This study is used the method of triangulation for data collection, having three different sample focus, employees, which are coffee pickers, employers which are the coffee farm owners, and master expert on the topic, being these different professionals with experience in the area of coffee production, dealing with coffee pickers, or members of entities that are closely related to the coffee harvesting season in Nicaragua.
Employees Perspective
In the case of employees, the data was collected in their workplace, with previous authorization from the employers. 50 from 3 different farms in the northern area of Nicaragua were approached in order to respond to a structured interview that was conducted in a verbal way, being the interviewer the one who had filled the spaces in the structured interview, according to what the employee was orally indicating.
As part of the most important demographic data, it has to be mentioned that 18 from these coffee pickers were male and 32 females. The coffee pickers in the sample were around 18 and 75 years old, being the most significative group (17) the ones around 46 and 55 years old, and 12 employees around 26 to 35 years old. In order to participate in the sample of this study, the employees needed to as a minimum requirement 1 year of experience (which refers to one coffee picking season) but surprisingly 76%(38 employees) of them has more than 10 years of experience and the other 24% (12 employees) had from 2 to 5 years working during the coffee picking season.
The employees demonstrated their interest on the structured interview, and most of them didn't show any kind of reluctance to provide the necessary information needed for the study.
According to their responses to the structured interview, that was conducted with the purpose of collecting authentic information about specific data of their migration, the way they migrate, the reasons why they migrate and their conditions as a coffee-pickers, the following table was created. The purpose of the following data is to provide quantitative results, showing frequency and percentage of each response.
Migration Data
The coffee pickers that were interviewed were the ones who met the criteria and attended to workplace (coffee farm) on the day of the interviews. The first section of the interview was to inquire about general information regarding their experience as coffee pickers and their movement process.
Table 4.1.
Migration Data
1. Do you prefer to work in a farm, as a permanent employee or only during the coffee-picking season? Frequency Percentage
2. What are the reasons why you prefer to work only during the coffee-picking season?
3. Do you stay only in one farm per coffee-picking season or do you like to move to different farms?
4. Every year, do you come to work as a coffee-picker?
Every year
5. How many farms do you work in during one coffee -picking season?
Only one
According to the table 4.2 that describes the results of the structured interview applied to the employees, it shows that 92% percent of this employees were not permanent employees, but temporary coffee pickers, 46 out of 50 of the employees, were agricultural workers that need to migrate in order to get to work, as observed by Perloff & others (1998) in their study conducted
in the United States, that half of all seasonal farmworkers are migrant workers. In the case of the results of this study, the other 8%, 4 employees out of 50, 2 of them reported that they couldn’t migrate because of physical limitations related to age, one of these employees reported an special situation: “We are forced to pick coffee only in one farm because, we live inside the farm fields and if we move to another farm to get to work, they will evict us from the house. ” (E-3).
Employee 27 reported a similar situation by expressing that he didn’t have a house so he had to stay in the farm he works, as a permanent employee.
Most of these employees are migrant workers; hence they were asked why do they work only during the coffee-picking season and a 64% states that they decide to work only as seasonal worker because working during this period of time allows them to make more profit, the majority of these workers mention expressions such as: “ I try to make as much money during the season”
(E-28), “Working during the season allows me to create a found, to cultivate beans” (E-21), and
“ Coffee harvest season is the only opportunity I have during the year” (E-20). As demonstrated previously the term opportunity, referring to the coffee-picking season, as these people only chance to make profit during the year was mentioned by 14% of the sample, which confirms the relationship between migrations with the need of an opportunity elsewhere as Cholewinski (2005), mentioned referring to transnational movements.
The study also intended to investigate whether these migrant coffee pickers were circular workers. Seasonal migration, the one practiced by the coffee pickers in Nicaragua is part of Circular migration, which refers to fluid movement of workers between determined areas, usually looking for employment. According to the results of the study, 86% of the employees indicated they migrate every year to work as a coffee picker and only 14% of the sample said that they don't pick coffee every year. These migrant workers are expressed that they move from their house to the farm and to different farms, only 20% responded that they move only from their home place to one farm but the rest 80% expressed they constantly move from farm to farm.
The amount of farms that these workers work in during the migratory process is also very important to understand their way of migration and how constant it is. The quantitative results report as follows the ones that move only to one farm are 11 employees (22%). The employees that move only between two farms were 12 (24%) and the majority of them, specifically 54% (27 employees), reported that they move in more than two farms. Coffee pickers were also encouraged to specify the exact quantity of farms they migrate to and most of them reported
between 3 to 4 farms, excluding some cases, where the highest number is 6 farms, per coffee picking season, considering that the harvest only lasts from 3 to 4 months, that means these group of workers stay in farm for less than a month.
