http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/47972/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/32338/ 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z A million tonnes of cotton are hand-picked by women and girls every year in Pakistan’s ‘cotton belt’. Despite their evident contribution to the economy, the pickers’ fates remain invisible in the daily headlines on cotton production as well as in academic research. The present article tries to address this blind spot while focussing on the working conditions of Pakistani cotton pickers. It investigates the determinants of their work, wages and occupational safety and health, and questions whether the link with the global cotton chain benefits labourers in Pakistan’s cotton fields http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/32599/ 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z Introduction: In order to gain a more in-depth understanding of cotton-farming in Pakistan and the communities living in Pakistan’s cotton belt, an empirical survey “Situation Review of Cotton Farming in Pakistan” has been conducted in two of the main cotton-growing districts in Punjab and Sindh. The study was commissioned by the transnational furniture company Ikea. Ikea procures cotton from Pakistan. The company considers awareness of the socio-economic conditions in the area from which this input is purchased and their improvement as part of its corporate social responsibility. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify needs and constraints in Pakistan’s cotton sector through a socio-economic analysis. Its findings will be utilised in the formulation of programmes for improvement of socio-economic conditions in the cotton belt, in particular regarding the situation of women and children. For the study, two districts from Pakistan’s cotton belt have been selected, namely the district Rahim Yar Khan in Southern Punjab and district Khairpur in Sindh. In each district, four typical cotton-growing villages have been selected for an in-depth survey. The sampling procedures and research techniques applied are described in more detail below. As will be shown in the following paragraphs, whereas the survey results are statistically representative at the village level, they also reflect the situation in rural areas of the districts in robust approximation. ...