Child labour in cocoa production: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|Use of children in the production of cocoa beans}}

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[[File:Chuao 003.JPG|thumb|right|Boy collecting cocoa after the beans have been dried]]

[[Child labor]] is a recurring issue in [[cocoa production]]. [[Ivory Coast]] and [[Ghana]], together produce nearly 60% of the world's cocoa each year. During the 2018/19 cocoa-growing season, research commissioned by the U.S. Department of Labor was conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago in these two countries and found that 1.48&nbsp;million children are engaged in hazardous work on cocoa farms including working with sharp tools and agricultural chemicals and carrying heavy loads. The number of children is significant, representing 43 percent of all children living in agricultural households in cocoa-growing areas. During the same period cocoa production in [[Cote d’Ivoire]] and Ghana increased 62 percent while the prevalence of child labor in cocoa production among all agricultural households increased by 14 percentage points.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Child Labor in the Production of Cocoa {{!}} U.S. Department of Labor|url=https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/our-work/child-forced-labor-trafficking/child-labor-cocoa|access-date=24 September 2020|website=www.dol.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Assessing Progress in Reducing Child Labor in Cocoa Growing Areas of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana {{!}} NORC.org|url=https://www.norc.org/Research/Projects/Pages/assessing-progress-in-reducing-child-labor-in-cocoa-growing-areas-of-côte-d’ivoire-and-ghana.aspx|access-date=27 October 2020|website=norc|language=en-US}}</ref> Attention on this subject has focused on [[West Africa]], which collectively supplies 69% of the world's cocoa, and Côte d'Ivoire, supplying 35%, in particular.<ref name="WCF 2010 update">{{cite web|date=May 2010|title=Cocoa Market Update|url=http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/learn-about-cocoa/documents/CocoaMarketUpdateasof5.18.10.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013152355/http://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/learn-about-cocoa/documents/CocoaMarketUpdateasof5.18.10.pdf|archive-date=13 October 2011|access-date=11 December 2011|publisher=World Cocoa Foundation}}</ref>

'''Chocolate and slavery''' are alleged to be linked in contemporary [[chocolate]] plantations in west Africa. Some west African states have been accused of allowing the practice of [[slavery|slave labour]] in [[cocoa]] plantations. In the [[Cote d'Ivoire]] boys aged between 12 and 16 have been documented as being sold as slaves. Most slaves are impoverished young men and boys from [[Benin]], [[Togo]], and especially [[Mali]]. Children found alone at bus stations or begging for food are lured to the Ivory Coast and sold there. [http://www.american.edu/TED/chocolate-slave.htm]Traffickers promise them paid work together with housing and education; instead they suffer forced labour and severe abuse working on cocoa farms. The Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa is the largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans. West Africa, notably the Ivory Coast, supplies nearly 50% of world cocoa. Slavery is persistent and hard to detect in remote Ivorian farms. [http://www.progress.org/archive/fold201.htm]

The 2016 Global Estimates of Child Labor indicate that one-fifth of all African children are involved in child labour.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Child labour in Africa (IPEC)|url=https://www.ilo.org/ipec/Regionsandcountries/Africa/lang--en/index.htm|access-date=25 September 2020|website=www.ilo.org|language=en}}</ref> Nine percent of African children are in hazardous work. It is estimated that more than 1.8&nbsp;million children in West Africa are involved in growing cocoa.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.childlabor-payson.org/Tulane%20Final%20Report.pdf |url-status=dead |title=Final Report on the Status of Public and Private Efforts to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor (WFCL) in the Cocoa Sectors of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412194832/http://www.childlabor-payson.org/Tulane%20Final%20Report.pdf |archive-date=12 April 2012 |page=7 |publisher=Tulane University |date=31 March 2011}}</ref> A 2013–14 survey commissioned by the Department of Labor and conducted by Tulane University found that an estimated 1.4&nbsp;million children aged 5 years old to 11 years old worked in agriculture in cocoa-growing areas, while approximately 800,000 of them were engaged in hazardous work, including working with sharp tools and agricultural chemicals and carrying heavy loads.<ref name="thedailybeast.com">{{Cite news | url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/30/lawsuit-your-candy-bar-was-made-by-child-slaves.html | title=Lawsuit: Your Candy Bar Was Made by Child Slaves| newspaper=The Daily Beast| date=30 September 2015| last1=Haglage| first1=Abby}}</ref><ref name="Tulane2015">{{cite web

==Disclosure==

|url=http://www.childlaborcocoa.org/images/Payson_Reports/Tulane%20University%20-%20Survey%20Research%20on%20Child%20Labor%20in%20the%20Cocoa%20Sector%20-%2030%20July%202015.pdf

A [[1998]] report from [[UNICEF]], the United Nations Children's Fund, concluded that some Ivory Coast farmers use enslaved children, many of them from the poorer neighboring countries of Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo. A report by the [[Geneva]], [[Switzerland]]- based [[International Labour Organization]], also found that trafficking in children is widespread in [[West Africa]].

|title=Final Report: 2013/14 Survey Research on Child Labor in West African Cocoa Growing Areas

|author=School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University

|date=30 July 2015

|access-date=25 March 2016

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171221042021/http://www.childlaborcocoa.org/images/Payson_Reports/Tulane%20University%20-%20Survey%20Research%20on%20Child%20Labor%20in%20the%20Cocoa%20Sector%20-%2030%20July%202015.pdf

|archive-date=21 December 2017

|url-status=dead

}}</ref> According to the NORC study, methodological differences between the 2018/9 survey and earlier ones, together with errors in the administration of the 2013/4 survey have made it challenging to document changes in the number of children engaged in child labour over the past five years.

A major study of the issue, published in [[Fortune (magazine)|''Fortune'' magazine]] in the U.S. in March 2016, concluded that approximately 2.1&nbsp;million children in West Africa "still do the dangerous and physically taxing work of harvesting cocoa". The report was doubtful as to whether the situation can be improved significantly.<ref name="Fortune">{{cite web |url=http://fortune.com/big-chocolate-child-labor/ |title=Behind a bittersweet industry |last=O'Keefe |first=Brian |date=1 March 2016 |website=Fortune.com |publisher=Fortune |access-date=7 January 2018 |quote=For a decade and a half, the big chocolate makers have promised to end child labour in their industry—and have spent tens of millions of dollars in the effort. But as of the latest estimate, 2.1&nbsp;million West African children still do the dangerous and physically taxing work of harvesting cocoa. What will it take to fix the problem?}}</ref>

The practise first reached a wider public with a [[2001]] British [[television documentary]] , '' Slavery'' made by [[Kate Blewett]] and [[Brian Woods]]. This claimed that 90% of Ivorian cocoa plantations use forced labour. Also a ship was found near West Africa allegedly carrying child slaves. Afterwards, a [[Knight Ridder]] reporter travelled deep into the Ivory Coast where farms used child slaves. [http://www.progress.org/archive/fold201.htm] He claimed the Ivorian government is involved in the practice as are the farmers and chocolate manufacturers in America and Europe and chocolate consumers may not know of the problem associated with the chocolate they buy. After the programme was broadcast some [[United Kingdom|British]] consumers demanded that the [[United Kingdom]]’s major chocolate producers, [[Cadbury Schweppes|Cadbury]], [[Nestle]] and [[Mars, Incorporated|Mars]] source chocolate untainted by slavery. These large companies buy cocoa at [[International Exchanges]] and Ivorian cocoa is mixed with other cocoa making it impossible to tell which cocoa is slave produced.

