Child Slavery in West Africa's Cocoa Plantations - Research Paper Example

Child Slavery in West Africa's Cocoa Plantations Introduction Child labor abuse is rampant among cocoa producers in the West African countries. Children ages between 12 and 16 are made to work in the most inhumane conditions while producers earn huge sum of money by exporting cocoa. The US and European manufacturers, and consumers across most part of the world indirectly support child abuse in these countries. The paper aims at exploring current social and ethical issues involved in child labor practices observed in this industry. The paper would also look into the possible remedial measures. Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana – Cocoa Bowls It is ironical that while children in cocoa growing countries live miserable life, large manufacturers in Europe and the US reap huge profits selling chocolates made from cocoa. These children work in almost slave-like conditions while millions of consumers derive pleasure by consuming cocoa products (Webb, 2014). According to UNICEF, nearly 200,000 children are made to work in West and Central Africa through human trafficking. Mostly, these children are exported from Mali, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The cocoa farms in these countries operate in violation of basic human rights (Webb, 2014). Cote d'Ivoire's and Ghana’s economy largely depends on the cocoa exports and the prices farmers fetch from the international market. International prices are not in their control and the value gain depends on the yield they get from their farms. Much of the work, even today, is done manually and farmers have never thought of exploiting technology to replace manual labor over last several decades due to its easy and abundant availability. At times, weather also plays their role in success and failure of cocoa crops. All these factors, and the traditional way of farmers’ thinking in using manual labor for having the lowest possible cost in producing cocoa, they continue to use child labor as they cost them much lower in comparison to adult labor (Chanthavong, 2002). Mali’s Extreme Poverty – a Cause of Child Labor Supply Cote d'Ivoire also known as Ivory Coast is the largest producer of cocoa beans followed by Ghana. Most of the child laborers in these countries arrive from Mali. Mali is one of the poorest country not only in the region but in the world with a GDP of less than $1000 per capita as per the CIA factbook as on 2010 with over 30% of the population below poverty line. Unemployment rate has been estimated huge 30% as per 2004 estimation. Over 80% people in Mali earn their living from agriculture. With hardly any earning opportunities available Malians are forced to move other neighboring countries. That is why poor families in Mali agree to send their children to Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. In the absence of having any possibility to educate their children and due to sluggish economic condition in their own country they become easy target of slave traders; they have no option but to send their children at the cocoa farms in Cote d'Ivoire. Perhaps, that is their only hope for living and survival. These child laborers are forced to work from six in the morning to late night on the cocoa farms. They are never fed properly and allowed to survive on scanty meals. These farms are usually small and located in the remote areas away from big towns where there is a least possibility of finding farm owner's atrocities on children. They are also often beaten up for not completing allotted quota of their work, which is always much beyond their physical capacities. At times, they are made to stay in a small shell-kind room in the night to prevent their escape from the farm owner’s clutches (Webb, 2014). Europe and the US – Major Buyers of Cocoa Beans It will be appropriate to explore where cocoa beans go worldwide and which are the companies who are getting benefitted. While 72% of cocoa beans come from Ivory Coast and Ghana, there are half a dozen large companies based at Europe and the US that make majority use of cocoa powder in preparation of various chocolate products. Prominent of them are Nestle, Mars Inc., The Hershey, Cadbury Schweppes, Ferrero SPA. Cote d'Ivoire meets over 40% cocoa needs of these companies and therefore these companies are connected to child labor issue. These companies compete in the domestic and international market to increase their market share and in that process they tend to buy cocoa beans or their powder at the lowest possible price. It is natural that this cost consciousness percolates downward among cocoa farmers at Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana. In the process to keep the cost at its lowest, farmers resort to save on labor employing child labor at the lowest possible wages and keeping them in a ghetto in subhuman condition. The companies such as Nestle claim in their website that they do not use cocoa beans harvested using child labor; however, the claim has been challenged by several NGOs recently. A commodity specialist from the Suedwind Institute claims that farms in West Africa still use child labor as is evident from the report that says that at least 300,000 children work in Cocoa farms