Chocolate reached its peak popularity when it saw itself being celebrated locally, nationally and internationally for its taste; encouraging everyone living in North America and Western Europe to increase their consumption of chocolate; hovering over the already average consumption of 2.8 billion pounds of chocolate per year in America alone. Accompanying the sale of the desserts are a plethora of chocolate-themed events, activities and restaurants, promoting chocolate’s existence as a gateway to health and happiness.
The global chocolate market is valued at about $104 Billion USD in 2017, and is expected to grow to $161 Billion USD by 2024, bringing smiles all around the table of leading chocolate producers Nestle SA, The Hershey Company, Mars Inc., Barry Callebaut, Cadbury and the Ferrero Group.
Despite chocolate’s success and growing profits, the cocoa production process and its financers have faced decades of allegations of enabling the persistence of child labor in cocoa producing countries, and the trafficking of about 200 000 children through West and Central Africa annually.
The International Labor Association (ILO) distinguishes between child work and child labor by defining the latter as work that forces the child to leave school prematurely or combine school attendance with long hours or heavy work – and on the extreme end: the unacceptale, exploitative and harmful forms of children’s work.
Under the Ivorian law, children over the age of 14 (and 12 years old in agriculture) are allowed to work under limited hours as long as the work is not dangerous and the children have parental consent. During the 2005-2006 season, children between 5 and 12 years old were involved in tasks that included the spraying of insecticides, application of fertiliser, bush burning, clearing land and felling trees. Due to cocoa being produced predominantly for export and the small-scale nature of cocoa farms, international standards make no exceptions to the minimum age standards. One key allegation was that children were not only forced to work and were mistreated on cocoa farms, but were also trafficked by cocoa farmers and their agents.
It is important to note that child trafficking is not only driven by poverty, but is also motivated by poor education and weak or non-existent punishment for traffickers.
Child workers were sold into service for US$140 and if paid, earned US$135 to $189 per year.
Children as young as 6 years old were being forced to work 80-100 hour weeks without pay, suffered from malnutrition, and were subject to beatings and other abuse.
Global cocoa brands do value their public reputation, however, though public scrutiny can motivate a response, it is the threat of government intervention that pushes brand incentive to address the issues.
Efforts made by individual companies have had little measurable impact on the labor standards on the ground. The efforts to build local enforcement in cocoa-producing countries may be the most efficient way to improve labor standards for cocoa workers.
In addition, Fairtrade labelling is an international strategy that requires cocoa producer organizations to adhere to national law, prohibit discrimination within cooperatives, and prohibit child labor or forced labor in accordance to ILO legal standards. Greater demand for Fairtrade Cocoa may help to push more countries to support organizations that prioritize the wellbeing of its workers.
“National regulation and enforcement of local laws consistent with international labor standards are the most effective tools to stop child trafficking, eliminate forced and child labor, ensure freedom of association and enforce acceptable working conditions” (Schrage & Ewing, 2005).
REFERENCES
Berlan, A. (2013). Social sustainability in agriculture: An anthropological perspective on child labour in cocoa production in ghana. The Journal of Development Studies, 49(8), 1088-1100. doi:10.1080/00220388.2013.780041
Läderach, P., Martinez-valle, A., Schroth, G., & Castro, N. (2013). Predicting the future climatic suitability for cocoa farming of the world’s leading producer countries, ghana and côte d’ivoire. Climatic Change, 119(3-4), 841-854.
Luckstead J, Tsiboe F, Nalley LL (2019) Estimating the economic incentives necessary for eliminating child labor in Ghanaian cocoa production. PLoS ONE 14(6): e0217230. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217230
Schrage, E. J., & Ewing, A. P. (2005). The cocoa industry: And child labour. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 18, 99-112.
National Chocolate Day. https://nationaltoday.com/national-dark-chocolate-day/
Global chocolate market. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/10/22/1624439/0/en/Global-Chocolate-Market-Expected-to-Reach-USD-161-56-Billion-By-2024-Zion-Market-Research.html
April Marie Canillo 