==Child labour==

The Chocolate Manufacturers Association, a trade group for American chocolate makers, acknowledges that slaves are harvesting cocoa on some Ivory Coast farms. [http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0801-03.htm]

In 2001, the report ''A Taste of Slavery: How Your Chocolate May be Tainted'' won a [[George Polk Award]]. In it were claims that traffickers promised paid work, housing, and education to children who were forced to labour and undergo severe abuse, that some children were held forcibly on farms and worked up to 100 hours per week, and that attempted escapees were beaten. It quoted a former slave: "The beatings were a part of my life" and "when you didn't hurry, you were beaten."<ref name="Raghavan1">{{cite news | last = Raghavan

| first = Sudarsan |author2=Sumana Chatterjee | title = Slaves feed world's taste for chocolate: Captives common in cocoa farms of Africa | newspaper = [[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]] | date = 24 June 2001 | url = http://www2.jsonline.com/news/nat/jun01/slave24r062301.asp | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060917014323/http://vision.ucsd.edu/~kbranson/stopchocolateslavery/atasteofslavery.html| archive-date = 17 September 2006}}</ref><ref name="commondreams.org"/><ref name="Raghavan2">{{cite news|last=Raghavan |first=Sudarsan |title=Two boys tell of descent into slavery |newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]] |date=25 June 2001 |url=http://www2.jsonline.com/bym/news/jun01/slave26062501.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050215094139/http://www.jsonline.com/bym/news/jun01/slave26062501.asp |archive-date=15 February 2005 }}</ref><ref name="Raghavan3">{{cite news|last=Raghavan |first=Sudarsan |title=Traffickers target boys in cocoa trade |newspaper=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]] |date=24 June 2001 |url=http://www2.jsonline.com/news/intl/jun01/slave25062401.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412040143/http://www2.jsonline.com/news/intl/jun01/slave25062401.asp |archive-date=12 April 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=SAJAers in the News |year=2002 |url=http://www.saja.org/chocolate.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512005529/http://www.saja.org/chocolate.html |archive-date=12 May 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Foldvary |first=Fred |title=Chocolate worker slavery |work=The Progress Report |year=2001 |url=http://www.progress.org/archive/fold201.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051017044317/http://www.progress.org/archive/fold201.htm |archive-date=17 October 2005 }}</ref>

A small observational study, published in 2005 and financed by USAID, examines the many health hazards of cocoa production in western Ghana.<ref name="Mull & Kirkhorn" />

A [[BBC]] reporter, [[Humphrey Hawksley]] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1272522.stm] reported in 2001 that uncounted numbers of children have been reported missing in [[Sikasso]], [[Mali]]. Many of them are believed kidnapped and sold as [[slavery|slaves]] for about US$30. Other children are sold by their parents. In the poor parts of Mali street sellers and other slum families sometimes sell their children into slavery for a few dollars. It is believed 15,000 children or more are in the Cote d'Ivoire, some under 11. They are unlikely ever to be reunited with their families. Often they are held forcibly on farms and made to do tiring work for 80 to 100 hours per week. Those who attempt to escape are beaten. A former slave, Aly Diabate said, {{Quotation| The beatings were a part of my life, anytime they loaded you with bags (of cocoa beans) and you fell while carrying them, nobody helped you. Instead they beat you and beat you until you picked it up again. }}}[http://www.foodrevolution.org/slavery_chocolate.htm] Malick Doumbia who used to be a child-slave said that he had escaped but thousands are still there and if just one was freed through the report that would be good. The Sikasso police chief is sure the children have gone to slavery. He says the children are overworked till they become sick and some die.

In 2006, a study showed many children working on small farms in Côte d'Ivoire, often on family farms. Over 11,000 people working on small Ivorian cocoa farms were surveyed.

[[Save the Children Fund]] established a refuge for former slave-children. Currently no child is there. Mali's Save the Children Fund director, Salia Kante, has stated,

A report funded by the U.S. [[United States Department of Labor|Department of Labor]] concluded that "Industry and the Governments of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana have taken steps to investigate the problem and are implementing projects that address issues identified in the Protocol."<ref name="Payson">{{cite web|author=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer of Tulane University |title=First annual report: Oversight of public and private initiatives to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa sector in Cote d-Ivoire and Ghana |date=31 October 2007 |url=http://www.childlabor-payson.org/FirstAnnualReport.pdf |access-date=19 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319065205/http://childlabor-payson.org/FirstAnnualReport.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref>

{{Quotation| People who are drinking cocoa or coffee are drinking their blood. It is the blood of young children carrying 6kg of cocoa sacks so heavy that they have wounds all over their shoulders. It's really pitiful to see.}}} One man claimed that workers get no money after a year. If they ask for money they are beaten and still get nothing.

In 2008, in a report featuring responses from [[Cargill]] and [[The Hershey Company|Hershey]]'s, [[Fortune (magazine)|''Fortune'' magazine]] reported that "little progress has been made",<ref name="Parenti" /> and in June 2009, the [[OECD]] released a position paper on child labour on West African Cocoa Farms,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oecd.org/swac/publications/43641121.pdf |title=Regional Initiative combating worst forms of child labour on West African coca farms |website=OECD |date=June 2009}}</ref> and launched a website on its Regional Cocoa Initiative.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oecd.org/document/21/0,3746,en_38233741_38246823_43637909_1_1_1_1,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618234254/http://www.oecd.org/document/21/0,3746,en_38233741_38246823_43637909_1_1_1_1,00.html |archive-date=18 June 2012 |title=Regional Cocoa Initiative |website=OECD}}</ref>

==Calls to action==

Action has been called for by a range of anti slavery groups. Consumer boycotting has been suggested. A general [[boycott]] of cocoa products would be relatively ineffective, as non-slave products would also be harmed.

A major report released in 2015 by the Payson Center for International Development of Tulane University, funded by the United States Department of Labor, reported a 51% increase in the number of child workers (1.4&nbsp;million) in the cocoa industry in 2013–14, compared to 2008–09. The report estimated that over 1.4&nbsp;million children ages 5 years old to 11 years old were working in agriculture in cocoa-growing areas, approximately 800,000 of them engaged in hazardous work, including working with agricultural chemicals, carrying heavy loads, and working with sharp tools.<ref name="thedailybeast.com"/><ref name="Tulane2015" />

*[[Anti-Slavery International]] states,

{{Quotation|Because of the way the chocolate industry buys its cocoa it is not possible to ensure that slave or other forms of illegal exploitation have not been used in its production.}} In the organisation’s opinion companies ought to buy from plantations directly to ensure proper treatment of workers. If they use [[Middlemen]] or exchanges they should work with the governments of the countries, which grow cocoa to enforce acceptable conditions of work.[http://www.progress.org/archive/fold201.htm]

A study of the issue, published in ''Fortune'' magazine in the U.S. in March 2016, concluded that approximately 2.1&nbsp;million children in West Africa "still do the dangerous and physically taxing work of harvesting cocoa". The report suggested that it would be a persistent challenge to improve the situation:{{blockquote|According to the 2015 edition of the Cocoa Barometer, a biennial report examining the economics of cocoa that's published by a consortium of nonprofits, the average farmer in Ghana in the 2013–14 growing season made just 84¢ per day, and farmers in Ivory Coast a mere 50¢. That puts them well below the World Bank's new $1.90 per day standard for extreme poverty, even if you factor in the 13% rise in the price of cocoa last year.}}

* In 2001 Carole Pearson [http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/chocolate.cfm] of the American lobby group [[Organic Consumers Association]] claims that forced labour is frequently involved in chocolate production. She states that as much as 40% of ordinary chocolate which does not bear the [[Fair trade]] label includes slave produced cocoa. and urges readers to work against slavery by [[boycott]]ing main brands and instead buying only chocolate with a [[Fairtrade labelling|Fair Trade Label]]. [http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/chocolate.cfm]

