The True Cost of Kiwis

2023-03-01

LAZIO - The team has been investigating The Green Gold of Italy, or Kiwi Revolution as it is known locally, since April 2022. The Lazio region of Italy has become the world's largest producer of kiwis in the past years. But glitter doesn't always mean gold.

For thousands of farm workers trafficked from Punjab in India to work in the kiwi fields of Lazio, the sweet kiwi business is bittersweet. Following the entire supply chain of workers and kiwis - from Punjabi villages in India to Italian fields and European consumers - we have discovered an industry based on cheap labor and labor trafficking. The story is documented with more than 50 interviews with families and traffickers in Punjab, workers, farmers and authorities in Lazio, experts, organizations and with companies that are making their profits producing and exporting The Green Gold of Italy. In international markets, kiwis are sold under brand names like Zepri in stores all over Europe.

© Stefania Prandi

Team members

Stefania Prandi

Stefania Prandi is an Italian award-winning journalist, writer and photographer.

Francesca Cicculli

Francesca Cicculli is an Italian investigative journalist based in Rome.

Charlotte Aagaard

Charlotte Aagaard is an award-winning war reporter based in Denmark.

Kusum Arora

Kusum Arora is a Punjab, India based freelance journalist.

Mentor

Pramod Acharya

Pramod Acharya is a freelance journalist based in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Supported

€12.600 allocated on 11/04/2022

MSU/2022/032

Grant

Modern Slavery Unveiled

ONLINE

Il sapore amaro del kiwi, IRPIMEDIA, 01/03/2023;
Han drømte om det gode liv. Femten år senere er han stadig fanget i Italiens kogende kiwi-marker, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
En lille behåret frugt fortæller historien om moderne slaveri i Europa anno 2023, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
Slave i seks år: “I dag er jeg en fri fugl, som ikke finder mig i noget”, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
Galleri: Tag med til Punjab. Drømmen om et bedre liv i Europa, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
I retfærdighedens tjeneste. Marco Omizzolo har viet sit liv til at hjælpe Italiens migrantarbejdere, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
Sådan har vi gjort, Danwatch.dk, 04/03/2023;
Bitter taste of kiwis: Indian fruit pickers in Italy allege abuse, Al Jazeera, 29/03/2023.

PRESS COVERAGE

Kiwi i danske supermarkeder høstes under problematiske forhold, Detail Watch, 05/03/2023;
Netto, Lidl, Rema 1000 m.fl. sælger kiwier, som er høstet af underbetalte migrantarbejdere i Italien, Dagens.dk, 05/03/2023.

IMPACT

Dialogue meeting: Migrant workers in the Southern European agricultural sector, Etisk Handel Danmark, 17/03/2023.

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