Migration Process
This section of the structured interview goes in depth, in order to obtain more information about the migration process of coffee pickers, having its main focus on the reasons why coffee pickers move from one farm to another within coffee picking season and how difficult this process is perceived by these employees.
Table 4.2.
Migration Process
1.Do you usually live in the campamentos of the farm that you work in?
Frequency Percentage
2. Why do you move from your home place to the farm?
Cost
3. Why do you move from one farm to another one in the same coffee-picking season?
4. Is it difficult for you to keep moving around from your house to the farm, or from one farm to another?
Most of these employee even stay in the farms, in Nicaragua the place where the employees stay inside the coffee farms, are called campamentos, as mentioned previously, 86%
of sample, 43 employees from the 50 interviewed, rather to stay in the campamentos than in their own house during the coffee picking season, for different reasons. The most significant reason, which has picked by 28 employees (56%) is with the purpose of cost reduction, is cheaper for them to stay in the farm, than traveling to their houses everyday using public transportation and the second most significative reason is because of the distance between their home place to the farm, which is usually very far away. Hence its makes impossible for these coffee pickers to go back to their homes every day, and most of them have the opportunity to return to their home place after the whole picking season was ended.
The reasons why these employees migrate are several; however the one that predominated for this group of workers is to make more profit. A 58%, (29 employees), recognized that the decision to move is most likely based on the income. Usually these employees would rather to move the farm that is paying a higher price per lata of coffee picked.
The harvest condition at farms is very important for the employees and it directly affects their migration decisions. 46% of the sample expressed, that they decide to move to farm depending upon the ripening of the coffee bean, employees, will prefer to go to a farm where there is plenty of ripe coffee beans, where the access to pick it is easier than in order farms where most are green beans. So when, the ripen coffee of one farm are over, they just go looking forward another farm that offers more quantity of coffee to pick. The third main reason why they move is according to the each farm’s coffee production, 22% of the sample expressed that they leave or go to a farm depending, as Coffee pickers are more likely to prefer to work in big farms where the coffee production is big and the chance of a better salary is higher. The other reasons that affect their moving decisions mentioned are the benefits that the farm offers, the living conditions in the farms and in a very low percentage of 8%, (4 employees) expressed that they decide to move from their houses to the farms because of the distance from the farm to their home places. One of the most important areas of research was to find out if the migration process that coffee-picker experiment every coffee harvest season, as a difficult process for them. In fact, 66% responded that being a migrant worker is a difficult situation, the other 22%, 11 employees expressed that migration is not such a difficult process, and 5 of these employees, 10% of the sample shared that the fact of being a migrant worker is not a difficult process.
The percentage of employees that expressed that migration didn’t represent a difficult process for them, shared thoughts related to the moving part, specifically how they move, as the
follows: “ We are already used to move from one place to another” (E-5), “we have many years migrating every season, so it’s not that hard” (E-22) and “Depends upon the farm and how the patron is” (E-23). The fact that conditions from one farm to another vary seems to be an important determinant for employees, as employee 23 expressed. Employee 1 also expressed that moving was not difficult because the farm where he/she works provides transportation, which help us to understand that the benefits provided by coffee pickers are not equal, as the following employees expressed why the migration process was difficult for them, “The farm doesn't provide transportation” (E-2), “The transportation is few, expensive and insecure” (E-20).
According to rest 66% of employees these lifestyle represent a difficult a process for them because of some of the following reasons that the researcher had the opportunity to inquiry about:
“To abandoned your house is very hard” (E-17), “Leaving the house, domestic animals, your own environment just because of necessity, is not easy” (E-18), “I don’t bring my kids, they are too small and I have to leave him, I only come with my wife, so it’s difficult to leave them” (E-21). As can be noticed most of the reasons are closely related with the fact of leaving loved ones or properties behind, that is one of the most difficult issues faced by these employees.
Children Presence in Coffee Farms
The third part of the structured interview was design to inquiry about one of the most important issues in the lifestyle of coffee pickers that is the migration with their children. The following table shows the different questions ask to employees and their responses.
Table 4.3.
Children Presence in Farms
1.In your family, who picks coffee during the season?