Sona Ebai, the former secretary general of the Alliance of Cocoa Producing Countries, said that eradicating child labour was an immense task and that the chocolate companies' newfound commitment to expanding the investments in cocoa communities are not sufficient: "Best-case scenario, we're only doing 10% of what's needed. Getting that other 90% won't be easy.&nbsp;... I think child labour cannot be just the responsibility of industry to solve. I think it's the proverbial all-hands-on-deck: government, humane society, the private sector. And there, you really need leadership."<ref name="Fortune" />

Reported in 2018, a three-year pilot program – conducted by Nestlé through the [[International Cocoa Initiative]] with 26,000 farmers mostly located in Côte d'Ivoire – observed a 51% decrease in the number of children doing hazardous jobs in cocoa farming.<ref name="balch">{{cite web |author1=Oliver Balch |title=Child labour: the true cost of chocolate production |url=https://www.raconteur.net/business-innovation/child-labour-cocoa-production |publisher=Raconteur |access-date=7 January 2019 |date=20 June 2018}}</ref> A separate sub-study conducted by NORC and commissioned by the World Cocoa Foundation in 2019, provides detailed results which demonstrate that hazardous child labour has been reduced by one-third in communities where company programs are in place.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WCF-Report_NORC_Final-10_17.pdf|title=Assessment of Effectiveness of Cocoa Industry Interventions in Reducing Child Labor in Cocoa Growing Areas of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana|access-date=27 October 2020|archive-date=26 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126191325/https://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/WCF-Report_NORC_Final-10_17.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

*[[Fred E. Foldvary]] of the Department of Economics, [[Santa Clara University]], [[California]] suggests the following action:-[http://www.progress.org/archive/fold201.htm]

:#government legislation requiring, "made by slaves" labels on products so that public pressure can be applied worldwide and people know what they are buying and that people should apply pressure onto their governments to get such labelling.

:#people write to their elected representatives and to chocolate and cocoa manufacturers, this includes [[Hershey Foods]] [[Archer Daniels Midland]] and [[See's Candies|See's]] in areas where they trade as well as those in the section above. [http://www.progress.org/archive/fold201.htm]

:#activists to expand Fairly Traded cocoa produce to [[North America]] and other areas. Fair trade cocoa produce is currently mainly based in [[Europe]]. [http://www.progress.org/archive/fold201.htm]

The [[United States Department of Labor|US Department of Labor]] formed the Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating Group as a public-private partnership with the governments of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire to address child labour practices in the cocoa industry.<ref>{{cite web |title=Child Labor in the Production of Cocoa |url=https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/child-labor-cocoa |publisher=Bureau of International Labor Affairs, United States Department of Labor, Washington, DC |access-date=7 January 2019 |date=2018}}</ref> The International Cocoa Initiative involving major cocoa manufacturers established the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System intended to monitor thousands of farms in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire for child labour conditions.<ref name="ft2018">{{cite news |author1=Emiko Terazono |title=Chocolate industry accused of failure on child labour |url=https://www.ft.com/content/eb58ba84-425f-11e8-803a-295c97e6fd0b |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221224161238/https://www.ft.com/content/eb58ba84-425f-11e8-803a-295c97e6fd0b |archive-date=24 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=8 January 2019 |work=The Financial Times |date=18 April 2018 }}</ref><ref name="reuters2017">{{cite news |author1=Kieran Guilbert |title=Falling cocoa prices threaten child labor spike in Ghana, Ivory Coast |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-westafrica-cocoa-children/falling-cocoa-prices-threaten-child-labor-spike-in-ghana-ivory-coast-idUSKBN1931ZQ |access-date=7 January 2019 |work=Reuters |date=12 June 2017}}</ref> Despite these efforts, goals to reduce child labour in West Africa by 70% before 2020 are slowed by persistent poverty, absence of schools, expansion of cocoa farmland, and increased demand for coco.<ref name="ft2018" /><ref name="cb2018">{{cite web |title=2018 Cocoa Barometer Report |url=http://www.cocoabarometer.org/Cocoa_Barometer/News/Entries/2018/4/19_2018_Cocoa_Barometer_Released.html |publisher=The Cocoa Barometer |access-date=8 January 2019 |date=19 April 2018}}</ref>

* In September 2005 the [[The Netherlands|Dutch]] member of [[parliament]] [[Femke Halsema]] filed a motion to abolish European imports of cacao based on slave labour. In a gesture to compensate cacao producers the motion also included the proposal to increase the minimum percentage of cacao required in chocolate. [http://www.groenlinks.nl/2ekamer/nieuws/Nieuwsbericht.2005-09-21.2628/view]

In April 2018, the Cocoa Barometer 2018 report on the $100-billion industry, said this about the child labour situation: "Not a single company or government is anywhere near reaching the sectorwide objective of the elimination of child labour, and not even near their commitments of a 70% reduction of child labour by 2020". A report later that year by ''New Food Economy'' stated that the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems implemented by the International Cocoa Initiative and its partners has been useful, but "they are currently reaching less than 20 percent of the over two million children impacted".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://newfoodeconomy.org/chocolate-farmers-ivory-coast-ghana/ |title=Cocoa has a poverty problem. You can help by eating more dark chocolate |date=7 July 2018 |publisher=New Food Economy |access-date=7 July 2018 |quote=In 2001, companies including Mars, Ferrero, the Hershey Company, Kraft Foods, and Nestlé expressed their collective commitment to combat child labour in cocoa growing communities in West Africa through their support of the Harkin–Engel Protocol, an international agreement aimed at reducing the worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector in Ivory Coast and Ghana by 70 percent by 2020. |archive-date=23 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023110138/https://newfoodeconomy.org/chocolate-farmers-ivory-coast-ghana/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to the 2018 edition of the Cocoa Barometer, a biennial report examining the economics of cocoa that's published by a consortium of nonprofits, the current farmer income is $.78.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Cocoa Barometer Report|url=https://www.voicenetwork.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2018-Cocoa-Barometer.pdf}}</ref>

* in 2005 [[The Netherlands|Dutch]] documentary maker Teun van der Keuken attempted to introduce a slave trade free chocolate bar at the premiere of the movie [[Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)|Charlie and the Chocolate Factory]] in [[London]] [http://www.rvu.nl/kvw/index.php?n=331]. He is also pursuing a case of [[receipt of stolen property]] against his own person as he has turned himself in. He is reasoning that when he eats chocolate knowing full well cacao is derived from slave labour he is in fact committing a crime, when convicted it would will become easier to prosecute European cacao converters. [http://www.rvu.nl/wwwdata/spspIMG502.gif]. There is a campaign giving out critical leaflets when, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is screened. [http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/charlieaction.html]

Class action lawsuits in the US against companies in the cocoa industry have not achieved much success.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2018/02/13/Nestle-sued-again-over-child-labor-in-cocoa-supply-chain|title=Nestle Sued Again Over Child Labor to Make Chocolate |date=13 February 2018|publisher=Confectionery News |access-date=8 January 2018}}</ref> In 2015, lawsuits against Mars, Nestlé, and Hershey's alleged that their products' packaging failed to disclose that production may involve child slave labour. All were dismissed in 2016, although the plaintiffs filed an appeal.<ref name="Mother Jones">{{cite web |url=https://www.motherjones.com/food/2018/10/halloween-candy-hidden-ingredient-chocolate-child-slave-labor-nestle-mars-cargill/|title=Your Halloween Candy's Hidden Ingredient: Child Slave Labor|date=31 October 2016 |work=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]] |access-date=8 January 2018}}</ref>

==Obtaining Fairly-Traded Chocolate==

Fairly-Traded Chocolate are the only chocolate products at present which are guaranteed not to contain any sourced from a slave plantation. A full range of high quality [[fair Trade|fairly traded]] chocolate products are available to consumers through shops in the [[United Kingdom|UK]]. In the [[United States|USA]] and elsewhere [[fair Trade|fairly traded]] chocolate products are available online.

This link has more information about how to get fairly traded chocolate online.

