Question

Why do you think a farmer or a weaver may
be exploited in a supply chain?

Answer 1

Answer:

Farmers toil very hard in their farms right from sowing the seeds to harvesting cotton when the bolls of cotton plant are ripe and ready to burst. It takes several days to harvest the cotton because the bolls that carry cotton in them do not burst open all at once. High levels of inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides are needed for cultivating cotton. Often the farmers are forced to borrow money from the local traders for meeting such expenses. These traders charge a very high rate of interest and also exploit the farmers by putting some terms and conditions during lending. One very crucial condition of such lending is forcing the farmers to promise them to sell all the cotton to them only. Hence even if there is a local cotton market, the farmers are forced to sell their produce to the local traders from whom they have borrowed money. They are not able to argue with the traders even if they know that they are getting less than the minimum price it fetches in the local market. The traders are powerful men in the village and besides cultivation, farmers depend on them for money required for treating illness, education etc. Also since the farmers are not employed throughout the year, they are forced to borrow money for their survival when they do not have work.