in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire (Mammel, 2013). Ethical Issues Involved In view of the above discussed scenario, many ethical issues now crop up. While companies make thumping profits, they did not make any concerted efforts to eliminate child labor from these farms located at Ivory Coast, Ghana, and other West African countries. These companies were surely in a position to invest on farmers' training to increase their productivity levels and the quality of raw cocoa so that they could avoid child labor but they showed indifferent attitude. Similarly, much can be done by Ivory Coast government on the child labor issue in Cocoa farming. They can invest part of the revenue on child education that they earn through taxes on cocoa exports. But it has never materialized because "the government of Ivory Coast is ranked among the most corrupt in the world by Transparency International, a non-governmental watchdog group" (Parenti, 2008). At this juncture, it should be noted that two main associations, the National Confectioners Association and the Chocolate Manufacturers Association of the US claim having spent millions of dollars on developing socially responsible cocoa sector across West Africa; however, Tulane inspection group deputed by the U.S. Department of Labor does not endorse such claims explicitly. On the other hand, the largest exporter of Ivory Coast, Saf-Cacao questions the very basic protocol of the US government on child labor issue. Its director general, Ali Lakiss argues, "The farmers don't get the best price. If the cocoa price is good, then kids go to school. No money, and kids work at home"(Parenti, 2008). Sustainability versus Child Labor It is quite surprising to note that while most processors, traders and chocolate manufactures have been embracing sustainability and showing their intent on sustainable cocoa production by 2025, they have failed to take similar vows in eliminating child labor at cocoa farms. Many of them have resorted to Fairtrade-certified cocoa for all their conventional chocolate bars; for example, Mars, the largest cocoa consumer have shown its commitment towards sustainably grown cocoa by 2020 and Kraft too has shown their intent towards using sustainable cocoa. The moot question is why the companies while giving importance to sustainability issue do not make concerted efforts to solve child labor issue once and for all at cocoa farms in Ghana and Ivory Coast (Harrison-Dunn, 2014). Political Will Essential for Remedial Measures In 2001, in order to eliminate child labor in West African countries, two US congressmen Engel and Harkin, proposed a 6 point strategy. The proposal is known as Harkin-Engel protocol. Accordingly, they proposed an "independent monitoring, reporting and certification system" (Bossard, 2009 p239). The industry that manufacturers chocolates and its by-products has agreed to comply and cooperate with monitoring agency and for this the deadline was set as 1 July 2008 to ensure that no cocoa is imported from the place where child labor and their abuse still exists (Bossard, 2009). Consumer Awareness Can Make Huge Change Though the US legislation initially called for a label on each chocolate "Child Labor Free", but due to protests from chocolate companies, the labeling enforcement was removed and that made legislation toothless. Currently, many chocolate companies voluntarily certify that their chocolates have been produced without child labor; however, it is impossible to verify. Conclusion Consumer awareness is needed across all big towns to boycott chocolates when there is an iota of doubt that chocolates are not ethically sourced. The hope lies in Engel and Harkin, the two US Senators who are steadfastly committed to bring change on the issue of child labor at cocoa farms in West African countries (Parenti, 2008). References Bossard, L. (2009). West African Studies: Regional Atlas on West Africa. OECD. Cocoa Beans in the Netherlands (2011). CBI Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Retrieved April 2, 2014 from http://www.cbi.eu/system/files/marketintel/2011_Cocoa_beans_in_the_Netherlands.pdf Chanthavong, S. (2002). Chocolate and Slavery: Child Labor in Cote d'Ivoire. Retrieved April 2, 2014 from http://www1.american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm Harrison-Dunn, A. (2014). Children and Chocolate: The sweet Industry's bitter side. Retrieved April 2, 2014 from http://www.confectionerynews.com/Manufacturers/Children-and-chocolate-The-sweet- industry-s-bitter-side Mammel, M. (2013). Child Slavery: The Bitter Truth behind the Chocolate Industry. Retrieved April 2, 2014 from http://www.terry.ubc.ca/2013/11/26/child-slavery-the-bitter-truth-behind-the-chocolate-industry/ Parenti, C. (2008). Chocolate's bittersweet economy. Retrieved April 3, 2014 from http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/24/news/international/chocolate_bittersweet.fortune/ Webb, S. (2014). Is your chocolate bar worth a child's life? Documentary lays bare child slavery in West Africa's cocoa plantations - and what is being done to free them. Retrieved April 2, 2014 from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2569091/Is-chocolate-bar-worth-childs-life-Documentary-lays-bare-child-slavery-West-Africas-cocoa-plantations-free-them.html Read More