[http://www.wikinfo.org/wiki.php?title=Chocolate_and_slavery#Chocolate_which_Helps_the_Third_World.]

Nestlé's website, as paraphrased by ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'' magazine, states:

==Response to Action==

{{blockquote|The company has built or renovated 42 schools in cocoa-growing communities and has helped support families so they can afford to keep their kids in school rather than sending them off to work and the company has implemented a monitoring system, it says, to identify at-risk children and report the findings back to the company and its suppliers. When alerted to instances of child trafficking or slavery, "we report it to appropriate authorities immediately".<ref name="Mother Jones"/>}} The company said it had spent $5.5&nbsp;million on the problem in 2016.<ref name="Mother Jones" /> Nestlé had also published a report in 2017 on child labour in the cocoa supply chain, Tackling Child Labour, with additional specifics as to their "approach to addressing this significant, complex and sensitive challenge".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nestle.com/csv/raw-materials/nestle-cocoa-plan |title=Cocoa |website=Nestlé}}</ref>

In a press statement accompanying the release of the NORC report Kareem Kysia, Director of Vulnerable Populations Research at NORC and a lead author of the report, stated,<blockquote>As the overall production of cocoa increased dramatically, cocoa farming spread into areas of Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana where infrastructure to monitor child labour was weak and awareness of laws regulating it was low. Interventions to stem hazardous child labour in the cocoa sector should target new, emerging areas of production and focus on efforts to reduce exposure to the component parts of hazardous child labour.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Increase In Hazardous Child Labour In Cocoa Production Amid An Expansion Of Cocoa Farming In Cote D'ivoire And Ghana {{!}} NORC.org|url=https://www.norc.org/NewsEventsPublications/PressReleases/Pages/increase-in-hazardous-child-labor-in-cocoa-production-amid-an-expansion-of-cocoa-farming-in-cote-d’ivoire-and-ghana.aspx|access-date=27 October 2020|website=norc|language=en-US}}</ref></blockquote>

The [[Chocolate Manufacturers Association]] is surveying Ivorian farms. The [[United States Labor Department]] is trying to end West African child labour in cooperation with the [[International Labor Organization]].

==See also=Income===

Income from the cocoa industry for small cocoa farmers is not stable because when the market price of cocoa is low, the price paid to each link in the industry decreases and cocoa farmers who produce raw products get very little in the chain.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.antislavery.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/1_cocoa_report_2004.pdf |title=the Cocoa Industry in West Africa A history of exploitation |website=AntiSlavery.org}}</ref> To keep the cost of cocoa low, cocoa farmers seek the cheapest labour to make a profit. In Africa, a cocoa labourer can only make less than 2 dollars per day, which is below the poverty line.<ref>[http://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/women-and-the-big-business-of-chocolate/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810070606/http://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/stories/women-and-the-big-business-of-chocolate/|date=10 August 2014}}, Kramer, Anna. 6 March 2013. "Women and the big business of chocolate".</ref> Child labourers between the ages of 12 and 15 in the cocoa industry work as much as an adult labourer, but they are paid less than adults.<ref>[https://www.voanews.com/a/governments-look-to-end-child-labor-in-west-african-cocoa-farming-104482419/127538.html], Hinshaw, Drew. 6 October 2010. "Governments Look to End Child Labor in West African Cocoa Farming." Voice of America.</ref> Children in cocoa growing areas face the realities of rural poverty (scarcity of land, food insecurity, lack of education infrastructure, access to potable water, poor health services, etc.). The regular practice of children working on cocoa farms is often a natural way of life for cocoa farmers who, for a variety of reasons, want to train their children and at the same time use them to reduce labour costs on the family's farm.<ref name=":0" />

*[[Dubble]] a Fairtrade chocolate bar sold in the United Kingdom.

* [[Green and Black's]]

===Child labour definition===

{{Main|Child labour}}

The [[International Labour Organization]] (ILO) defines child labour as work that "is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; by obliging them to leave school prematurely; or by requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work."<ref name="ILO2004p16">{{cite book |url= http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/download.do?type=document&id=174 |title= Child labour: a textbook for university students |isbn= 978-92-2-115549-2 |year= 2004 |publisher= International Labour Organization |___location= Geneva |format= pdf |page= 16 |access-date= 5 March 2012 |archive-date= 22 September 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210922034926/https://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/download.do?type=document&id=174 |url-status= dead }}</ref> Not all work that children do is child labour. Work done that is not detrimental to children's health, development or schooling is beneficial because it allows children to develop skills, gain experience and prepare them for future positions;<ref name="ILO2004p16"/> these are not considered child labour or abuse.<ref name="ILO2004p16"/>

The forms of child labour related to cocoa production includes parents putting their children to work and keeping them out of school to reduce labour cost on family farms. Most children who work on cocoa farms do so within their family structure.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Challenge of Child Labour in Cocoa| website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWExt4lmQB8}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link|date=February 2022}}</ref> However, this does not mean they are not exposed to hazards, and, beyond these situations, illegal and exploitative practices also exist. Studies suggest that in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire's cocoa sector roughly 1% of children in child labour could be in, or at risk of, forced labour.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Child Labour in Cocoa|url=https://cocoainitiative.org/our-work/child-labour-in-cocoa/|access-date=24 September 2020|website=ICI Cocoa Initiative|archive-date=23 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923021954/https://cocoainitiative.org/our-work/child-labour-in-cocoa/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The United Nations declared 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, and declared 5 September to be "Labour Day".

==Child slavery and trafficking==

A 2000 BBC documentary described [[child slavery]] on commercial cocoa farms in Côte d'Ivoire. The documentary featured Kevin Bales, renowned author and professor, who later became the founding board member of the International Cocoa Initiative, a Geneva-based nonprofit funded by major chocolate makers that focuses on addressing child labour in cocoa production in West Africa.<ref>{{Cite web|title=About Kevin Bales, Author & Speaker on Modern Slavery, Human Trafficking & Climate Change|url=http://www.kevinbales.net/about.html|access-date=24 September 2020|website=Kevin Bales|language=en}}</ref> In 2001, the [[United States Department of State]] estimated there were 15,000 child slaves in cocoa, cotton, and coffee farms in Côte d'Ivoire,<ref name="commondreams.org">{{cite news|author=Sumana Chatterjee |title=Chocolate Firms Launch Fight Against 'Slave Free' Labels |newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |date=1 August 2001 |access-date=4 April 2012 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0801-03.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308050847/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0801-03.htm |archive-date=8 March 2012 }}</ref> and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association acknowledged that children were used in the cocoa harvest of cocoa.<ref name="commondreams.org"/>

Malian migrants have long worked on cocoa farms in Côte d'Ivoire,<ref name="Blunt">{{cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/946952.stm |title= The bitter taste of slavery |date= 28 September 2000 |author= Liz Blunt |work = BBC |access-date =15 December 2011}}</ref> but in 2000 cocoa prices had dropped to a 10-year low and some farmers stopped paying their employees.<ref name="Blunt"/> The Malian counsel had to rescue boys who had not been paid for five years and who were beaten if they tried to run away.<ref name="Blunt"/> Malian officials believed that 15,000 children, some as young as 11 years old, were working in Côte d'Ivoire in 2001.<ref name="chocolate slavery">{{cite news|last=Hawksley|first=Humphrey|author-link=Humphrey Hawksley|date=12 April 2001|title=Mali's children in chocolate slavery|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1272522.stm|access-date=2 January 2010}}</ref> These children were often from poor families or the slums and were sold for "just a few dollars" to work in other countries.<ref name="chocolate slavery"/> Parents were told the children would find work and send money home, but once the children left home, they often worked in conditions resembling slavery.<ref name="combating"/> In other cases, children begging for food were lured from bus stations and sold as slaves.<ref>{{cite web |author=Samlanchith Chanthavong |title=Chocolate and Slavery: Child Labor in Cote d'Ivoire |work=TED Case Studies Number 664 |publisher=[[American University]] |year=2002 |access-date=4 April 2012 |url=http://www.american.edu/TED/chocolate-slave.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210170034/http://www1.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm |archive-date=10 February 2012 }}</ref>

