply chain.
Speaking at the event were Prad Kerdpairoj, director of Sustainable Asia at Thai Union Group, and Sarinee Achavanuntakul, managing director of Sal Forest.
Sarinee brought up the research paper “Supply Chain Issues and Sustainability Policies in South and Southeast Asia” by Sal Forest, which focuses on the food supply chain in the significant food industry in Asian countries. These industries include those producing palm oil in Thailand, fishing in Indonesia, seafood produced in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and coffee in Vietnam.
According to Sarinee, workers, particularly women, are mistreated and exploited.
She cited shrimp collectors in Bangladesh, who spend 6–10 hours a day working in brackish rivers, as an example of the inadequate working conditions in several South Asian nations.
According to her, such workers run the risk of getting bitten by snakes and crocodiles and contracting serious illnesses like waterborne illnesses, skin infections, and urinary tract infections.
She continued by saying that because of their financial limitations, they were unable to obtain adequate medical services.
Moving on to Thailand, Sarinee claimed that numerous businesses in Southeast Asian nations have harmed indigenous populations’ human rights.
According to her, marginalized individuals are required to work hard and achieve lofty goals established by their employers.
She added that the companies typically leave them unpaid and just pay one worker in a family in order to manage these demanding chores. She added that the corporation seeks more labor, primarily among family members of existing workers.
Sarinee also brought up the problem of gender inequality in Asian nations, noting that women typically receive less pay than men despite performing the same work.
Prad stated that Thai Union Group would allocate a budget of more than 7.2 billion baht to promote human rights issues in order to avert these challenges, with the goal of having a tangible outcome by 2030.
According to him, the business adheres strictly to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
