New programme targets transport and gender-related risks in agriculture
Ethical Trade Sweden, together with Oxfam Sweden and local partners, is proud to announce the launch of the Safe Transport Programme (STP) – a new collaborative initiative aimed at strengthening worker-centred and gender-responsive Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) in agricultural supply chains.
The issue
Transport to and from work remains a critical, yet often overlooked, risk area in agricultural supply chains. Many workers – most of them women – depend on transport arrangements that are unsafe and incidents of harassment or gender-based violence during travel are not uncommon. Employers frequently outsource transport to third-party providers, and these risks are often insufficiently captured by traditional social audits.
As a result, transport-related safety risks and gender-related risks frequently remain invisible and unaddressed in due diligence processes. The Safe Transport Programme (STP) has been developed to address this gap.
Building on existing insights and collaboration
The programme builds on insights from previous projects, including Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs) and sector dialogues in Morocco, as well as work within Ethical Trade Sweden’s Food & Beverage Working Group. These previous insights and collaborations have shown that the identified challenges related to gender equality and safe transport are broader than any single buyer or supplier can address alone. They require coordinated action across the supply chain.
STP will run in Morocco from January 2026 to May 2027 as part of a three-year programme. It is co-funded by Sida together with corporate programme partners and implemented by Oxfam and local partners. Programme partners are Driscolls, Coop, Axfood, Greenpac, Sedex and Agraya.
From risk identification to actionable solutions
The programme aims to strengthen social auditing and due diligence processes by:
- Conducting research and a gender-sensitive gap analysis of current transport standards
- Developing best practice guidelines with tools such as checklists and model clauses
- Designing complementary worker-centred audit modules and training for workers, suppliers, transport providers and auditors
- Piloting the audit modules and training in selected supply chains
- Developing a policy briefing for buyers on how to mitigate and implement learnings from STP on transport and gender-related risks
- Establishing a scaling-up and adoption plan beyond Morocco
- Using Morocco as an example, the programme seeks to generate concrete experience, shared learning and practical tools that can also be applied in other high-risk sourcing contexts.
A worker-centred and gender-responsive approach
A core principle of STP is meaningful engagement with workers, particularly women who are often disproportionately affected by unsafe transport and gender-based discrimination and violence. By combining local expertise, business engagement, cooperation with social compliance schemes and structured dialogue across the supply chain, the programme aims to contribute to safer, more dignified and gender-responsive transport practices.
Expected results include empowered workers, guidelines to make transport arrangements safer, strengthened capacity to identify and address transport and gender-related risks and improved alignment between social compliance frameworks and real-world risk areas.
Join us
STP is designed as a collaborative platform for companies, social compliance framework and local stakeholders who want to move from risk identification to practical improvement. By working together, we can enhance the effectiveness of human rights due diligence and contribute to systemic change.
If you are interested in learning more about the programme or in participating, we warmly encourage you to get in touch with Programme Lead Christopher Atapattu Riddselius on Christopher.atapattu.riddselius@etiskhandel.se.