Frequency Percentage
2. Do the foreman allows you to take your children to the farm to help you?
Allowed
3. Do your children skip school when they have to come to help you to the farm?
Skip school
Sometimes attend
When school finishes, go to farm Don’t apply
4. Did you know that the Nicaraguan government prohibits the child labor?
Aware
5. Why does all your family moves to the farm during the coffee-picking season?
Nobody to take care of them Need their help
The first aspect inquired who were the ones that attend at the farm to pick coffee. 92% of the sample, 46 employees out of 50, said that during the coffee-picking season, their whole family attend to the farms to pick coffee, 4% said, equal to 2 employees said that only themselves and their partners attend, which means they don’t bring any children to the work place, and these two employees reported to have an advance age and that all their children are grown up already, the balance 4% percent represents only one parent with his/her children attending to the farm fields. These two employees one reported to be a single parent and the other male employee reported that his wife has a physical condition that doesn’t permit her perform any type of work.
The presence of these children is also closely related to the way farmers deal with the admission of kids to the farms, which most of them allow the children to come to the farms to help their parents, these has been expressed by 92% of the sample (46 employees); only two employees said that they are not allowed to take children to the farm where they work, which being analyzed might be contradictory, with the rest of responses of the other 92% because these two employees that represents 4% of the sample, were employers from the same farms, where employees said they are allowed to bring children to the work place. The balance 4% don’t apply on these questions, because even they are migrant employees, are part from the minority of employees that don’t bring children to the work place, because they don’t have kids, therefore they express they don’t know what if it is permitted or not to bring children to the farm.
The information received by these employees regarding what child labor is and why is it prohibited, doesn’t seem to be a factor that affects their traditional practices of bringing children
to the work place. 86% of these employees said they were aware of the prohibition of child labor by the government of Nicaragua, though a minority of only 14%, (7 employees) , said they were not informed or have never heard that child labor is a prohibited practice. One of the most important concerns regarding child labor in a world context is the schooling of child laborers therefore, the sample were asked if they children skip or attend school during the harvest season.
25% of the sample, 12 employees said that their kids skip school during the coffee-picking season; a minority of 3 employees, 6% replied their children attend to school. On the hand as the coffee picking season might only cover one or two months of the academic year, some of the parents might use different strategies to get the help they need from their children in the coffee plantations without dropping school, therefore 52%, 26 employees said that their children attend school occasionally, on the other hand 14% said they wait until the school finished to go to the farm, these might be interpreted in two different strategies, for non migrant workers were the children’s school is very close to their workplace, these children might finish their school day and integrate to the coffee-picking in the afternoon and for other families what they usually do is to wait until the academic year is finished in order to be able to move to a different region or to a farm that is far away from their home places and be able to bring their kids with them.
Finally the reasons why coffee-pickers move with their children to the farms were asked to the parents, among the options given to the sample to choose from, the one that predominated was the one related to income. In addition, 29 employees (58%) said that they have to take their children to the farms and move there because they need their help, referring to the need of picking more latas of coffee beans; therefore the income will be higher at the end of the coffee-picking season. The other reason mentioned by 3 employees, is that they take their children to the coffee farms because they need to make more profit. Both reasons are related on the main purpose, which is the need of increasing their incomes; many coffee-pickers expressed the way they feel with the salary that is paid at farms, “The farm owners don't pay what the government stipulates” (E-1), “The farmowner just decide the price he wants to pay per lata, and that’s what he pays” (E-16), the most revealing subject shared that the main reason why he brings his children to work as a coffee-picker is: “My children need to come to work because if not we can’t pay their backpack and notebooks” (E-35). On the other hand, 28% of the coffee-pickers interviewed said that the main reason why they have to move with their children to the coffee
farms is because they have nobody to take care of them at home, so in order to get to work, they need to migrate with their entire family.
Employers’ Law Compliance
The next section of the structured interview applied to coffee pickers, inquired about how employers are complying with employment practices code regarding the treatment and benefits that should be offered to coffee pickers. Employees were also asked about their satisfaction with the salary received and the benefits received from employers.
Table 4.4.
Employees’ Job Satisfaction
1. Do you think you receive a fair payment during the coffee-picking season?
Frequency Percentage
2. Is the payment that you receive enough to cover all yours and your family needs?
Enough
3. Do you feel satisfied with the food and the living conditions in the farms?
Don’t feel satisfied 50 100%
4. Do you receive any medical assistance during the time you work at the farms?
Receive
Another major issue that these workers face is the salary, as mentioned above in chapter II. Coffee pickers’ payment way is according to how many latas of coffee beans they pick; the price of the lata varies from one farm to another for different reasons that has been expressed by the employees and experts interviewed on this study, hence the salary of these employees is very unstable. The employees, though were asked if they were satisfied by the price of the lata itself, and their opinion on the fairness of the amount of money paid per lata , obtaining the following results: 60% of the employees said that the salary was not fair, 30% (15 employees) said that it