In 2002, Côte d'Ivoire had 12,000 children with no relatives nearby, which suggested they were [[Trafficking of children|trafficked]],<ref name="combating">{{cite web | title = Combating Child Labour in Cocoa Growing | publisher = [[International Labour Organization]] | year = 2005 | url = http://www.ilo.org/public//english//standards/ipec/themes/cocoa/download/2005_02_cl_cocoa.pdf}}</ref> likely from neighboring Mali, [[Burkina Faso]] and [[Togo]].<ref name="Blue Chevigny">{{cite web |url= http://www.unicef.org/protection/cotedivoire_39995.html |title= Child trafficking in Côte d'Ivoire: Efforts under way to reverse a tragic trend |author= Blue Chevigny |date= 14 June 2007 |access-date= 4 April 2012 |archive-date= 9 May 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120509232506/http://www.unicef.org/protection/cotedivoire_39995.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> According to a 2009 [[snowball sampling]] study, the majority of those with childhood cocoa labour experience were trafficked (75% from Burkina Faso and 63% from Mali).<ref name="Payson4 15">{{cite web|url=http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |title=Fourth Annual Report: Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |author=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer of Tulane University |page=15 |date=30 September 2011 |access-date=23 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319080151/http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref> The majority of those who were trafficked had no interaction with police, and only 0.5% had any contact from institutions that provided social services.<ref name="Payson4 16">{{cite web|url=http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |title=Fourth Annual Report: Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |author=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer of Tulane University |page=16 |date=30 September 2011 |access-date=23 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319080151/http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref> Burkina Faso<ref name="US State TIP BF">{{cite web |url= https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/123361.pdf |title= Trafficking in Persons Report |publisher = US State Department |pages= 90–91 |date= June 2009 |access-date=23 April 2012}}</ref> and Togo<ref name="US State TIP Togo">{{cite web |url= https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/123365.pdf |title= Trafficking in Persons Report |publisher = US State Department |pages= 282–284 |date= June 2009 |access-date=23 April 2012}}</ref> are rated at [[Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons#Activities|Tier 2]] in part due to trafficking for cocoa production. By 2020, West African nations Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire were upgraded to Tier 2 in the 2020 [[US State Department]]'s TIP Report in part for their respective progress to curb child labour abuses in the cocoa sector.<ref>https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2020-TIP-Report-Complete-062420-FINAL.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref>

In 2001, due to pressure applied by the [[US Congress]] and potential US and United Kingdom [[boycotts]],<ref name="combating" /> the chocolate manufacturers promised to start eliminating forced child labour.<ref name="workers exploited" />

In 2012, [[Ferrero SpA|Ferrero]] promised that they will end cocoa slavery by 2020.<ref>[http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/20/ferrero-sets-date-to-end-cocoa-slavery/ Ferrero sets date to end cocoa slavery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825065244/http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/20/ferrero-sets-date-to-end-cocoa-slavery/ |date=25 August 2017 }}, 20 April 2012, ''CNN''</ref><ref>[http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/29/nestle-advances-child-labor-battle-plan/ Nestlé advances child labor battle plan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713094652/http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/29/nestle-advances-child-labor-battle-plan/ |date=13 July 2017 }}, 29 June 2012, ''CNN''</ref><ref>[http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/19/child-slavery-and-chocolate-all-too-easy-to-find/ Child slavery and chocolate: All too easy to find] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520015752/http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/19/child-slavery-and-chocolate-all-too-easy-to-find/ |date=20 May 2019 }}, 19 January 2012, ''CNN''</ref>

In 2018, the [[U.S. Department of Labor]] issued a report on labour conditions around the world<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002122745/http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 October 2013|title=List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor}}</ref> in which a ''[[List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor]]'' mentioned five countries where the cocoa industry used child labour, and two countries where the cocoa industry used child labour and forced labour.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018|title=Department of Labor List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor|url=https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/ListofGoods.pdf}}</ref>

News reports as recently as 2018, indicate that "most child slaves on cocoa farms (Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana) come from Mali and Burkina Faso, two of the poorest nations on Earth. The children, some as young as ten, are sent by their families or trafficked by agents with the promise of money. They are made to work long hours for little or no money."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://theconversation.com/the-modern-slavery-bill-is-a-start-but-it-wont-guarantee-us-sweeter-chocolate-102765 |title=The Modern Slavery Bill is a start, but it won't guarantee us sweeter chocolate |work=The Conversation |date=16 October 2018 |first1=John |last1=Dumay |first2=James |last2=Guthrie}}</ref>

===Lawsuits===

In 2021, several companies were named in a class action lawsuit filed by eight former children from [[Mali]] who alleged that the companies aided and abetted their enslavement on [[Cocoa production in Ivory Coast|cocoa plantations in Cote d’Ivoire]]. The suit accused [[Barry Callebaut]], [[Cargill]], [[The Hershey Company]], [[Mars, Incorporated|Mars]], [[Mondelez]], [[Nestlé]], and [[Olam International]], of knowingly engaging in [[forced labour]], and the plaintiffs sought damages for [[unjust enrichment]], [[negligent supervision]], and [[intentional infliction of emotional distress]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Balch |first=Oliver |date=12 February 2021 |title=Mars, Nestlé and Hershey to face child slavery lawsuit in US |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/12/mars-nestle-and-hershey-to-face-landmark-child-slavery-lawsuit-in-us |access-date=13 February 2021}}</ref>

In June 2020, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit]] unanimously found that state product labeling laws did not require Nestlé, Mars Inc., or the Hershey Company to disclose on chocolate wrappers if the ingredients used were produced by forced child labor.<ref>{{Bluebook journal |first=|last=Note|title=Recent Case: First Circuit Holds that Product Packages Need Not Disclose Labor Abuses|volume=134 |journal=[[Harvard Law Review|Harv. L. Rev.]] |page=2257|url=https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/134-Harv.-L.-Rev.-2257.pdf|year=2021}}.</ref><ref>{{cite court |litigants=Tomasella v. Nestlé USA, Inc.|vol=962|reporter=F.3d|opinion=60|court=1st Cir.|date=2020|url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15629679008674506932|accessdate=}}</ref>

==Production and consumption statistics==

[[File:2012 cocoa bean output.png|thumb|right|Cocoa bean output in 2012]]

In Ghana, the [[cocoa industry]] began in the late 19th century<ref name="Leiter">{{cite journal |title= Trinidad, Brazil, and Ghana: three melting moments in the history of cocoa |first1= Jeffrey |last1= Leiter |first2= Sandra |last2= Harding |journal= Journal of Rural Studies |volume= 20 |issue= 1 |date= January 2004 |pages= 113–130 |url= http://cocoa-university.org/scientific-research/research-library/pdf/LeiterCocoaHistory%28243KBSocioEconomic%29.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211013143813/https://cocoa-university.org/scientific-research/research-library/pdf/LeiterCocoaHistory%28243KBSocioEconomic%29.pdf/ |url-status= usurped |archive-date= 13 October 2021 |access-date= 23 April 2012 |doi= 10.1016/s0743-0167(03)00034-2 |bibcode= 2004JRurS..20..113L }}</ref> and in Côte d'Ivoire it began in the early 20th century.<ref name="Hecht">{{cite journal |title= The Ivory Coast Economic 'Miracle': What Benefits for Peasant Farmers? |author= Robert M. Hecht |journal= The Journal of Modern African Studies |volume= 21 |issue= 1 |date= March 1983 |pages= 25–53 |doi=10.1017/s0022278x0002303x|s2cid= 154817388 }}</ref> Ghana became the largest cocoa producer in the world in 1910.<ref name="Leiter"/> By 1980 Côte d'Ivoire overtook Ghana as the biggest producer.<ref name="Hecht"/> In both countries, the majority of farms are small and family-owned. Family members, including children, are often expected to work on the farms.<ref name="Payson4 26">{{cite web|url=http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |title=Fourth Annual Report: Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |author=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer of Tulane University |page=26 |date=30 September 2011 |access-date=23 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319080151/http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref>

