Greetings, friends:
I tend to read (or to be more accurate, peruse through) a lot of scientific papers, partly because of my work as a journalist and partly out of my own interest – you know how the recommendations of our algorithmic overlords go. But I wasn’t prepared for how floored I’d be reading this paper in the journal Nature, benignly titled, “Unequal exchange of labour in the global economy”. I’m not joking when I say that I was a sobbing mess by the time I got done, and really had to take a time out to gather my emotions. The implications were so stark, and the injustice so obvious, that it literally left me shattered. There really is some power in putting a number to some things – the power is in the data.
Here’s a quick overview: From 1995 to 2021, the researchers measured the flow of labour between countries. In 2021, the global North used 826 billion hours of labour extracted from the global South. This labour, when valued in Northern wages, was worth about €16.9 trillion. In other words, the global South’s resources and labor are being diverted to support the consumption needs of the global North. This leaves the South with less capacity to invest in its own development and meet local needs. The vast difference in wages perpetuates a cycle of poverty and limits the ability of Southern countries to improve their economies and living standards.
One major reason for this unequal exchange is the huge difference in wages. Even though workers in the global South contribute 90% of the labour that keeps the world economy running, they only get 21% of the global income.
Now, you could argue – well, that’s probably because most of the work in the global south is low-skilled work, and so it makes sense that it would be lowly paid. But that’s not the case – Southern workers earn 87-95% less than Northern workers for the same skill level. In fact, the global South now contributes more high-skilled labour to the world economy than all the high-, medium- and low-skilled labour contributions of the global North combined (!)
Here’s a rough illustration to bring it home (and for this, I credit a poster I saw carried by one protestor during the recent maandamanos). Think of all the hours of gruelling work that it takes to produce a kilo of coffee on a farm. The average Kenyan farmer earns KES 80 ($0.60) per kg of coffee cherry. To produce 1 kg of green coffee, 5 to 6 kg of coffee cherry is needed. Then, from 1 kg of green coffee, you get about 830g of roasted coffee, which is what an outlet like Starbucks sells.
So, for every $3 that the Kenyan farmer earns (for the 5 kg of coffee cherry), the final coffee outlet makes $249, meaning the Kenyan farmer literally exists to support the profits of global coffee chains. What they are paid only accounts for 1.2% of the final price.
The recent protests in Kenya, where people have been marching and demonstrating against economic hardships and injustices, are closely tied to this global inequality. These maandamanos are not just about local issues; they are also about the larger, systemic exploitation that keeps the global South at a disadvantage. The Kenyan farmers, workers, and citizens protesting are demanding fair treatment, not just from their own government, but from the global system that undervalues their labour and resources.
In the meantime, here’s:
What I’m Reading: Can a church exist exclusively on the internet? Some superb reporting about internet-based churches in Kenya, by Vincent Owino in Rest of World.
What I’m Watching: I just finished watching Big Girl Small World on Showmax, and I’m blown away by the standout performances of June Njenga (who plays lead character Ciku) and Daine Njuguna (who plays her best friend Aisha) in this series.
What I’m Listening to: NairoBae, a playlist on Spotify that will really get you discovering new Kenyan R&B that have been hiding in the shadows.
My best,
Christine Mungai | Curator, Baraza Media Lab
BARAZA EVENTS
Kids Book Club
Young literary enthusiasts will interact with Aleya Kassam through engaging storytelling sessions, song and dance in the Kids Lit Club August Edition.
Aleya authored ‘The Mystery of The Funny Feeling’, and ‘The Mystery of The Missing Sleep’ from the transmedia universe of stories, ‘The Mysteries of Jabali and Sauti’, which was developed by The LAM Sisterhood, Kikapu Studio and Studio Ang under the stewardship of The Aga Khan Foundation, supported by The LEGO Foundation.
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Date: 17th August 2024
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