The GLWC and Anker Research Institute are announcing two new publications in the working paper series, “Living Incomes for Cocoa Growing Regions in Brazil” and “Living Incomes for Coffee Growing Regions in Brazil.” These reports provide Anker Living Income estimates for six cocoa growing areas in Brazil: South Bahia; East Rondonia; Southwest Pará; Southeast Pará; North Coast Espirito Santo and Belém metropolitan area; and three coffee-growing areas in Brazil: Northwest Espírito Santo, Zona da Mata Mineira, and Triângulo Mineiro/Alto Paranaíba.
Read the reports:
- Living Incomes for Cocoa Growing Regions in Brazil
- Living Incomes for Coffee Growing Regions in Brazil
Methodology for producing regionally specific estimates in absence of Benchmark studies
Location-specific Anker Benchmark and National Reference Values provide high quality, internationally comparable living wage and living income estimates. However, neither of these study types account for differences inside of countries, which can sometimes be drastic. The region-specific estimates in these reports account for those differences. These estimates are especially important in a large and diverse country like Brazil, which has extremely varied living standards across states.
The methodology used to estimate living incomes for these nine coffee and cocoa growing regions of Brazil uses secondary data from available national household surveys and the original Benchmark study estimates from Minas Gerais and non-metropolitan Sao Paulo. These reports use the 2017/18 Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares (POF) (in English: Family Budget Survey) – the latest available Brazilian Survey of Household Expenditure. This survey contains detailed information on patterns of food consumption and food expenditures, housing conditions and expenditures, and NFNH expenditures.
Importance of living income estimates for agricultural regions
Living incomes refer to the minimum income required for families to have a decent living. Often, smallholder farmers struggle to achieve an economically viable and decent standard of living. Because farmers typically do not receive wages, living income estimates are helpful in determining the income above which farmers would need to earn to be able to support themselves and their families. In these reports, living incomes have been estimated for the cocoa and coffee sectors, but the estimates can apply to the regions more generally, including in other sectors.
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The Anker Research Institute is now working with companies that are interested in helping to ensure a sustainable future for this and other types of living wage research. If your organization is interested in supporting or collaborating with the Anker Research Institute, please contact inquiries@ankerinstitute.org.