In the 2018–2019 growing year (which runs October through September),<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.icco.org/about/press2.aspx?Id=isq16806 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120502020129/http://www.icco.org/about/press2.aspx?Id=isq16806 |url-status= dead |archive-date= 2 May 2012 |title= ICCO Press Releases |publisher= International Cocoa Organization |date= 30 November 2011 |access-date= 11 December 2011 }}</ref> 4.78 hundred thousand [[tonne]]s of cocoa beans were produced. African nations produced 2.45&nbsp;million tonnes (69%), Asia and Oceania 0.61&nbsp;million tonnes (17%) and the Americas 0.48&nbsp;million tonnes (14%).<ref name = "WCF 2010 update"/> Two African nations, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, produce more than half of the world's cocoa, with 1.23 and 0.73&nbsp;million tonnes respectively (35% and 21%, respectively).<ref name = "WCF 2010 update"/>

Different metrics are used for chocolate consumption. The [[Netherlands]] has the highest monetary amount of cocoa bean imports (US$2.1&nbsp;billion); it is also one of the main ports into Europe.<ref name = "WCF 2010 update"/> The US has highest amount of cocoa powder imports ($220&nbsp;million); the US has a large amount of cocoa complementary products.<ref name = "WCF 2010 update"/> The UK has the highest amount of retail chocolate ($1.3&nbsp;billion) and is one of the biggest chocolate consumption per capita markets.<ref name = "WCF 2010 update"/>

==Cocoa harvest and processing==

{{Main|Cocoa_bean#Harvesting |l1=Cocoa harvesting |Cocoa_bean#Harvest_processing |l2=Cocoa processing}}

[[File:Cocoa Pods.JPG|thumb|right|Cocoa pods in various stages of ripening]]

Because of the delicate nature of the cocoa tree species, cocoa trees are treated with [[pesticide]]s and [[fungicide]]s.<ref name="Abenyega"/> Cocoa harvest is not restricted to one period per year and occurs over a period of several months to the whole year.<ref name="Wood">{{cite book |last1=Wood |first1=G. A. R. |last2=Lass |first2=R. A. |title=Cocoa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=urs9QCMKOw4C&pg=PA25 |edition=4 |series=Tropical agriculture series |year=2001 |publisher=John Wiley and Sons |isbn=978-0-632-06398-7 }}</ref> Pods are harvested at multiple times during the harvest season because they do not all ripen at once.<ref name="Wood"/> Pod ripening is judged by pod color, and ripe pods are harvested from the trunk and branches of the cocoa tree with a curved knife on a long pole.<ref name="Wood"/> The pods are opened and wet beans are removed.<ref name="Abenyega"/><ref name="Wood"/> Wet beans are transported to a facility so they can be fermented and dried.<ref name="Abenyega"/><ref name="Gockowski"/>

Many of these tasks could be hazardous when performed by children, according to the ILO.<ref name="ILO2007p20">{{cite book|url=http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/download.do?type=document&id=6448|title=Rooting out child labour from cocoa farms – A manual for training education practitioners: Ghana|publisher=International Labour Office|year=2007|isbn=978-92-2-119730-0|___location=Geneva|page=20|format=pdf|access-date=5 March 2012|archive-date=2 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602110200/http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/download.do?type=document|url-status=dead}}</ref> Mixing and applying chemicals can be hazardous due to pesticide contamination,<ref name="Abenyega">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Rw-NW5EFTs0C&pg=PA11 |title=Labor practices in the cocoa sector of Ghana with a special focus on the role of children |first1= Olivia |last1=Abenyega |first2=James |last2=Gockowski |publisher= International Institute of Tropical Agriculture |year= 2003 |isbn= 978-978-131-218-2 |pages= 10–11}}</ref><ref name="Gockowski 2006">{{cite journal |author=Gockowski |first=J. |date=March 2006 |title=Child Labour Investigations and Interventions in the Cocoa Sector |url=http://www.iita.org/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=98893&folderId=99883&name=DLFE-1111.pdf |journal=Impact Brief, Sustainable Tree Crops Program |publisher=International Institute of Tropical Agriculture |issue=6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406181704/http://www.iita.org/c/document_library/get_file?p_l_id=98893&folderId=99883&name=DLFE-1111.pdf |archive-date=6 Apr 2012 |access-date=10 May 2025}}</ref> especially because no protective clothing is worn during application.<ref name="Gockowski">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=E2x5hlVlaUUC&pg=PA12 |title=Labor practices in the cocoa sector of southwest Nigeria with a focus on the role of children |first1= J. |last1=Gockowski |first2=S. |last2=Oduwole |publisher= International Institute of Tropical Agriculture |year= 2003 |isbn= 978-978-131-215-1 |pages= 11–15}}</ref><ref name="Mull & Kirkhorn">{{Cite journal|last1=Mull|first1=L. Diane|last2=Kirkhorn|first2=Steven R.|date=2005|title=Child labor in Ghana cocoa production: focus upon agricultural tasks, ergonomic exposures, and associated injuries and illnesses|journal=Public Health Reports|volume=120|issue=6|pages=649–655|doi=10.1177/003335490512000613|issn=0033-3549|pmc=1497785|pmid=16350335}}</ref>

Clearing vegetation and harvesting pods can be hazardous because these tasks are often done using machetes, which can cause [[wound|lacerations]].<ref name="Abenyega"/> This skill is part of normal development in children 15 to 17 years old, but is a higher risk in younger children.<ref name="Gockowski"/> Many have wounds on their legs where they have cut themselves.<ref name="workers exploited">{{cite news | last= Hawksley | first= Humphrey | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6517695.stm | title= Child cocoa workers still 'exploited' | work= BBC News | date= 2 April 2007 | access-date=4 August 2010 }}</ref> A survey conducted by U.S. Department of Labour indicates that in 2005, 92 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 15 are involved in heavy load carrying work in the cocoa industry, which can cause open wounds.<ref>[http://www.du.edu/korbel/hrhw/researchdigest/slavery/africa.pdf], Forced Child Labor and Cocoa Production in West Africa.</ref>

Transport of the wet beans can also be hazardous due to long transport distances and heavy loads; [[hernia]]s and physical injuries can occur.<ref name="Gockowski"/><ref name="Gockowski 2006"/>

The International Cocoa Initiative upholds the International Conventions that promote child rights and that outlaw child labour practices, as well as the relevant supporting national laws.<ref name=":0" /> Not all work done by children is classified as child labour. For instance, children carrying out light, non-hazardous tasks on the family farm for a limited period of time, under supervision, and without compromising their schooling, is considered as acceptable child work. This type of work is often necessary for the welfare of many families in West African rural societies. It also contributes to children's development, providing them with skills and experience that help them prepare for their adult farming life. By contrast, activities such as carrying heavy loads or using chemicals are considered as "unacceptable forms of child labour", because they are physically dangerous for children. Child trafficking and any work undertaken by children in bonded labour are extreme and criminal forms of child exploitation.<ref name=":0"/>

In 2019, the International Cocoa Initiative investigated the prevalence of child labour in the cocoa industry. It found 7,319 children identified as involved in one or more hazardous tasks.<ref>{{Cite web|last=admin|title=Homepage|url=https://annualreport2019.cocoainitiative.org/en/|access-date=24 September 2020|website=International Cocoa Initiative Annual Report 2019|language=en-GB|archive-date=21 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021014950/https://annualreport2019.cocoainitiative.org/en/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Prevention==

