Chocolate and slavery

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Contents 1 Slavery in Chocolate Production 2 The Problem 3 Studies and reports 3.1 ILO Projections 3.2 1998 3.3 2001 3.4 2002 3.5 2005 3.6 2006 3.7 2007 3.8 2008 4 Calls to action 4.1 Harkin-Engel Protocol 5 Chocolate which Helps the Third World 6 See also 7 External links 8 Response to Action 9 Souces and Further reading 10 References

Slavery in Chocolate Production

Chocolate is generally seen as a harmless self-indulgence. Carole Pearson [1] writes that we enjoy chocolate but feel guilty and worry about getting fat. In reality forced labour is frequently involved in its production. She states that as much as 40% of ordinary chocolate without the Fair trade Label includes slave produced cocoa and urges readers to work against slavery by buying only chocolate with a Fair Trade Label.

The Problem

In the Cote d'Ivoire boys aged between 12 and 16 have been sold as slaves. Most slaves are impoverished young men and boys from Benin, Togo and Mali. Traffickers promise them paid work together with housing and education. Instead they suffer forced labour and severe abuse working on cocoa farms. West Africa, notably the Ivory Coast supplies nearly 50% of world cocoa. Slavery is persistent and hard to detect in remote Ivorian farms. A ship was found near West Africa allegedly carrying child slaves. Afterwards a reporter working for Knight Ridder travelled deep into the Ivory Coast where farms used child slaves.

The Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa is the largest producer and exporter of cocoa beans. According to a British TV documentary,� Slavery,� 90% of Ivorian cocoa plantations use forced labour. The Ivorian government is involved, as are the farmers and chocolate manufacturers in America and Europe and chocolate consumers who do not know the problem with the chocolate, which they buy. After the Television Documentary was broadcast British consumers demanded that Cadbury, [[Nestl�|Nestle]] and Mars, which are the United Kingdom�s major chocolate producers provide chocolate untainted by slavery.

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. Anti-Slavery International states, "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.

A BBC Reporter, Humphrey Hawksley states that endless numbers of children have been reported missing in Sikasso, in Mali. Many of them were kidnapped and sold as slaves for about US$30. It is believed 15,000 children or more are in the Cote d'Ivoire, some under 11. Often they are held forcibly on farms and those who attempt to escape are beaten. 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.

Studies and reports

ILO Projections

According to the International Labour Organisation, 30% of children under age 15 in sub-Saharan Africa engage in child labor, mostly in agricultural activities including cocoa farming.^[1] Of the 200,000 children working in the Ivory Coast cocoa industry, the ILO claims - a maximum of 6% (12,000 children) may be victims of human trafficking or slavery.^[2]

1998

• A 1998 report from the Ivory Coast office of UNICEF concluded that some Ivory Coast farmers use enslaved children, many of them from Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo.^[3].

2001

• The report "A Taste of Slavery: How Your Chocolate May be Tainted"^[3][4][5] won a George Polk Award. It claimed that traffickers promise paid work, housing, and education to children who are forced to labour and undergo severe abuse, that some children are held forcibly on farms and work up to 100 hours per week, and that attempted escapees are beaten. It quoted a former slave: "The beatings were a part of my life" and "when you didn't hurry, you were beaten."^[3][4][5] See also ^[6][7][8]
• The BBC reported that some children from Sikasso, Mali, were believed sold as slaves.^[9] According to the article, 15,000 children from Mali, some under age 11, were producing cocoa in the Cote d'Ivoire, and Mali's Save the Children Fund director described "young children carrying 6 kg of cocoa sacks so heavy that they have wounds all over their shoulders."^[9]
• A British television documentary^[10] claimed that many Ivory Coast cocoa plantations use forced labor. A ship was found near West Africa allegedly carrying child slaves.^[10]
• The Chocolate Manufacturers Association (see above) acknowledged that slaves harvested some cocoa.^[8]

2002

• S. Chanthavong reported that children in neighboring countries are often found traveling or begging and lured to the Ivory Coast, where they are sold.^[11]

2005

• A report from the International Labor Organization noted that of the 200,000 children working on cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, 12,000 are not working with or in the vicinity of their relatives, suggesting possible trafficking in a maximum of 6% of cases of child labor.^{[2] [2]}
• One book was published: 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

