SEATINI's interface with EALA Committee on Communication, Trade and Industry

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has grown steadily across the East African Community, particularly in land-based sectors such as agriculture, mining and infrastructure. While this growth has expanded employment opportunities, the reality for many workers, especially women, remains precarious. Jobs in tea plantations, flower farms and other large-scale agricultural investments are often low-paying, temporary and highly gender-segregated, exposing women workers to persistent labour rights violations and gender-based violence.

This documentary unpacks how women, who form the majority of the workforce in these sectors, face sexual harassment, wage discrimination, unsafe working conditions and denial of maternity protection. Drawing on evidence from SEATINI’s research, field visits and regional engagements, the film highlights how investment-led growth has prioritised investor protection while leaving workers with weak safeguards and limited access to justice. It also reflects regional trends documented by UNCTAD, the ILO and other institutions, showing rising FDI inflows alongside deepening inequalities in the world of work.

“Beneath the Canopy: Women’s Struggles in East Africa’s Commercial Plantations” captures lived experiences from Uganda’s palm oil plantations and tea estates in Kenya and Tanzania. The stories reveal systemic failures in workplace protections, inaccessible grievance mechanisms and the normalisation of harmful practices such as sex-for-work arrangements and forced cohabitation with supervisors. These realities are further examined through regional dialogues held in Kampala and Nairobi, bringing together women workers, trade unions, employers, labour officials, policymakers and members of the East African Legislative Assembly.

The film also situates these experiences within broader policy gaps across the region. Current national and regional investment frameworks prioritise attracting FDI but lack mandatory human rights, gender and labour impact assessments. Weak labour inspection systems, limited coordination among authorities and inadequate enforcement continue to undermine the rights and dignity of women workers across commercial investment schemes.

Through this documentary, SEATINI calls for gender-responsive, rights-based investment and labour governance reforms that place people at the centre of development. The film contributes to ongoing advocacy for stronger regional accountability, meaningful parliamentary engagement and concrete policy action to ensure safe, fair and dignified working conditions for women workers across the East African Community.

Watch, reflect and join the conversation on reclaiming the rights of women workers in commercial investment schemes in the EAC.