===Fair trade===

In the 2000s, some chocolate producers began to engage in [[fair trade]] initiatives, to address concerns about the marginalization of cocoa labourers in developing countries. Traditionally, Africa and other developing countries received low prices for their exported commodities such as cocoa, which caused poverty to abound. Fairtrade seeks to establish a system of direct trade from developing countries to counteract this unfair system.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Brown | first1 = Michael Barratt | year = 2007 | title = 'Fair Trade' with Africa | journal = Review of African Political Economy | volume = 34 | issue = 112| pages = 267–77 | doi=10.1080/03056240701449653 |jstor=20406397 | s2cid = 219715395 | hdl = 10.1080/03056240701449653 | hdl-access = free }}</ref>

One solution for fair labour practices is for farmers to become part of an [[agricultural cooperative]]. Cooperatives pay farmers a fair price for their cocoa so farmers have enough money for food, clothes, and school fees.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Goodman | first1 = Michael K | year = 2004 | title = Reading fairtrade: political ecological imaginary and the moral economy of fairtrade foods | journal = Political Geography | volume = 23 | issue = 7| pages = 891–915 | doi=10.1016/j.polgeo.2004.05.013}}</ref> One of the main tenets of fair trade is that farmers receive a fair price, but this does not mean that the larger amount of money paid for fair trade cocoa goes directly to the farmers. The effectiveness of fair trade has been questioned. In a 2014 article, ''[[The Economist]]'' stated that workers on fair trade farms have a lower standard of living than on similar farms outside the fair trade system.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2014/05/agriculture-ethiopia-and-uganda?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/notsofairtrade|access-date=3 July 2014|title=Agriculture in Ethiopia and Uganda: Not so fair trade|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714192341/http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2014/05/agriculture-ethiopia-and-uganda?fsrc=scn%2Ffb%2Fwl%2Fbl%2Fnotsofairtrade|archive-date=14 July 2014}}</ref>

===Education of child labourers===

2019 research from the International Cocoa Initiative found a strong correlation between higher quality education and lower prevalence of child labour. ICI found that in the communities with the highest quality of education score, child labour prevalence stood at 10%, or 66% lower than in the communities with the lowest quality of education score.<ref>{{Cite web|last=admin|date=12 June 2019|title=Une éducation de qualité: un élément crucial dans la lutte contre le travail des enfants|url=https://annualreport2019.cocoainitiative.org/fr/quality-education-an-important-piece-in-the-child-labour-puzzle/|access-date=24 September 2020|website=International Cocoa Initiative Annual Report 2019|language=en-GB|archive-date=21 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201021010605/https://annualreport2019.cocoainitiative.org/fr/quality-education-an-important-piece-in-the-child-labour-puzzle/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Harkin–Engel Protocol===

{{main|Harkin–Engel Protocol}}

To combat child slavery in cocoa production, in 2001 US Representative [[Eliot Engel]] introduced a legislative amendment<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cocoainitiative.org/knowledge-centre-post/harkin-engel-protocol|title=Harkin Engel Protocol|access-date=8 February 2020|archive-date=8 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508004335/https://cocoainitiative.org/knowledge-centre-post/harkin-engel-protocol/|url-status=dead}}</ref> to fund the development of a "no [[child slavery]]" label for chocolate products sold in the United States. Senator [[Tom Harkin]] proposed an addition to an agriculture bill to label qualified chocolate and cocoa products as "slave free".<ref name="Tiger">{{cite news |url= http://www.salon.com/2003/02/14/chocolate/ |title= Bittersweet chocolate |author= Caroline Tiger |publisher= Salon Media Group, Inc. |date= 14 February 2003 |access-date=12 November 2016}}</ref> It was approved in the [[US House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] by a vote of 291–115,<ref name="Payson 20">{{cite web|author=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer of Tulane University |title=First annual report: Oversight of public and private initiatives to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in the cocoa sector in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |date=31 October 2007 |url=http://www.childlabor-payson.org/FirstAnnualReport.pdf |page=20 |access-date=19 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319065205/http://childlabor-payson.org/FirstAnnualReport.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref> but before it went to the [[US Senate|Senate]] the chocolate makers hired former senators [[George J. Mitchell|George Mitchell]] and [[Bob Dole]] to [[lobbying|lobby]] against it,<ref name="Tiger"/> and it did not go to a vote.<ref name="Payson 20"/> Instead, the chocolate manufacturers reached agreement with the Congressmen to create the [[Harkin–Engel Protocol]]<ref name="Payson Appendix 1">{{cite web|author=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer of Tulane University |title=First annual report: Oversight of public and private initiatives to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector in Cote d-Ivoire and Ghana |date=31 October 2007 |url=http://www.childlabor-payson.org/FirstAnnualReport.pdf |pages=78–93 (Appendix 1) |access-date=19 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319065205/http://childlabor-payson.org/FirstAnnualReport.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref> to remove child forced labour from the industry by July 2005.<ref name="Tiger"/>

The voluntary agreement was a commitment by industry groups to develop and implement voluntary standards to certify cocoa produced without the "worst forms of child labor",<ref name="Payson Appendix 1"/> and was witnessed by the heads of major chocolate companies, the Ambassador of Côte d'Ivoire, and others concerned with child labour.<ref name="Payson Appendix 1"/> As another result of the Protocol, the International Cocoa Initiative was created to improve the lives of children in cocoa-growing communities, safeguarding their rights and contributing to the elimination of child labour by supporting the acceleration and scale-up of child-centred community development and of responsible supply chain management throughout the cocoa sector.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016|title=Harkin Engel Protocol|url=https://cocoainitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Harkin_Engel_Protocol.pdf|access-date=24 September 2020|archive-date=29 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829040740/https://cocoainitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Harkin_Engel_Protocol.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Criticism====

The chocolate makers were to create programs in West Africa to make Africans aware of the consequences of child labour, keeping their children from an education, and child trafficking. The primary incentive for the companies' voluntary participation would be the addition of a "slave free" label.<ref name="Tiger"/> The 2005 deadline was not met,<ref name="Stop the Traffik">{{cite web |url=http://www.stopthetraffik.org/downloads/chocolate_factsheet.pdf |title=Where does all our chocolate come from? |publisher=Stop the Traffik |access-date=19 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311162856/http://www.stopthetraffik.org/downloads/chocolate_factsheet.pdf |archive-date=11 March 2012 }}</ref><ref name="Parenti">{{cite magazine |url= https://money.cnn.com/2008/01/24/news/international/chocolate_bittersweet.fortune/ |title= Chocolate's bittersweet economy |author= Christian Parenti |magazine= Fortune |date= 15 February 2008 |access-date=19 April 2012}}</ref> and all parties agreed to a three-year extension of the Protocol.<ref name="Parenti"/><ref name="Payson4 28">{{cite web|url=http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |title=Fourth Annual Report: Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |author=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer of Tulane University |page=28 |date=30 September 2011 |access-date=23 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319080151/http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref> This extension allowed the cocoa industry more time to implement the Protocol including creating a certification system to address the worst forms of child labour for half of the growing areas in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.<ref name="Payson4 28"/><ref name="Payson4 218">{{cite web|url=http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |title=Fourth Annual Report: Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |author=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer of Tulane University |page=218 |date=30 September 2011 |access-date=23 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319080151/http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref> By 2008, the industry had collected data from over half of the areas, as required, but they did not have proper independent verification.<ref name="Payson4 221">{{cite web|url=http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |title=Fourth Annual Report: Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |author=Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer f Tulane University |page=221 |date=30 September 2011 |access-date=23 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319080151/http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref> In June 2008, the Protocol was extended until the end of 2010. At that time, the industry was required to have full certifications with independent verifications.<ref name="Payson4 28"/>