2006

• A study^[12] showed many children working on small farms in the Ivory Coast, often on family farms. Over 11,000 people working on small Ivorian cocoa farms were surveyed.
• Another book was published: 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)

2007

• UNICEF's Representative in Côte d’Ivoire, stated that:

  Likewise, children from neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso, Togo and Mali are brought to Côte d’Ivoire to work in its robust cocoa farming industry, among other outlets for child labour. Their rights are not respected and they are exposed to wide-ranging exploitation and abuse. [2]

• The International Labor Organization ^[13] and BBC [3] released reports.
• A report funded by the U.S. Department of Labor concluded that "Industry and the Governments of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana have taken steps to investigate the problem and are implementing projects that address issues identified in the Protocol."^[14]

2008

• Fortune magazine reported that "little progress has been made" in a report featuring responses from Cargill and Hershey's.

Calls to action

Action is proposed, by the chocolate manufacturers, governments and by consumers. Consumer boycotting has, been suggested. A general boycott of cocoa products would be relatively ineffective, as non-slave products would also be harmed.

• Anti-Slavery International states, "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.[4]

• Fred E. Foldvary of the Department of Economics, Santa Clara University, California suggests the following action:-[5]

1. 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.
2. people write to their elected representatives and to chocolate and cocoa manufacturers, this includes Hershey Foods, Archer Daniels Midland and See's in areas where they trade as well as those in the section above. [6]
3. activists to expand Fairly Traded cocoa produce to North America and other areas. Fair trade cocoa produce is currently mainly based in Europe. [7]

• Carole Pearson [8] 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 boycotting main brands and instead buying only chocolate with a Fair Trade Label. [9]

A full range of high quality fairly traded chocolate products are available to consumers in the UK and the USA. These are the only chocolate products at present which are guaranteed not to contain any sourced from a slave plantation. Alternatively international cooperation may be necessary to improve conditions of work.

In September 2005, Dutch member of parliament Femke Halsema filed a motion to abolish European imports of slave-processed cacao.^[15] Statements have been issued by Anti-Slavery International ^[16], the Anti-Slavery Society ^[17], Fred E. Foldvary, the Organic Consumers Association ^[18] and StoptheTraffick UK. ^[19]

Efforts are underway to establish an industry-wide voluntary certification process for cocoa produced without the use of child labor.^[14] However, these efforts are not yet complete, and there are currently only a few small independent firms claiming to produce chocolate without the use of child labor or human trafficking.

Harkin-Engel Protocol

The Harkin-Engel Protocol of 2001 (see Appendix 1 of^[14] ) was a commitment by the industry groups World Cocoa Foundation and Chocolate Manufacturers Association (now known as the Chocolate Council of the National Confectioners Association) to develop and implement voluntary standards to certify cocoa produced without the "worst forms of child labor," (defined according to the International Labor Organization's Convention 182) by the year 2005. This deadline was not met. In 2004, a Verification Working Group was funded by industry; however, funding was discontinued in 2006.^[14]

Chocolate which Helps the Third World

High quality fairly traded chocolate products are available. This ranges from white chocolate through to milk chocolate and dark Chocolate for connoisseurs. Many have an interesting, sophisticated flavour. The range includes chocolate bars, chocolate boxes, handmade chocolate, chocolate-coated raisins, peanuts, brazil nuts, and many others. There is also high quality cocoa and drinking chocolate. Below are the products of several companies in the UK and the USA.

See also

• Child labor
• Human trafficking
• Big Chocolate
• International Labor Rights Forum
• Cocoa Protocol
• Nestlé

External links

• Hopes and Justice with every Purchase, a Greater Gift

• Tradecraft Shop

• 'Chocolate with a Conscience' Offered

• The Day Chocolate Company Fairtrade Chocolate

• Cadbury state that their Dairy Milk chocolate bar will be Fairtrade certified in the UK and Ireland by the Summer of 2009 This chocolate is available in the UK and will be fairly traded after summer 2009 at the latest. UK customers who want to be sure their chocolate is fairly traded should look for the Fairtrade Logo.

Response to Action

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

Souces and Further reading

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

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Chocolate_and_slavery" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_and_slavery, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Children in cocoa production" http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Children_in_cocoa_production&oldid=256183922, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
• Chocolate and Slavery
• Mali's children in chocolate slavery
• Starbucks Fair Trade Campaign
• Cote d'Ivoire and Mali
• Chocolate Worker Slavery