The [[European Union]] passed a resolution in 2012 to fully implement the Harkin–Engel Protocol and fight child labour in cocoa production.<ref name="Nieburg">{{cite news |url= http://www.confectionerynews.com/Regulation-Safety/EU-resolution-on-cocoa-child-labour-has-no-bite-says-Labour-group |title= EU resolution on cocoa child labour has 'no bite', says Labour group |author= Oliver Nieburg |publisher= William Reed Business Media |date= 22 March 2012 |access-date=19 April 2012}}</ref> The resolution was criticized by the [[International Labor Rights Forum]] for having no legally binding measures and two major chocolate manufacturers claimed they were addressing the problem.<ref name="Nieburg"/>

The industry's pledge to reduce child labour in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana by 70%, as per the Framework of Action in 2010, had not been met as of late 2015; the deadline was again extended, to 2020.<ref name="Fortune" />

==== Progress in addressing child labour ====

The World Cocoa Foundation, of which all major chocolate manufacturers, buyers and the ICI are members, reported in 2020 that hazardous child labour had been reduced by one-third in communities where company programs such as Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation Systems were in place; that Governments' actions on education have led to almost all children now attending school in Ghana, with 4 out 5 in Côte d’Ivoire; and that a more than 60 percent increase in total cocoa production over the past 10 years did not bring a similar surge in child labour. According to the 2022 Chocolate Scorecard seven of the major chocolate companies are 'leading the industry' on child labour and a further seventeen companies are 'starting to implement good policies'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chocolatescorecard.com/|title=The Chocolate Scorecard|website=The Chocolate Scorecard}}</ref> Companies who claimed to be addressing child labour were asked to provide evidence for this and were scored according to whether their reports were external or internal, whether just numbers or actual impact was measured, and how recently the study was undertaken.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.chocolatescorecard.com/methodology | title=Methodology }}</ref>

== Representation in media and exhibitions ==

Video productions:

* ''[[The Dark Side of Chocolate]]'' (2010). A documentary film about the exploitation and slave trading of African children to harvest chocolate

* ''[[Slavery: A Global Investigation]]'' (2000). Produced by True Vision of London, exposes slavery in the cocoa plantations in the Cote d’Ivoire<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/slavery-a-global-investigation/|title=Slavery: A Global Investigation - Top Documentary Films}}</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/apr/17/guardianletters4 Letters: Slaves to our taste for chocolate], 17 April 2001, ''The Guardian'', retrieved at 30 March 2016</ref>

* [[Channel 4]]'s ''Modern Slavery'' (2000)<ref name="Blunt" />

Podcasts:

* ''WKND Chocolate Dr. Kristy Leissle Scholar Series''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Scholar Series: Dr. Kristy Leissle, Author of Cocoa|url=https://wkndchocolate.com/podcast/kristyleissle|access-date=24 September 2020|website=WKND Chocolate|language=en-US|archive-date=28 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028164547/https://wkndchocolate.com/podcast/kristyleissle|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

* ''The Slow Melt'' by Simran Sethi (2016)<ref>{{Cite web|date=6 December 2016|title=About|url=https://theslowmelt.com/about/|access-date=24 September 2020|website=The Slow Melt|language=en}}</ref>

Books:

* ''The Bitter Side of Sweet'' by Vivian Yenika-Agbaw (2016).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bitter Side of Sweet|date=3 July 2017 |url=https://socialjusticebooks.org/bitter-side-sweet/}}</ref> Fiction

* ''Chocolate Nations'' (2011) by Orla Ryan<ref>{{Cite web|title=Book review: Chocolate Nations: Living and Dying for Cocoa in West Africa, by Orla Ryan|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270623290|access-date=24 September 2020|website=ResearchGate|language=en}}</ref>

Exhibitions:

* ''Bitter Chocolate Stories''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.paradox.nl/project/bitter-chocolate-stories/|title=BITTER Chocolate Stories|website=Paradox|access-date=27 December 2018}}</ref> – Exhibition at the Tropenmuseum Amsterdam (20 September 2018 – 1 September 2019). The exhibition examines personal stories of [[cocoa production in Ivory Coast|cocoa production in Cote d’Ivoire]] and Ghana.

== See also ==

* [[Big Chocolate]]

* [[Cocoa production in Ghana]]

* [http://www.radicalthought.org/A55868/cocoa.nsf/links!OpenPage A list of Links]

* [[Cocoa production in Ivory Coast]]

==Further reading==

* [[Cocoa production in Nigeria]]

*Henry W. Nevinson, ''A Modern Slavery'', (1906), reprint Schocken (1968), ISBN 1121284000

* [[International Cocoa Initiative]]

*Lowell J. Satre, ''Chocolate on Trial: Slavery, Politics & the Ethics of Business'', Ohio University Press (2005), 308 pages, hardcover ISBN 0821416251, trade paperback ISBN 082141626X

==References==

{{Reflist}}

* [http://truevisiontv.com/slavery.html British TV documentary]

* [http://www.american.edu/TED/chocolate-slave.htm Chocolate and Slavery]

==Further reading==

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1272522.stm Mali's children in chocolate slavery]

* Lowell J. Satre, ''Chocolate on Trial: Slavery, Politics & the Ethics of Business'', Ohio University Press (2005), 308 pages, hardcover {{ISBN|0-8214-1625-1}}, trade paperback {{ISBN|0-8214-1626-X}}

* [http://www.antislavery.org/archive/other/trafficking-children-wafrica.htm Cote d'Ivoire and Mali]

* [[Carol Off]], Bitter Chocolate:Investigating the Dark Side of the World's Most Seductive Sweet. Random House Canada (2006), 336 pages, hardcover. {{ISBN|978-0-679-31319-9}} (0-679-31319-2)

* [http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/chocolate.cfm Starbucks Fair Trade Campaign]

One reference Imported from [http://www.wikinfo.org/wiki.php?title=Main+Page Wikinfo]

==External links==

* [http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=6253&fcategory_desc=Corporate%20Corruption Independent Media TV report]

* {{Cite web|title=VOICE Network – A watchdog and catalyst for a reformed cocoa sector|url=https://www.voicenetwork.eu/|access-date=24 September 2020|language=en-US}}

* [http://www.progress.org/archive/fold201.htm Chocolate Worker Slavery]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120319080151/http://childlabor-payson.org/Final%20Fourth%20Annual%20Report.pdf Fourth Annual Report of Tulane University Payson Center]

* [http://www.foodrevolution.org/slavery_chocolate.htm Is There Slavery In Your Chocolate?]

* [http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/fairtrade/products/wheretobuy.cfm#chocolate Sources of Fair Trade chocolate] by [[Green America]]

*

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150726000616/http://iccfo.ngo/ International CoCoa Farmers Organization]

* [http://www.wikinfo.org/wiki.php?title=Chocolate_and_slavery#Chocolate_which_Helps_the_Third_World. Chocolate which Helps the Third World.]

{{Chocolate}}

* [http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/charlieaction.html Make My Wonka Bar Fair Trade!]

{{Food industry criticism}}

* [http://www.radicalthought.org/ Child Slaves May Be Making Your Chocolate]

* [http://vision.ucsd.edu/~kbranson/stopchocolateslavery/ Stop Chocolate Slavery]

[[Category:Slavery in the chocolate industry]]

* [http://www.garstangfairtrade.org.uk/chocolate_and_slavery.htm Chocolate and Slavery]

[[Category:SlaveryBusiness ethics cases]]

[[Category:ConfectioneryChild labour]]

[[Category:SocialCocoa justiceproduction]]

[[Category:SocialAgriculture ethicsin Ghana]]

[[Category:FairLabour tradein Ghana]]

[[Category:Agriculture in Ivory Coast]]